Vince...another Sam's Club tri-ply clad owner here. I compared my Sam's Club to my friends' All-Clad and the difference in the "cooking experience" is nada, zippo. The big difference is in the cost! I also lived for many years with my "purchased when I was newly married" Revere Ware. As I got older I decided that I must be a really good cook, since I was using less than stellar cookware and produced really good food. I coveted friends' top of the line cookware, but having a frugal side and being a veteran "shopper", was not ready to plunk down an arm and a leg on cookware that cost a small fortune. I knew I could do better, and researched, researched, researched. I spent more than needed hours looking for the perfect cookware/cookware set that would give me the benefits of All-Clad without the hefty price. And then I went to Sam's Club...just an ordinary day. Saw the Member's Mark tri-ply clad, and the light went on! I handled every piece, saw how the lids fit, looked at the thickness of the construction and decided that it was time. And at less than $130.00, it made sense. I also know that if I wasn't happy with it, I could return it for a full refund. Try that with a retail store! Long story short...you have proved that it's the nag that can keep up the pace to the finish line, rather than have a burst of speed and then poop out before the final bend. You'll love how it evenly holds the heat, how it gives you that delicious bit of fond, how it gently caresses your delicate sauces when necesary, how your pasta keeps on boilin'. BTW...Cook's Illustrated is looking for you!

I saw more films this past year than in any year in my memory. Four. Which isn't that many but its three to four more than most years for me. All of the ones that I saw ended up winning multiple awards. My favorite from this year was Blade Runner 2049, mostly since the original is one of my all time favorite movies and this long awaited sequel perfectly captured the feeling of the original and extrapolated it beautifully. I find it somewhat ironic that Dunkirk won awards for Sound Editing and Sound Mixing when my most vivid memory of the movie was that the sound was so painfully loud that it made the movie one of the worst movie experiences of my life. Three Billboards I mostly enjoyed for the performances, especially Frances McDormand. I had only seen one other "Best Actress" nominated films, but I had no doubt that Frances McDormand would win. Lastly I was initially pleased to see that "The Shape of Water" and its Director Guillermo del Toro were even nominated, usually movies that are viewed as science fiction are dismissed from consideration out of hand. I expected they might fob it off with some technical award or screenplay award, so I was surprised that it received two of the most prestigious awards.

The Molineaux is 7 years old and I got it from Pickering (I miss them so much...), so it's grafted on multiflora, which makes it very vigorous in our area. By the end of the season it's always taller than my 6-foot fence and saying hello to the neighbors. The coloring really depends on the weather, and I think the lack of sunshine brought out the peachy tones.

It's so interesting to take novels we enjoyed as young people, and re-read as adults. It's a whole different viewpoint. I wouldn't include The Little Prince as a novel, but it is a wonderful little book. Every time I read it, or my kids read it, it's different. April and Lars, perhaps I will try Russian novels again . . . if I own it and can mark it up, and if it's a good translation. But maybe not Dostoevsky. After reading Dickens and Hugo, who were also likely paid by the word, I don't think I have the attention span anymore. My son was in Les Mis in high school, and I decided to read the novel by the time the show closed. Well, through 4 months, wholesale skipping pages dealing with pruning fruit trees, underground sewer systems, and Napoleonic battles, I finished the last page while waiting for him to get home from the cast party. Grueling. Excellent, but grueling.