Meet the newest member of the family!

Flame Le Creuset Stockpot, 12 qt., originally uploaded by eloquacious.

My husband, sensing that I was in dire need of a pick-me-up, gave me this sexy beast of a stockpot. Up until now, the largest pot I owned was an 8 quart stockpot, but this one is 12 quarts of gorgeous functionality. And, despite the fact that it was made in Thailand (gasp! shock! horror!) and isn’t enameled cast iron, I’m in love. And let’s face it, if this baby were cast iron instead of enamel on steel, I’d have to hit the gym a little more often (as in, more than never) in order to lift it.

They also come in 16 and 20 quart sizes. If this not-so-little beauty performs as well as I hope it will, I may have to get a larger one. The 20 quart model should do nicely for our annual Advent Celebration’s mulled wine.

As we will be moving soon, I am making an effort to empty out our pantry and freezers. Something I discovered while doing this was that the 18 lb bag of grass-fed beef soup bones I purchased a while back at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market was still nearly intact. I think I’d used … 2 lbs? I decided to kill two birds with one stone: use up some nearly wilted vegetables in the refrigerator and finally put those bones to good use by making beef stock. I was able to fit about half the bones and a small freezer-burned piece of London Broil into the pot at one time, so I’ll still have to do this in two rounds, but I’m excited to see what I can make in the coming days with my super healthy home made stock.