There’s a meme that goes “If I won the lottery there’d be signs…” and then there’s a picture of something outrageous like a life-size Millenium Falcon in someone’s backyard, or a swimming pool filled with Reese’s. Or folks use it as a social critique and show a full gas gauge, a cart of groceries, or going to the doctor and dentist.

I did not win the lottery tonight, but I can at least point to one item that I would purchase if I were to ever come into enough money where I could consider myself “well off.” I give you, the Le Creuset Signature Pumpkin Cocotte. I hope that link works forever, but in the event that it doesn’t (it’s true, nothing on the internet truly lives forever – particularly if it’s something you want to refer back to at a later point in time), this is what the Le Creuset Signature Pumpkin Cocotte looks like in the “Persimmon” color:

Feast your eyes upon that enameled cast iron beauty!

“But Jordy,” you say, “I just pulled up the Let Creuset website that you linked to and hasn’t yet become a dead link and I notice that the price for the Signature Pumpkin Cocotte is only $368. A little expensive, sure, but calling this a signifier of wealth? Really?”

Ah, indeed! You see, for $368 (plus shipping) you indeed get a four-quart enamel cast iron cocotte but – in case you haven’t noticed – it’s shaped like a pumpkin. I happen to like pumpkins…for approximately three months out of the year and then I don’t think about pumpkins again.

And there’s the rub!

You have means enough to decide to drop nearly $400 on an ornamental cooking vessel that you’re likely only going to pull out for three months out of the year. What’s more, even during those three months, how often are you reaching for a four-quart pot? I’m going go to out on a limb and say it’s almost certainly not every day. Maybe once a week? Say, Sunday dinner? Four Sundays a month, three months, now you’re using this nearly $400 ornamental pot maybe twelve times a year.

But what are you doing with it the rest of the year? You need a place for it to go – somewhere safe. So, you’ve got the money to outlay for this enamel cast iron gourd and the kitchen real estate to stash it when it’s not in use (so, almost all the time). Nice kitchen, space to spare…

But let me say again, it’s not that expensive up front. But it’s the fact this thing has risen to the top of your “I should buy this” list ahead of everything else in your life, and you’ve got the space to store it.

If you own the Le Creuset Signature Pumpkin Cocotte you’re doing just fine.