Here we are again on Macro Monday – and I have a nice easy one for you! This will no doubt come as a relief to you all.

Unless …

… Unless I have it wrong again and it isn’t easy at all! Looks easy to me, but, don’t they always?

Anyway, this week’s puzzle is a very familiar object, though perhaps a little more ‘up close and personal’ than you’re used to seeing it. Also, maybe, from a rather different angle. I bet you all have one though – or had one at some time or other. We have (let’s see … ) seven of this type, and at least four which are a whole lot more modern. I also have a lot which are basically the same thing, but don’t look much like this. They do perform the same basic function though – and no, I don’t need them all, I just like them, and I’m a bit of a squirrel.

People use these things in several forms. The way they look is as variable as a pair of curtains or a person’s choice of floor coverings – but just like those things, despite all the differences, when you see it, you know exactly what it is.

Take your best shot! Answers in the comments, if you think you know what it is, and I’ll be back tomorrow to enlighten you with a nice little picture link.

Well, there. Quite a few of you got this one! First one to get it right was Carletta – well done, Carletta! – and then we have Margie, Denise, DutchBaby, Baino, Granny Grimble, and Babs. In fact, well done, all of you!

There were those who decided against going with the right answer (you know who you are!) and then we have the witty ones, which I always love. Thanks to Sistertex, Silverback, Brinkbeestinenglish and Maureen for the laughs, and special thanks to Mara for managing to drag Johnny Depp into it! You all know how much I appreciate that!

For those who still don’t know what it is, go here, and all will be revealed! Later this evening you’ll be able to read in the comments exactly why there are cobwebs in there.

Thanks for playing!

When we got married, thirty-odd years ago, one of the vets I worked for at the time gave us a large Le Creuset casserole dish. I had never seen one before. It was orange, and very, very heavy. I’ve learned since that at one time they only came in this orange colour, which they call ‘volcano’. And also that it was heavy because it was made of cast iron.

We still have that casserole. It’s done it’s fair share of cooking family dinners over the years, everything from macaroni cheese, to casseroles with dumplings, and it’s got a few chips and dings, and the enamel is slightly crazed, but you see, that’s one of the good things about cast iron: if you expose the metal, it’s actually good for you, because it slightly increases the iron content of your food. No worries there.

Anyway. For years and years (and years) we couldn’t afford Le Creuset cookware, so I loved that casserole. The Pyrex dishes we were given for wedding gifts are almost all of them gone, smashed to pieces or chipped or scratched too badly to use. And saucepans? OK, let’s talk about saucepans. Our original (second-hand) saucepans have been replaced many times over, going from new, thin, aluminium or enamelled pans, through Pyrex glass (never again!) to heavy duty aluminium and, with the advent of our induction hob, to stainless steel (you can’t cook with aluminium or glass on induction hobs, because the heat is induced in the saucepan itself by the use of magnets).

I love stainless steel saucepans, but the first ones we bought turned out to have un-coated aluminium sandwich bases which eroded to a knife edge in the dishwasher, and after cutting my hands one time too many on the damn things, we replaced them with better pans. The new ones were solid, with completely enclosed bases, but (bizarrely) aluminium alloy rivets, which were also eroding in the dishwasher. So the time came last week to think about replacing these ones, too, before the handles fell off when I was carrying something hot and heavy.

We bit the bullet and went to the newly opened Le Creuset store in the city.

Oh joy!

There we found our new set of saucepans on the ’sale’ stand, looking a little lost, with their ticket marked down from £204 to £153. What was wrong with them, you ask? Well, it was terrible! They were the old pattern and hadn’t got the magic words ‘Le Creuset’ stamped into the supporting grip opposite the handle. Oh no!! How could anyone possibly live with such defective pans?

I decided I could, and grabbed them, quickly, before someone else walked in and decided that they could live with them, too.

And then, on the same table, I spotted this beautiful blue skillet – the subject of my Macro Monday puzzle for this week.

I’d been thinking about buying one of these corrugated skillets for some time, because you use a lot less fat this way, but well, I just didn’t feel justified in lashing out on one. However, when you’re faced with a Le Creuset piece in such a gorgeous colour, just begging to be rescued from its ignominious position on the Table of Shame … well, I’ve always been a sucker for the underdog, especially when said underdog comes at such a knock-down price.

