Make fun all you like, but I have an excellent relationship with my crock pot and it does the heavy lifting for me while I’m slogging away at work. It was only a matter of time before I saw recipes for Dutch ovens. And who doesn’t like a piece of cookware that goes from the stove top to the oven?
Me apparently, because have you seen the prices for these things? They are 3 times the price of the combination of a frying pan and baking dish, which separately do the jobs of a Dutch oven. Le Creuset comes in as the French couture option, at a whopping 4 c-notes ($400). Does it pour my wine for me too and bring me a croissant in the morning? That might be worth 400 bucks. The “affordable” versions are $100 and change. It’s a pot for chrissakes, that has more than one purpose. I know I’m older and $100 bucks doesn’t buy all that much these days, but it should get you more than one pot IMHO.
But then I remembered the Dutch oven my mom used when we grew up. And I remembered that it is a Dutch oven from Holland.
Stick that up your croissant, France. My dad grew up there (I wrote a book about it, and it’s no longer available online, but I still have copies I can send), and we went there once as a whole family. I think the oven was acquired then, but I cannot verify or deny. My mom passed away in 2020, and the oven was still around at my dad’s house, but it’s been COVID, and hard to visit, so I kept forgetting about it. Also, I have 3 siblings, and I wanted to be mindful; maybe someone else coveting it as much as I did (not possible, but it’s good to seem benevolent). Or maybe my 93-year-old-father still uses it. I would look like a real a-hole if I took it from him.
But then I would come across a recipe and think of that damn haute cuisine Le Creuset version. I became like a foiled evil villain in a cartoon, shaking my fist at the sky: I don’t need to empty my bank account! I could have my family’s Dutch oven!
Bless my oldest sister who kept remembering, and on her last visit to my dad’s house, actually procured the Dutch oven. Turns out it was sitting in the way back of a cabinet collecting dust. She secured it, brought it to me, and we made a fabulous pot roast in it. And now, it is, utterly, undeniably, pry-it-from-my-dead-cold-hands mine.
And I felt like I won the lottery. Ain’t life weird? Or maybe it’s just me. Either way, get your hands off my authentic Dutch oven.
sandradeden.com 
oh my God! I’m in the same boat. The Le Creuset Dutch oven was on sale at Costco for a ridiculously amazing price, considering it’s sticker price! But I didn’t buy it because I didn’t think I wanted it. And about a month later I realized I wanted a Dutch oven for so many reasons but it was no longer available at Costco. So I’m using other things in lieu (pardon my French) of a real Dutch oven. Supposedly, the way they’re made is to ensure that the heat disperses uniformly throughout the pot. And Le Creuset is supposed to be the most well-made one. Alas, I’m glad you have your Dutch oven! Love you and miss you!
I wish you success in hunting down a decently priced Dutch oven! And if anyone out there doesn’t want theirs anymore, we have an person here who will take it off your hands! BTW I had that grill you gave us years ago for many years. When I moved to JP, the apartment had the exact same one so I gave mine away so I didn’t have to move it. Love and miss you too!
When my now husband moved in with me he arrived with a full set of Le Creuset saucepans including two ‘dutch ovens’ – i have never heard them called that here in the UK.
I was hoodwinked into believing they must mean he could cook – he can now but needless to say they were him mums castoffs.
We still have them today.
Your husband did the old bait and switch! He was taking his chances, those pans and his head could have had a serious “accident,” ha! That’s so interesting about the name in the UK—looks like I will be Googling “Where does the name Dutch oven come from.”
Love it, Sandy, really enjoyed reading this. I never saw the Dutch over in person — but can picture your family’s home, your parents, and the kitchen.
Awww! Thank you! We were trying to remember what she made in it. Mostly everyday things I think and she may have used it less as we got older. God only knows what we fed you when you stayed at at our house, lol!
Everything you may or may not want to know about “Dutch” ovens…
https://ovenspot.com/why-is-it-called-a-dutch-oven/
When looking for things from the past, I often recommend eBay, (if you aren’t averse to used items). 😉
Ha ha, thank you big sister who retrieved the Dutch oven!