The only titanium stuff I've seen is titanium coated (or titanium/ceramic coated) and it generally looks crap. At least images on the net make it look crap. Just looks like your run of the mill non-stick coated pan with flimsy handle. I prefer pans with a nice solid looking/feeling handle with strong rivets attaching it.

I've got a few cast iron pans and grills as well as a decent collection of All-Clad stainless steel pans (what I primarily use). I've got a number of utensils including scraping (but not flipping) spatulas of silicone, med-temp plastics, stainless and of course wood. Wood is my preferred utensil for most cooking - certainly anything that involves stirring. I rarely make pancakes, but I have a stainless spatula (flipper) that does a good job on pans without special coatings.

I need a few more All Clad pieces and will probably pick up a few Le Crueset products this year as well. For non-stick I'd limit myself to oven-safe products meant for the restaurant industry. Their coatings seem a lot more durable. All Clad's non-stick line also looks/sounds very robust.

Bitt, do they make (real) Maple Syrup in the US? As far as I know most of it would have to come from the same place every other region gets it from. Quebec and Ontario, Canada. My girlfriend works in marketing for a conservation authority and in fact they'll soon be starting their Maple Syrup festival. Mmmmm, Fresh. I also like the Aunt Jemima's fake stuff though (because it's what I first had as a kid).

Bruno