Although most of my ideas are pretty good and most of them work well, occasionally I implement one that doesn’t work. In my recent cooking efforts, I needed to steam some seafood. I have awesome Le Creuset cookware, and a steamer insert, but I don’t have the right size pan for it. I know what you’re thinking… that stuff is expensive! My first piece was $4 at a thrift store. I fell in love with it and got a set for free with my credit card points. I bought a few other pieces on eBay and from the Le Creuset outlet store. I’ve had it for a long time, and this stuff will last for generations if you take good care of it. At the outlet, it would still cost $150 for the pot I need, so I decided to improvise.
I placed the steamer inside a pan that was too big, using metal chopsticks inside the holes to hold it up in the pan. It did okay steaming the food, but not great since most of the steam and water was coming out the sides.
Today, being a few days later, my kitchen smells awful. I took out the trash, took out the recycling, washed the dishes, put lemon rinds in the disposal, sprayed Lysol in the trash can, scrubbed the counters… you get the picture. Still smells. Where is it coming from? Between the creative steaming and my earlier boil-over on the stovetop, there was nasty water under my burners. I have one of those Jenaire ranges with attachments, so it has an nice little tub under the burners to collect liquids. Oh!! It was bad! (photo was after cleaning it)
I got it all cleaned up. Next steaming escapade? I will have to find a used 5.5 Le Creuset piece for a screaming deal or use the burner on my outdoor grill. Being cheap, or frugal as some like to say, I’ll probably just cook outside. :)
Okay, here’s a little bonus. This is how I shop or find things I want or need. Excluding the tile on the wall, everything in the photo was $4.
