Once upon a time, a woman had many lids. One for each of most of her pots.
And all those lids lived in a tiny corner at the very back of her kitchen cabinet. They clinked and they clunked and they clanked and they scooted farther and farther back as the pots and the pans and colanders left the cabinet again and again, but the lids were left behind.
On a rare day, when broccoli needed steaming or ground beef needed speedier defrosting, those lids were remembered. And then they were shuffled and shoved and moved as the not-that-old woman who lived in the house grunted and bent and reached to find the one she needed.
But because that not-that-old (really, not that old) woman didn’t love the grunting and the reaching, she usually just grabbed one. Whichever one. And decided that whichever one she grabbed first was perfectly fine for whatever she needed to cover.
Because all those lids were mostly the same size. Some domed, some metal and some glass.
But the not-that-old woman didn’t care what they were made of, and finally tired of the grunting and the reaching and decluttered all but one. One that mostly fit all of the pots that needed the mostly-the-same sized lid.
And she was happy. Because just one lid fit nicely in her cabinet, and even though it didn’t fit perfectly on every single pot, it did the job she needed it to do.
The not-that-old-but-old-enough-to-have-accepted-her-own-non-fancy-cooking-style woman knew that with less in her cabinet, less mess would happen, less grunting would be needed, and less hassle would be experienced.
And she liked that.
Did the not-that-old woman decide she also only needed but 1 large pot, and 1 large skillet, too? Instead of the 3 or more sizes she had before? Like the 1 person size for just 2 eggs which she never cooked because she had a family of 5? And the medium size that were used for a little bit of this, or that, but that could also be cooked in a larger pan if it the medium size weren’t around, or were sitting a sink of dirty dishes? And the sauce pan, and the small stock pan, too?
Did you know you can get silicone pot lids???? ours came in a pack of three different sizes, and they fit every single one of our pots, if we need to cover a casserole dish they work, we use them to cover mixing bowls full of stuff in the fridge, AND they don’t clang around at all. We can roll them into a tube, toss them in the cupboard, and they never stop a cabinet, or drawer from closing. Love them.
Cool!!
I’ll look into this. Thanks!
Andree, I think you just changed my life! I had no idea these existed. I’d love to get rid of all my pot lids but just can’t quite do it. Still have that fear that one day I’ll need them. The silicone lids solve that problem and take up much less space 😀
Love it! I’m more than a decade older than you, and I’m “Not that old” either!! lol
I’ve always been puzzled by people who store the lids of things separate from the thing they cover. I need lids that fit my pots properly. They stay on the pots when they’re on the shelf. The same goes for plastic freezer boxes (most of them were my mother’s, from several different decades, so NOT matching.)
Ok so 5am reading this and my mind was already making excuses why really I should keep this, this, this and that one but I’ll let the other 16 go.. well now wait, this one I’m thinking of is for the electric rice cooker, and what about poached eggs, I really should hang onto the heavier one too. ————> I think I’m hopeless!