Kitchen essentials: Le Creuset

Thank heavens I was watching my RSS reader in time to see Simply Recipes' alert yesterday for a 7-piece Le Creuset set for a mere $239. Considering each of the pans in the set retail for $100 and up, and the combined set went for $550 before the sale, we couldn't resist. Good thing we acted fast, too, because that set is now no longer available. Early bird gets the worm! Amusingly, they also threw in a bonus gift -- a 4-1/2" pumpkin casserole.

We already have one red Le Creuset Dutch oven, and love it to death. The enameled cast iron makes it great for braising and frying, and it cleans up a dream. These pieces should round out our collection and complement our All-Clad MC2 pans nicely.

The Dutch oven will be a redundancy, though, and we do have limited space in the kitchen. Which lucky friend will inherit a new, shiny red Le Creuset pot?