Brand Loyalty

One of the reasons that I am able to save large amounts of money on food, toiletries, and medicine is because, for the most part, my family has learned NOT to be brand loyal. My boys don’t know there is a difference between the store brand cheese puffs and Cheetos. My husband just tells me he’s out of deodorant . . . and let’s me know if any certain brand doesn’t work for him.

However there are just a few things that aren’t able to be substituted for in our world – Oreos, Blue Bell Ice Cream, Mountain Dew.

But there is only one thing that has caused us to be so brand loyal that I’m using it damaged, broken, blackened.

I received a round baking stone when I got married. That was so long ago it was before there were handles. The whole thing was just flat. Basically it’s made to be used in place of a cookie sheet. It heats more evenly and holds heat better so it cooks everything more evenly and crispy. It works great!

Because it is supposed to be seasoned like a cast iron skillet, you don’t wash it, you simply rinse it off and scrape it. Therefore it begins to turn black with time and multiple uses. It’s not very pretty, but it works great!
Then one day, I was pulling it out of the oven and set it on top to cool. Except I’d accidentally left a burner on and didn’t know it.

I went on with my evening and a little while later, I heard a HUGE cracking/popping sound. The round baking stone was now a semicircle with a jagged edge. It had broken in half right where the heating element had been touching it. UGH!

But true loyalty is the fact that several years later, I’m still using that same half-moon baking stone. I’m sure one of these days I’ll buy another one, but for now it works just fine – even damaged, broken and blackened.
But Sheri Bene – a Pampered Chef consultant – is actually one of our sponsors for Blogmania. So if you like Pampered Chef, need some great cooking accessories or even just pretty dining pieces, or want to hold a Pampered Chef show, she is the one you should look up.

You can actually shop online at the Pampered Chef website. And if you want to talk to Sheri about a show or have a question about any of the items, you can contact her here.