William Sonoma is offering 25% off select All-Clad Tri-Ply Stainless Steel cookware pieces.

One pot that we really like is the All-Clad Tri-Ply Stainless-Steel Soup Pot 4-Qt. - $119.96

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25% Off Select All-Clad Tri-Ply Stainless Steel Cookware at William Sonoma

I saw this deal posted on DealNews.com today and just had to post it on OT to spread the word:
All-Clad Tri-Ply Stainless-Steel Sauté Simmer Pan 4-Qt. - $99 (William Sonoma)

It's one of All-Clad's classic tri-ply stainless steel collection. We have a d5 version of this pan and simply love it and use it for everything - sauteing vegetables, browning meats, making pasta dishes, stews, etc.. I love its large, flat bottom (like a frying pan, great for browning meats), the sloped sides and flared rim (makes scooping and pouring things easy), the tight fitting lid, and the loop handle in addition to the long handle. We had a 6 qt. Tramontina saute pan which used to be my favorite pan, but I like the All-Clad saute simmer pan even more because of its sloped sides and flared rim.

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All-Clad Tri-Ply Stainless-Steel Sauté Simmer Pan 4-Qt. $99 (William Sonoma)

We were looking for a place to eat dinner last night, and decided on South Congress Cafe since we haven't been there in a while.

Calamari - seasoned sliced semolina breaded calamari steaks served with an orange ginger red chile sauce ($12)
As usual, the calamari was super tender and delicious.

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What I Ate: September 7th, 2011 (South Congress Cafe)

We are always looking for good Indian food in South Austin. In a previous visit, we tried the lunch buffet at Tandoori Bistro (1605 E. Oltorf, Austin, TX 512-383-8210) and liked it, so we came back for dinner to try more things.

Vegetable Samosas ($4)

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What I Ate: September 6th, 2011 (Tandoori Bistro)

A few nights ago we ate dinner at 24 Diner (600 N. Lamar, Austin, TX 512-472-5400), which was recently featured on Crave - a new show on The Food Network.

Corn Fritters ($7.95)
These were more like deep fried hush puppies than corn fritters. They are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. The dipping sauce was mildly spicy, creamy, and cumin flavored.

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What I Ate: September 1st, 2011 (24 Diner)

We were in the Bee Caves area so we decided to check out Bee Cave Tavern (11715 Bee Cave Road, Bee Caves, TX 512-477-6535), formerly Zoot where we had dined several times before. We knew that the owner was changing the concept for the restaurant. Whereas Zoot was fine dining in a low key setting, BC Tavern is an upscale, family friendly tavern whose offerings include burgers and other comfort foods. We ordered an appetizer and two main entries.

BC Mac-n-cheese with black truffle ($12)
We absolutely loved this appetizer. We sopped up every last drop of the cheese sauce with our bread.

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What I Ate: August 17th, 2011 (Bee Cave Tavern)

One of my New Year's resolutions is to cook more, and so I've been doing some pantry organization lately. I decided to put a lot of the foods (e.g. flour, sugar, pasta, rice, beans, etc.) into containers rather than leaving them in their bags. I looked at a variety of food storage containers of different materials (e.g. glass, plastic, stainless steel, ceramic, etc.) and of various shapes and sizes. In the end I settled on a combination of these three types of plastic food containers:

Rubbermaid Modular Canisters

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Things We Like: Rubbermaid Food Storage Containers

We have two of these handheld blenders - one for soap making and one for soup making (I still get these two words mixed up sometimes!). I got the first one when I started making soap at home (as a hobby) in the winter of 2007, after I hand whisked a batch of soap mixture for an hour and thought my right arm was going to fall off. The stick blender works wonderfully after many batches of soap. Then we bought a second one when I learned to make dahl soup from an Indian friend, and we've been equally pleased with its performance in the kitchen.

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Things We Like: Cuisinart Smart Stick Handheld Blender

After we moved and settled in, I got one of these laundry sorters with 3 bags and a hanging bar. We used to just throw everything in a laundry basket in one corner of our bedroom, and that was all the space I could afford to allocate to dirty laundry. Now our master closet seems to be as big as our old master bathroom, so I figured why not make laundry easier and be more organized :)? I really like this laundry sorter for several reasons:

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Things We Like: Seville Classics 3-Bag Laundry Sorter with Hanger

One cleaning product that we find indispensable in the kitchen is Bar Keeper's Friend. It's a fine white powder that contains no phosphates, bleach, or abrasive substances. It works wonders on getting stainless steel pots and pans sparkling clean, especially after sauteing vegetables or browning meat which often leaves a thin film and slight discoloration on the inside bottom of the pan after normal washing. Regular use of Bar Keeper's Friend also helps to prevent stain buildup.

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Things We Like: Bar Keeper's Friend Multi-Purpose Household Cleanser and Polish