Print edition: 
Good cooks or even aspiring cooks love good cookware and culinary gadgets.
The right pan or kitchen tool makes cooking more enjoyable and renders better results. Whether you are thinking a major purchase or simply stocking stuffers, there are many excellent choices. Why not give the cooks in your life a gift they actually will use this year?
On Saturday morning, I invite you to stop by Cooking at Bonnie’s Place, where I will be conducting a complimentary cooking demonstration at 10 a.m. I will discuss cookware and various gadgets as I demonstrate Pasta Fagiola, a hearty Italian vegetable soup from my cookbook “Cooking With Bonnie: Farm to France.” I would love to have you stop by, watch the demonstration and pick up your free copy of the recipe. I also will be autographing my cookbook. And as always, I welcome your questions about food and cooking.
If you are thinking of purchasing cookware, quality does make a difference. The first set of pans I purchased many years ago seemed to be a bargain, but they were far from “good” pans. Learning to cook with my “bargain” purchase was frustrating — most things scorched no matter how much I stirred, and my over-easy eggs always ended up scrambled as they would stick like glue to the bottom of the skillet. Some pans actually buckled and rocked when on the burner. Eventually, I upgraded my cookware, and my culinary skills and joy of cooking suddenly improved.
Here is an excellent question from one of our readers who is contemplating making a major purchase.
Q. It is time I retired my older set of aluminum pans and want to purchase a really good set of cookware for myself. Where do I start? The choices are overwhelming. What kind of material is best?
A. I prefer stainless steel and use it almost exclusively because it looks good and is easy to clean. But you need to look for quality. Some are lightweight and will not cook well.
Stainless pans that are “clad” or have layers of metal, with one of them being copper, are excellent conductors of heat and will cook beautifully.
Look for pans that are easy to grasp because they create less stress on the wrist. Non-reactive pans are a good option, too, because you can cook anything in them.
There are several good brands available. Regardless of what brand you select, pick the pans up and see how they feel in your hand — you will be using them frequently and want comfortable pans.
