I have bought so many things that didn’t work out. Lured by an ad, a store display, or an efficient sister-in-law whipping out food with a handy gadget, I have succumbed.
Sometimes these things didn’t fit, or I didn’t use them as much as I thought I would, or they were flimsy and broke, or they didn’t work as promised, or they proved deeply unlikeable, or I simply didn’t need them.
But sometimes, usually by sheer impulse and luck, I buy things things that bring me joy with their steady durability and usefulness. Here are some of them.
[This is not an advertisement, and I won’t receive any revenue from posting these.]
1. My Instant Pot.
We bought it at a Black Friday sale in maybe 2018, and I use that thing all the time. I like it best for:
--hardboiled eggs
--steel cut oats
--dry beans [cooking and canning]
--whole potatoes for potato salad
--cubed potatoes for mashing or roasting
*see instructions below
I don’t find it nearly as scary as a regular pressure cooker because it monitors itself, and if I go outside and absentmindedly get distracted with deadheading roses, it won’t blow up the house.
2. My set of china. When I got married, choosing a set of china was a big deal for a Mennonite bride who was expected to host special dinners on a beautifully-set table. Women planned to use their china for years and then hand the set to their children and grandchildren.
I put off choosing a set when I got married because we were poor and also because we moved to the far reaches of northern Ontario, Canada, and lived there for 8 years. I chose plastic and melamine over china.
After we were back in the US, I thought, “You know, I’m hosting a lot. I should get some china.”
I had a choice: spend a lot of time finding the perfect set, or buy a less-than-perfect set, just to have something to use.
I chose the second. A local woman dealt in used china, and I bought a pretty but not perfect set from her.
It happened to match a set that belonged to this woman’s mother, and after she died, this woman gifted me her mother’s dishes, giving me a total of 31 dinner plates and various totals of coffee cups and dessert bowls, which I promptly took to a Smucker Christmas dinner, because there were enough plates for everyone, and it wouldn’t be the end of the world if one broke.
I have served countless Sunday dinners on these dishes, and birthday suppers, and Christmas dinners.
I even put them in the dishwasher. Also, the colors lend themselves to every holiday and coordinate with green tablecloths for Christmas and peach for Easter and black or white or blue for everything else.
In this case, less than perfect was exactly right.
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| The annual Kenyan dinner in Steven's honor |
3. Along with that, my set of tableware was one of my best purchases ever. Back in 2005 I went to Pennsylvania for my niece Annette’s wedding, and my sister Margaret took me to a big bent-n-dent store. Among many other items, they had tableware—a knife, fork, and spoon set for I believe $1.
It was pretty and had a nice heft. Back home, I had a collected mishmash of silverware. It was an all or nothing moment. I couldn’t buy a few sets, take them home to see if I liked them, and come back for more.
I decided to take the plunge and purchased 30 sets.
As mentioned, these pieces had a nice heft, so I divided them among family members to fly home. Amy ran into trouble at TSA with her 30 table knives and had to check that bag.
I still use them today. They reside in a separate drawer and emerge for guests, Sunday dinners, and special occasions, one of the smartest purchases ever.
4. The little red shoes in the toy drawer. I had thought these were free at a garage sale 30 years ago when my little daughters oohed and aahed over them and the garage sale lady said, “Do you like those? You can have them!” That happened a lot. But my daughter informs me these were an "Aunt Margaret special."
No other toy has captivated the hearts of visiting 3-year-olds like these. For many years, entranced little girls, as well as little boys, have slipped them on and clomped proudly around the house.
They are solid and undaunted, made to last for another generation or two.
5. Eyeglasses purchased online. I used to buy from the eye doctor like we all did, trying on 25 pairs from the displays on the walls and squinting into the mirrors because we didn’t have our normal glasses on and couldn’t see, then dropping $300 on a pair of bifocals. I think it was Clark Howard who introduced us to the idea of buying eyeglasses online. Bifocals are about $50 on Zenni Optical or $39Glasses. I can have several pairs around the house, which is very nice, being of an age where I lose glasses and many other things.
