each dish has a lid, so they keep leftovers fresh in the fridge...lots of times the item was baked in the same dish. leftover soup cools quickly after being ladled into the shallow dish and is ready for the fridge in no time. i like to use the large one to hold various savory leftovers from thanksgiving dinner right next to each other in a single dish, yum. cinnamon rolls rise nicely in one and then bake in it as well.
these dishes really earn their space by replacing cake pans, muffin tins, bread loaf pans, and cooling racks. those round layer cakes are spectacular, but every time i tried to make one, the cake broke coming out of the pan... or had a rounded top. i'm sure i could have perfected it, but ultimately a sheet cake us just as tasty...and i don't have to keep cake pans used only twice/year (mr. tribe prefers something other than cake on his birthday).
when i didn't want to throw away paper muffin cups or spray oil cans anymore, i decided to forgo stuck and subsequently broken muffins. now when i make muffin recipes, i just put the batter into the 9 inch x 13 inch dish and bake it like a cake. it increases the baking time slightly, but works out just great. banana bread or other sweet breads bake nicely in the 8 inch x 8 inch dish.
you know i like to keep it simple!
others in this series :: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09
love,
jane
p.s. these glass dishes are made from low thermal expansion glass. mine are pyrex. it's important not to use just any glass dishes in the oven. be sure that they are made with that purpose in mind. in the past i've had some lovely flea market find pyrex in turquoise blue. pyrex has been making these types of dishes since 1915! :)