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If you are going to cook...

So I’m all fired up, collecting my canning items so I can purchase some fresh yummies from the farmer’s market tomorrow.   This will be my first canning experience, as an adult that is.  I remember my step-mom, that frugal, frugal woman, would always do this “canning” thing and I thought that is what old people do:  fear the future.

So here I am, 30 years later, scratching my head and thinking “my parents have been conservationists all along!!”  Drying their laundry outdoors, canning foods and freezing for the winter, buying a side of free-range cow every summer to last the family through the year.  Wow dad!!  Thank you SOOO much.

In any event, I’m ashamed to say, I went to Wal-Mart.  I really try to shop local, but ya know, I’m frugal too, I want a good deal as well.  So, I bought the jars at the local store, but needed this elusive “canning funnel”  WTF is that?

Wal-mart, of course, had it.  $6 for the tongs, and few other cool tools.

Then I walked around the corner and was flabergasted to see eco-friendly cookware – at Wal-mart.  And it’s reasonable!!  I’ve been eyeing some of those fancy Donna Gates “preferred” cookware sets, at a lovely $400+.  yikes.   Maybe four years ago, but today, I’m well vested in healthy tools to add to my arsenal and not looking to just consume for sake of consuming.

I’ve been watching Jake get more interested in cooking, and as I’m teaching him the more subtle parts, cringing when I see the scratches in that old teflon.  I know it’s leaking stuff that’s not good for you.  I know it can kill a canary (…which makes me think I know how my dad’s bird died.)   I have one super nice $150 large saute pan, that everything sticks to, requiring copious amounts of oil and generally is useless unless I’m doing thin salsa, ghee or saute.

So I bought the