thrift store finds: terra cotta bread pan

As a college student, I had an assortment of pots and pans that mostly came from random garage sales. I wasn't picky — I was broke, so I bought whatever cheap, serviceable pots and pans I could find for a buck. This collection included a teflon coated frying pan and pot, an aluminum bread pan and muffin pan, some cheap, non-stick cookie sheets, and other things I needed along the way.

Graduation brought a stainless steel set of pots and pans from my parents (so long, teflon!), and I'd picked up a couple of heavy Lodge cast iron skillets along the way. We also got a new set of non-stick baking sheets and muffin tins as wedding gifts . . .

Recently, though, I started reading about the dangers associated with non-stick coatings (including teflon's propensity for killing birds with fumes) and the fact that these coatings are being phased out (by law) in the next few years. And I've read for awhile about the dangers possibly associated with aluminum (no one reputable is fully backing these up, but there have been links between aluminum and Alzheimer's).

And because I'm mama to a sweet kid who likes to help cook, I decided that now was the time to start phasing out the remainder of our non-stick and aluminum cookware, and investing in stainless steel, cast iron, and stoneware.

This can be expensive, but I did manage to find this heavy, terra cotta bread pan at a thrift store recently, in perfect condition, for under $5.

As a bonus, it was locally made right near here, at Planned Pottery in Eugene, Oregon, in 1979.

Pretty awesome that it's settling in here, to bake my family's bread for years to come!

Thanks for reading!

p.s. you can make these photos larger just by clicking on them, but you probably already knew that.


Linking up to:

Simple Design's Thrift Haul
Cap Creations' Thrifty Love
Southern Hospitality
Thrift Share Monday