Yep, believe it or not, the price of my skillet was reduced from £65 to £45 because of that one, small dimple – which was completely coated in the requisite amount of satin black enamel, by the way. If you look very, very carefully at that picture, you may just be able to spot it by one of the pouring lips. If not, enlarge it by clicking once here, and then again on the next page.

There were also the most gorgeous kettles reduced by 50% simply because they’d been packed into boxes with the wrong picture on them. So, I say to you, dear readers, if you hanker after a piece of this legendary cookware, there may never be a better time to run off to your nearest store and get it. Always providing, of course, that you live in the UK, and you can get there in time.

I can’t see this stuff hanging around too long, even if it is still quite expensive after the heavy price cuts. I mean, look – the saucepans can even do tricks with their lids!

There. Isn’t that beautiful? Well, I think so!

But what is it? That’s the question.

Well, I can tell you that the colour is a tad misleading, because it’s not really that silvery. In fact, it doesn’t look silver at all unless you shine a bright light on it, which, of course, is what happened here.

I can also tell you that it’s not something you’re ever likely to take away from the house until it’s ‘dead’. Too damn heavy, for one thing, and well, I can’t think of anything you’d use it for if you did. Of course, those of you who’ve watched ‘Chocolat’ might have some idea … but there are better, more lightweight, items which would work just as well for that, and anyway, you can’t exactly tuck this thing under your arm while you nip out. With my luck, I’d drop it and then it would most likely break.

You might like to know that it’s not squashed, and I’m guessing it’s about three x life-size.

Oh, and that dimple? That’s rather important. I probably wouldn’t have bought it if it hadn’t been for that dimple.

Answers in the comments, please, and the answer will be added at the bottom of this post tomorrow in the form of a link. I’ll do it nice and early so you can all get the answer quickly.

No cheating, now!

What – are you still here? You want more clues? Well alright … just one more.

If you fancy some less demanding macros, pop on over to Lisa for the rest of the Macro Monday contributions.

OK, everyone? Ready for the answer? Here it is! And if you want any further explanation, go here.

So, kudos to Granny Grimble, who guessed every part of this puzzle, right down to the brand name – well done, Granny! I think you can safely be named as this week’s winner!

Congratulations also to Silverback, Baino, Brinkbeestinenglish, Kala and Jama, all of whom guessed the item correctly. Mara get points for her convoluted thought processes, connecting Johnny Depp with Chocolat and griddlepans, and Silverback loses his place on the winners list for not knowing that cast iron will break if you drop it! There, that was fun, wasn’t it?

Thanks for playing everyone – you all make these puzzles work so well!

Update: Following an impassioned plea, I hereby reinstate Silverback on the winner’s rostrum, despite the fact that he said ‘It can’t be that’ in his comment. He’s right though, he did say ‘cast iron grill pan’, so even though I call them skillets, he’s back in the list of Right Guessers!

Granny Grimble is still the outright overall winner though. She got everything right, and didn’t do any pussyfootin’ backtracking.

Now, what shall I confuse and bewilder you with for Macro Monday this week, I wonder?  I don’t want to make it too easy, but I don’t want to make it too difficult either, and I’m notoriously bad at deciding one way or the other. Hmm …

I know!  How about this?

Too easy?

Well, alright, if you think this is too easy, how about you tell me, not only what it is, but where it is?

It is an ordinary household object, and I’m pretty sure most of you have more than one of these. Like so many ordinary household objects it does vary in design, but the part visible here doesn’t change much. Oh, you can buy fancy ones, but this is the standard type. As to where it is, well, it’s certainly not in the place it’s intended to be, but I’m betting a goodly number of you have put them here at one time or another, and maybe do so quite regularly.

So, take your best shot, and put your guesses in the comments below! I’ll be back tomorrow evening (UK time) to add the answer to the bottom of this post, in the form of a picture link so as not to spoil it for those who still want to have a go.

Have fun!

Well, clearly that wasn’t very difficult, now, was it? I think the majority of you got this one right, with Carol getting in first with her 100% correct guess – well done, Carol!

The answer is here, if you all want to just check it out. You’ll see that in fact most of you are right in essence, but not all of you are totally right – further information on that in the comments!

Teresa, what can I say. I never knew I had Captain Hook hanging in my closet. I’d better go take a look! Once again, the most creative comment, by a long way!

Thank you all for playing! See you next week?