i may not have my own kitchen yet,

but at least I have this:

My brand new, 4.5 quart, flame orange Le Creuset Dutch oven arrived today and it sure is pretty. And the best part about it is that it only cost me $80 (normally they are $240). I had inherited a blue version of this pot somewhere in my many moves during college and although it was in fact a Le Creuset, it had been damaged at some point in its long life and the black enamel coating was flaking off. Even thought it was dysfunctional and contaminated anything I tried to cook in it, I couldn’t bear to part with it. I also knew that because I wasn’t the original owner of the pot, I wouldn’t qualify for their lifetime warranty. During this last move, instead of packing it up just so it could sit in a cupboard and taunt me for a few more years, I decided I finally needed to figure out what could be done with it. I emailed Le Creuset a few pictures along with my sob story and hoped for the best. I thought maybe they could refurbish it, or re-finish it, or at the very least lay it to rest with its fellow cast iron companions in some some Dutch oven graveyard. Thankfully, Mernice at the Le Creuset headquarters in Early Branch, South Carolina got back to me and simply requested that I send her the old, damaged oven along with a check for $80 and I could have a brand new one. BRAND NEW! So that was that and now I have a perfectly pristine new toy to play with in my kitchen. Now, if I only had a kitchen…