How nice!!....Spread the wealth ( equipment) and the knowledge and love of good food.

I have given a few knives I made to friends. I have not met any young students who are interested in cooking or good food.

dcarch

What a lucky young man!

I have a house mate now. She is 25. We share cooking and cleaning... the cook doesn't have to clean up. :) So far this has been working GREAT. She lived in an apartment and had a lot of cooking utensils etc. We both ended up boxing stuff and putting it in storage, as we had to many duplicates. But neither of us is giving our stuff up at this time. After all, we just moved in together last month... and who knows at this time, how long it will work for us.

But again, I think it is awesome that you can help this young man out with items you no longer use/need.

Moni

I guess I need to start getting ready for him, as he will be here early tomorrow. We are also in the middle of having our house exterior painted.

I still use the pie keeper you sent me, Moni, and so you can rest assured that it has been put to good use. They don't make pie keepers like that anymore.

I've never divided duties so that the cook doesn't have to clean up, although my grandmother did. I feel that in such a case, the cook can make a huge unnecessary mess, and I always felt that whoever makes the mess should clean it up. I divide chores differently. For example, my brother mows the back yard and takes care of recycling and trash. Also, he does almost all of the driving, partly because my driving scares him. Plus I decide the menus, and he has to eat what I make!

Lars, that is very kind of you to share your unused cooking items with that young man. Not only do young people not have many kitchen items, many of them don't even know what they might need, or the use for some particular item, so it's always nice to have a more experienced cook there to help. Even if he is relatively proficient at cooking, the act of cooking is sometimes much simplified with the right tools.

Here Elery and I both cook, although I do most of it. He will eat whatever I cook, but I'll often ask him what he would like. Sometimes I've planned to make something and he'd prefer something else, so I change the menu. Tonight, for instance, I was going to make turkey pot pie out of some leftover turkey breast. He mentioned that he'd thought about using the leftover turkey to make Kentucky Hot Browns. Since I didn't have my heart set on that pot pie, I just made him the Hot Browns and I had a turkey sandwich because there's no way I'm eating a plateful of anything covered with cheese sauce. We usually both clean up, no matter who did the cooking. Most items go into the dishwasher anyway, the rest he washes and I dry.

Moni, as long as the arrangement works for you, enjoy it. If a time comes when thins change, then the arrangement may have to change, but for now it seems good for both of you.

Annie

It's lovely to be able to share stuff and your knowledge. Better to give equipment away than have it sit in the garage.

I am saving mine to give to my own kids. I have one son in college who will get his own apartment soon. Whatever he has, I will be paying for them. Probably better I give him the old things and I keep the new things!

I'm no near as nice as you Lars. I love to give my kids, nieces and nephews my used kitchen stuff as an excuse to buy new. Otherwise I can't justify it LOL

I've bought new stuff even though the new stuff was still functioning. For example, I bought a new potato ricer when I saw it on sale for cheap, and it was much nicer than the one I have. I also bought a new FoodSaver, but that was mainly because my old one had a broken tip, making it difficult to use the jar attachments. I really do like the new FS better; it has a removable hose, and so if the tip gets broken, I can just replace the hose for cheap. It also opens like a book and allows me to control how much waste there is in the bag, which will make it easier to reuse the bags. The old FS created a 3/4" to 1" space between the opening and the seal, and so I would lose at least an inch of bag depth when I opened it. The new one will seal a bag with only 1/4" wasted space.

I would let Kevin help with menu choices, but he never wants to make a decision, and he tells me to make whatever I want. I think he doesn't want me to feel like I am doing him a favor or making anything specifically for him.

Well, they came at lunch but did not take very much. They wanted to go to the garage first, and I gave them some plates and bowls that were overflow and do not fit into the kitchen or dining room. He took three dinner plates, three salad plates, and two dessert bowls plus two small mixing bowls. I also gave him some pans that were there, plus two 9x9" square glass Pyrex pans that I had forgotten I had. Since I never ever use those, they were just taking up space. I prefer to use my Corningware pans instead, since they have lids, and they are the same size except that they are a bit deeper, which is better. Before they left, I gave him some microfiber cloths, which Lee had introduced me to. I had bought a huge supply at Home Depot when they were on clearance sale and had more than I could easily store. I told him he needed them. They were supposed to take two quartz trivets that I got from the quartz mfg when I had my countertops installed, but they forgot to take them. Those are also just taking up space. I can take those to work to drop off, however. I was hoping they would take my Cuisinart ice cream machine, since I never use that any more, now that I have a compressor ice cream machine.

I think they could have gotten everything they took at a thrift store, but I think perhaps they do not shop at thrift stores.

