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Pretty much any mistake you could make in the process of transporting hot food, I’ve made. Smushed cakes, capsized lasagnas, warm salted caramel apple pie filling oozing out from a lattice crust—you name it. I have tackled covering and transporting all of these food items using rolls of aluminum foil, pieces of cardboard for structural support, and reusable grocery bags with the competitive focus of a middle schooler about to drop an egg out of a window for science class. And time after time I’ve failed.
So when a friend brought a caramelized onion tart to my apartment a few months ago in a horizontal casserole tote bag, I was in awe. Soon after I picked up my own in the form of an Àplat casserole tote. The canvas tote bag, which looks a little like a pillow case with handles on either side of its slit, is designed to carry 13x9” casserole dishes perfectly flat in one hand. Even better, the open-top design means that there’s a built-in steam vent for cooling pans of brownies or batches of stuffing that you’re praying will stay crisp.
As someone who often finds herself carrying flourless chocolate cakes and cajeta cream cheese brownie tarts to friends’ homes, I also own one of the dish totes—a 15x15” square carrier designed for transporting round pie dishes and baking pans. Owning the combo makes me feel powerful—like I could take a casserole and a dessert on the subway, the bus, or a 20-minute walk without doing any precarious stacking.
The next time someone asks me to bring a batch of dinner rolls and a pecan pie to Thanksgiving, I won’t show up an hour late because I was constructing a dysfunctional transportation system from dish towels and Ikea bags. (Àplat even makes a washable, reusable pie cover for those looking to cut down on foil and plastic wrap). I can just tuck each baking dish into a tote and then get in and out of the car in one trip (maybe even with a tote bag of wine over my shoulder).
While casseroles flourish around Thanksgiving, this tote bag is useful year-round. The picnic possibilities are enticing, but I can also see myself using it to gently air-lift carefully curated cookie plates and savory tarts to holiday parties. And the next time a friend becomes a parent, this is, no-doubt, how I’ll deliver them a welcome-home-from-the-hospital batch of baked ziti.