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| Me in my Zenni glasses, with Amy |
I can also justify prescription reading glasses and computer glasses. If you are Of a Certain Age, you will understand.
6. Prescription sunglasses. I used to buy those awkward clip-on sunglasses to attach to my $300 bifocals, especially for driving. Then I ordered inexpensive unifocal prescription sunglasses. Lifechanging.
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| Sisters in sunglasses |
7. Disposable gloves. I originally purchased disposable medical gloves for tasks like spraying blackberries and using paint thinner. Then I realized I could use them for all the jobs I avoid because the tactile sensations make me queasy, like shaping meatballs and picking chicken off the bones and scrubbing a greasy grill and pressing no-bake gluten-free bars into a pan. I buy the gloves at garage sales or the dollar store and use and toss them with a clear conscience.
8. Rubbermaid containers. Maybe I should hand in my Mennonite Wife badge, because I don’t really like Tupperware. It’s expensive, first of all, so it’s irritating when someone puts a container in the microwave and ruins it with little melted bubbles accented with spaghetti sauce. Also, I can’t use it to send leftovers home with guests because I’ll worry about getting it back. The lids on the skinny Modular Mates storage containers never fit right, and I’ve bruised the palm of my hand more than once trying to get the lid to snap on.
Rubbermaid containers do the job just as well, and the lids are cooperative. If they go to our son’s house filled with turkey and dressing and never return, it doesn’t matter.
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| Rubbermaid on the left, glass on the right |
9. Glass containers. Ok, these are as expensive as Tupperware, but I like them for food storage because I can see what’s inside, and I like them for microwaving because I won’t be eating a handful of plastic.
If you cook ahead and put individual portions in a stack of glass containers in the fridge, you will for a brief moment feel like you have overcome all the barriers and achieved a truly successful, efficient life.
10. Crystal goblets. We should all drink more water, we know that, but drinking from a plastic cup, with its accumulation of flavors absorbed from five years of oj and KoolAid and iced tea, takes all the joy out of it.
I like to buy fancy crystal goblets secondhand, the kind that ring with a precise high note when you flick them with a fingernail. Drinking water becomes an elegant experience. Eventually, after they get knocked into the sink and broken one by one, you can find more at the Goodwill Bins.
So those are a few items I don’t regret buying.
What were your smart purchases? Share in the comments, if you want to.
*Recipes and instructions:
Check the instructions that came with your Instant Pot regarding the minimum amount of water needed. For mine it’s 1 ½ cups. Yours might be more or less.
Hardboiled eggs: Put 1 ½ cups of water in the bottom of the Instant Pot insert. Put in a rack of some kind and half a dozen eggs. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Put the eggs in cold water right away.
Steel cut oats--
Put water and a rack in the bottom of the Instant Pot.
In a bowl, mix ½ cup steel cut oats, 1 cup water, ½ t. cinnamon, 1 chopped apple, 2 T. raisins, and a dash of salt.
Cook for 15-20 minutes.
Dry beans—Pour 2-4 cups dry beans [pinto, navy, black] in the Instant Pot. Add a good teaspoon of salt and cover with 2.5 times as much water as beans.
Cook on high for 27 minutes.
To can beans: Into a pint jar, measure ½ cup dry beans and ½ t. salt.
fill with water to neck.
Add the flat lid and the ring.
Put 1 ½ cups water and a rack into the pot. Add 3 pint jars. Cook at high pressure for 75 minutes.
Potatoes:
Rinse and poke potatoes. Put water and a rack in the pot. Add potatoes and cook for 15 minutes. Cool off in cold water immediately, then drain and put in the fridge until thoroughly cooled off. Peel and grate for potato salad, if you are a Smucker. Others may cube them.
Mashed or roasted potatoes:
Peel potatoes and cut into 1” cubes and put in the Instant Pot along with 1 ½ cups water. Add some chopped garlic and a few fresh sprigs of rosemary.
Cook on high pressure for 10-11 minutes.
Drain and mash, or dump onto a cookie sheet and broil in the oven until browned.
