The saga of a perfect gift

Mother's Day was approaching and Rex was thinking of special gifts for a special me. "No gifts this year." I told him. It just wasn't in the budget after some unexpected expenses. So on Mother's Day Rex made a delicious breakfast and dinner and I thought that was awesome.

But he was plotting the whole time.

With no money in the budget, Rex did some tricky maneuvering. He and ebay are good friends so he sold a few items behind my back, including his treasured high school baseball bat. Over the course of a couple weeks, he secretly stashed the money in his paypal account. Then he researched the perfect gift.

He knew that I loved to cook. And he knew my frustration with cooking one of my favorite dishes, potstickers, in my current pans. They always stuck. Badly. And the cleanup was horrible. When he learned that my friend Alicia had found some magical Rachael Ray pans that repelled food with its nonstick surface, he found the gift. He went to the stores to heft them and decide on the ones to get. He searched the town and the internet for the best price. And he bought.

Then he told me his long-kept secret. "I bought you new pots and pans! They will be arriving on Thursday!" Sweet! I love a good surprise, but I love a surprise with some advanced notice. Yes, I always found out at the ultrasound. Still a surprise, but I got to plan for it. That's what I like, and Rex knows me well.

I marked the calendar and looked forward to the few days until they arrived. Then, as luck would have it, I fell dreadfully ill on Wednesday and couldn't get out of bed for a few days. Thursday came, and so did the well-anticipated package, but I couldn't even get out of bed to open the door. The pans sat for a couple days. I loved them, but I couldn't think of eating, much less cooking.

But hurray! I am well again! And the pots and pans are excellent! They have fantastic ergonomic handles and clean up like a dream. I can make eggs and crepes without using even a smidge of butter. And yesterday I put them to the ultimate test. Yes, I made potstickers. Well, I made the dish formally known as potstickers. My potsliders turned out beautifully. Perfectly! I have never made them turn out so well! Each one slid out of the pan with ease, without charring to the bottom and having to force them out with a chisel. I felt like I was the famous cook on Food Network, where everything turns out ready to photograph. They were delicious, and now I will cook them for company without fear.

I love my new pots and pans! I love my husband and his clever, sneaky ways. And Rachael Ray...I love you, too!