Our team is dedicated to finding and telling you more about the web’s best products. If you purchase through our links, we may receive a commission.
With the start of a new year, most of my daily habits (and priorities) from 2020 have stayed the same. For many of us, the last year meant spending all of our time at home -- and a significant number of hours in the kitchen. While at first this seemed novel (cue the bread-baking, kombucha-making era of quarantine), it soon became apparent that I would need, and want, to invest in some quality kitchen staples to elevate such an essential part of my life.
Targeted Instagram ads were ready to market the latest, trendiest kitchen tools to me, but I wanted something timeless, a multi-use brand with the quality to last a lifetime. My mom pointed out the beautiful orange Le Creuset dutch oven that we’ve had on our stovetop for as long as I can remember (and that, I recently learned, had been passed down from her grandmother), and I knew exactly where to start building my bakeware collection.
I first wanted to upgrade one of my daily rituals: coffee and tea. More than a few times each day, I find myself making a cup of tea or coffee -- especially now that I’m rarely grabbing a latté out of the house. Le Creuset’s vibrant porcelain enamel tea kettle -- which I’ve been using (and admiring) in a deep teal color -- not only delivers with the functionality and sturdiness you would expect from the legacy brand, but also looks like a piece of decor on my stovetop. Because I’m using it upwards of four times a day, being able to leave the kettle on display (and love the way it looks) is a welcome bonus.
The kettle, which pairs beautifully with Le Creuset’s mugs and and dinnerware sets, makes my afternoon tea feel like a special occasion -- every day. And can we just take a moment to admire the color and shape of this mug? In the gorgeous, almost ombre Oyster colorway, the mug has a lovely sheen that cleans easily. More importantly, it’s just the right size and shape, easy to hold and adept at retaining heat to keep my drink warm. Can you tell I’m both very particular about my mugs and passionate about this one from Le Creuset?
The brand’s trademark vibrant colors pair well together, adding a welcome brightness and sense of inspiration to my bakeware collection. Because I use these every day, I’m grateful to have dishware that brings both aesthetic pleasure and a high quality I know will endure for years to come.
In addition to expanding my own nascent Le Creuset collection, I’ve gifted my parents some dishware from the brand. They’re beautiful to behold and offer such a wide variety of truly rich colorways: Le Creuset’s dishes, small ramekins, mugs, and other coffee and teaware have become my go-to gift of the season. Beyond their aesthetic value, I know that any item from the 95-year-old heritage brand is bound to please even the most discerning tastes, from my parents to my very discerning French grandmother (who, of course, loves to hear that Le Creuset’s enameled cast iron is still handcrafted in France at the original foundry).
To christen my new Le Creuset pie dish, I decided to attempt a very Martha Stewart berry cobbler. Transparently, my favorite part of baking are the sensory elements: the smell of what I’m making, the sight of bread rising in a shimmering dutch oven, enjoying my creation with friends or family. So baking a simple cobbler in my new Le Creuset pie dish -- in a vibrant “Flame” colorway -- was a few hours in heaven.
Despite the ample time I’ve spent watching baking-related television programming, I’m no star baker, but the Le Creuset bakeware collection transformed my humble cobbler into something worth celebrating. And despite the delicious browning on the surface and surroundings of my cobbler (thanks to a generous combination of butter and sugar), the smooth ceramic enamel made the pie dish easy to clean.
When it came time to serve the cobbler, I turned to my choices of colorful plates (the “Flame” and “White” colorways pair so well together), and used a brightly colored mini cocotte to hold some fresh whipped cream.
After my test run, I’m a firsthand believer: I now see why my parents are still using their Le Creuset dutch oven (and preparing to pass it down yet another generation). Investing in Le Creuset’s versatile, timeless, and elegant collection is my favorite resolution of 2021 -- and the one I’m most likely to keep.
Start your Le Creuset collection now -- and build it for years to come.
