a funky lid

I don't know where my mother got this - most likely from one of those mail-order catalogs which offer oddities of every sort. 

It's a universal lid for pots and pans - universal because it's large (twelve and a half inches in diameter) - and is able to sit on any pot because of its slightly convex shape.

It curves a bit up at the edges, causing the steamy droplets to run back into the pot, rather than in a concave design, which makes everything run down toward the outer edges of the lid, and then drip all around the outside of the pot.

I use it a lot - it comes in handy when boiling starchy things. If you leave a lid on, the starch overtakes the situation and it bubbles over. If you leave a lid off, too much water may evaporate. With this, I can just open the vents - oh, I forgot to mention those -

and very little water is lost.  It's great for my minestrone; I use it with the vents shut for the first fifteen minutes of simmering, but when I put in the pasta, I open them and am able to cook it another fifteen minutes without losing the soup to the atmosphere!

It's large size makes for a tight squeeze on the small stovetop. It looks like a cymbal with a knob. But what I really want to say is, if you see one of these at your local thrift store, you may want to pick it up. It's a very useful item.