Lars, he sounds like a lovely young man! I wonder whether he was being polite, just taking what he really needed, or if he's trying to keep a lid on "stuff". Perhaps you can add a few more useful tools (does he have a whisk?) when you take in the trivets.

When I moved off campus my mother walked through the house handing me stuff. The only "useless" one was a wood serving contraption that spins and has little holes all over for toothpicks and a small bowl on top. It was a gift from a close cousin so she wouldn't have just gotten rid of it. I never used the spinny part, but the bowl made an excellent nut/candy bowl. The rest were all the basic tools that had been demoted to camping grade, and stuff like that. Whisk (whisks are very useful--so much easier than just using a fork), pancake turner, scraper, wooden spoon, cooking spoon, knives.

I mention it because the young man obviously knows how to cook, but took away only zap and go stuff.

I have a hard time letting go of stuff that I might need maybe someday perhaps. But I also have a small house and a very odd cooking setup. I am getting better though and I like the idea of passing along.

I gave my sister a lovely cobalt but huge roasting that was our grandmothers - I have no where to use it and never roast 25 lb turkeys. She does Thanksgiving with her family of 5 plus, her BIL's family of 6, step children with spouses and a variety of us extras.

I gave my never used aluminum pressure cooker to my nephew. It was a Christmas gift years ago from my uncle and aunt (spectacular cooks both) and again it doesn't work on my induction. Of course now I am considering an instant pot.

I really need to streamline my dishes which are a mishmash of new and old. My grandmother had a huge collection of ironstone bowls and chipped old flow blue plates etc... I got some of it plus own miscellaneous collection. I love the old stuff but can only display a few and really only use a small part of it.

What a good idea.

And everything you give away has already been well trained and is ready to prepare food!

Agmss-- Definitely get yourself an Instant Pot. My mother had a pressure cooker and I was always terrified it might explode or scorch me. But I fell for the hype on the IP and I'm not sorry. This week I made yogurt (cold start using Fairlife low fat milk and a tablespoon of Fage greek yogurt as a starter) and I made a 25 min (more or less) veal stew for DH. I've also whipped up a turkey breast in under 45 min. It's a great one pot device and I'm going to get rid of my slow cooker. It's totally unnecessary now!

Yogurt in the Instant Pot (this is one way to make it)

There were more things he wanted that he did not get around to taking, and so I will make a collection to take to his mother. He said he wanted spoons, and I have a lot more than I need, and so I will add some of those. I use all the whisks that I have, and so I won't be giving any of those away. The ones I didn't use I have already gotten rid of.

He has also said that he wants me to teach him how to make bread, and so I thought perhaps I would make a video for that also, and maybe he could be in it. His mother wants to make videos with me, and I think that would be a good idea. He seemed interested in making Pan de Mie, but he doesn't have a Pullman pan, and I'm keeping mine.

I have a Fagor pressure cooker that I bought specifically to use with a portable induction burner, and I use it all the time. I don't use the induction burner for anything else, but I do like it with the PC. When I bought the 5-piece set, it was on a special sale, but I don't remember what I paid for it. That was back in 2013. I mostly use the 4-quart pot, but the 8-quart pot has a steamer insert that I sometimes use for steaming vegetables.

i'd be finding thrift stores in area of his school. seem to recall a post somewhere that thrift stores get flooded with all sorts of (good) stuff when students pack up to go home... either no room for stuff or too lazy to pack it up?? WHY by a cheap toaster when you might finds a Cuisinart/kitchen-aide at Good Will?

Years ago, I gave a bunch of kitchen stuff to the older sister of one of my daughter's friends--she was moving into her first apartment.

I did another round of giving to my stepdaughter, then a few years later, when my son moved into his first place, most of his stuff came from my recently deceased brother's kitchen.

I cleaned out my kitchen again when my daughter moved into her first apartment. I didn't have any pots or pans to give her since I liked all of mine but my BFF had some she had kept but didn't need--so off to college they went.

This is know as the trickle down theory of kitchen acquisitions. (It works for cars and electronics, too)

I'm getting an induction cook top when we build next year, so I guess one of them is getting my pots and pans.

anorigial, I can tell you why my kids didn't keep most of their stuff when they moved out of their places (although it didn't flood the thrift shops). One lived for 3 years with 4 other guys. Stuff didn't survive--and then he moved across the country and what didn't fit in the vehicle didn't go. My daughter moved out of her place and left most stuff behind with her roommate, who was staying another year. She only moved two states away--but again, if it didn't fit in her vehicle, it didn't go.

Beth, your trickle down theory reminds me of when I was visiting a young man when his mother informed him that she was giving him her Cuisinart. So she could buy a new one, natch. :)

You also reminded me that now and then my mother will mention some item she thought she had but hadn't seen for awhile. Inevitably my response has been, "You gave me that fifteen years ago. I have it. Do you want it back?"