14-1-28

I invested in a lot of kitchen stuff lately. Some stuff I spent a lot on, buying the best I could afford, other things I saved on, buying things that I imagined didn't need to be "invested" in. Yesterday I broke my grater. It was less than a year old. A grater is the kind of thing that I figured lasted forever. No moving parts. Pretty basic design. Most every cheese grater I've used has been quite old, rusty even, but still perfectly effective at doing what it was supposed to do. I didn't imagine I would have to give my purchase of a grater much consideration.

And then it broke. It came apart at the crimped seam. I thought about welding it. I tried to recrimp the seam with a pair of pliers. And then I considered my $6 grater and how it had already failed me and decided I would replace it instead.

I'm at an age where the things I buy might very well be the last of the type of thing I'm buying. I bought a pretty decent carving knife before Christmas, it should last 40 years. And I bought a good chef's knife a few years ago. It, too, should last 40 years. And today I bought this cheese grater. It comes with a 25 year warranty. I have a hard time believing any company will be around for 25 years these days. But the promise of 25 years of service was intriguing, and I spent $30 on a cheese grater as a result despite a perfectly serviceable one being on the shelf next to it for a mere $7. The quick math suggests I could buy four $7 cheese graters for the price of this one, and if they all provide me the good, solid year of performance my first affordable grater gave me I'd still be looking for a grater 21 years before my fancy new grater would, in theory, be done, assuming the warranty represents an actual life expectancy.

I was warned that this grater has actual, sharpened blades vs the stamped metal openings more traditionally found on most graters. "Be careful. You don't want to be explaining to your guests what the 'special ingredient' is in your dinners." I'd prefer to keep my finger tips, I will be careful.

So now I'm set for graters for the next 25 years. And tonight the handle came off my 1 cup measuring cup. How hard is it to attach a handle to a measuring cup?