Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

Earl and I attended an outdoors show at a local arena a few weeks back. It’s one of those shows where boats and fishing are the featured attractions, but other vendors with peripheral interests to the outdoors set up booths. In this case, the particular booth was staffed by a man who claimed he would feed us a fantastic meal in his special cookware if we hung around.

Since Earl is always up for a meal, we hung around. And sure enough, the aforementioned gentleman did produce a meal of chicken, roasted potatoes, corn on the cob, and other vegetables in record time. They were very good too.

But it wasn’t about being philanthropic; rather Ben, the name on his ID tag, represented Kitchen Craft International, a high-end line of cookware that is sold primarily through home parties and trade shows. I’d heard of Kitchen Craft before when a former friend invited me to her house for the same meal cooked on the same cookware. I was just impressed then with the fresh taste of the food, but I was equally aghast at the price of the cookware.

We’re talking thousands of dollars here to outfit one’s kitchen with the appropriate pots, pans, skillets, griddles. I wasn’t tempted because my kitchen is already staffed with more pots and pans than I can ever use at one time. However, Ben demonstrated an electric skillet that did catch my fancy. My current one looks as if I’d mixed tar and feathers in it.

So I broke down and parted with (Be prepared to gasp here. . .) almost four hundred dollars for an electric skillet. Yes, that’s $400! The Liquid Core® Electric Skillet, where you can cook without oil and clean up in an instant, was mine.

Ben had used it in his demonstration and expounded its virtues as he cooked. The thing is that Ben didn’t arrive at my home with the skillet, and I can’t remember all the little tips he offered. So I now have this fancy cookware, but don’t feel up to the challenge of using it. But I’ve added mastering my skillet to the list of things I want to learn. I’ve also admonished myself to stay away from outdoors shows.