Why did these go away?

"These" being round cake pans with a nifty feature (a cutter bar) that makes it easy to get a cake out of the pan without cursing a whole lot.  

Okay. I know they haven't actually gone away. When I consulted The Google a few minutes ago I learned Vermont Country Store sells them. But you're not going to find them at Walmart or Target. I know. I had a pair of round cake pans with cutters and somewhere along the way, between multiple moves and general weirdness, they disappeared. I'm not much into baking layer cakes so it took awhile for it to sink in that those pans had vanished. When it did sink in they got replaced (eventually) but wherever I bought the replacement pans did not sell pans with cutters. I wasn't thrilled with the lack of cutters but I accepted reality. On those rare occasions when I did use a round cake pan I would wax nostalgic about the cake pans that existed in the good ol' days. I never got nostalgic to the point of doing a serious search for pans with cutters, but I did miss having a set.

Not anymore. Today I am feeling inordinately happy because the granddaughter-in-law gifted me with several. She works as a home health aide. Clients frequently give her things as part of downsizing (Swedish death cleaning?). Some of it is pretty strange, some is useful, and some ends up at St. Vincent de Paul pretty quickly. She never says no because it's obvious the clients (or their family members) are happy to give the stuff to someone they think will use it even when she never will. 

One client is a dude who loved baking. Unfortunately he's now suffering from Lewy body dementia. He gave the GIL multiple springform pans in several different sizes and four pans with cutter bars. I was ridiculously happy to get the springform pans (they're ideal for cheesecakes) and for sure I did a figurative happy dance over the pans with the cutters. I actually used them yesterday to bake a layer cake, which was the first time in a decade or two. I even did a buttercream frosting from scratch -- powdered sugar is a pain to sweep up with you carpet a kitchen with it -- although the cake was from a mix. 

Given what a totally fucked up timeline we're all stuck in it is nice to have something small and tangible to be happy about.