Comments (2)

By Emily, July 25, 2010 6:03 pm

Our kitchen drawer--points to whoever can name everything in it.

Brian and I have a fairly well stocked kitchen, made up of hand-me-downs, wedding presents, things we bought for ourselves and items I’ve picked up at Goodwill and tag sales (my new obsessions).  Nevertheless, I’ll never say no to going into a kitchen store (or the kitchen department of a store) because I think that kitchen gadgets are really really cool.  Maybe I need to get out more?  I don’t know.  At any rate, some websites for people who love kitchen tools as much as I do:

Last year in honor of Christmas, I wrote a post featuring My Favorite Kitchen Gadgets.  If I had to redo the post today, I’d probably also include the cocktail shaker (from Goodwill…and not just for cocktails!), blender, Kitchenaid Mixer (how did the mixer not make it on the first list?!), and pastry mat.

Everyday Minimalist did a similar post this week, listing her 15 essential kitchen utensils.  I agree with most of her list, but could easily do without 7, 9 or 15.

The Kitchn (I know, I link to them a lot, they’re awesome) did 2 kitchen tool round ups this week: spatulas and corn cob holders.  We always had corn cob holders growing up, but Brian and I haven’t gotten around to getting any.  We do, however, have 4 ears of corn in the fridge, so perhaps I should think about this further.

This post was made for me (and my husband): 10 Nerdy Kitchen Finds In Honor Of Comic Con

Chow had a post about the website Pop Deluxe, which “houses one of the larger collections of useless kitchen tools we’ve ever seen.”  I, of course, went to the website and found the gadgets adorable.  Granted, I probably won’t actually buy any of them, but they’re fun to look at and could make an entertaining gift.

$5 Dinners asks “What kitchen utensil could you not live without, if you were stuck on a tropical island?”.  A lot of people went for knives, which made sense, but perhaps a hot pot for my tea?

Take a look at this Serious Eats post featuring The Best Mixing Bowls, which also mentions the idea that it’s safe to put metal in the microwave.  Did anyone else know that?  I’m not sure I believe it.

The TofuXpress review on Eat Well with Janel made me wonder if I’ve been doing tofu “wrong”, since I’ve never pressed mine at all.  May need to look into that.  Anyway, apparently the press is pretty awesome, if you press your tofu.

What’s your favorite (most fun/useful/unique, etc) kitchen tool?

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By Emily, July 22, 2010 8:58 pm

Dear Kitchen Elf,

We know you exist.  You may have tried to keep your existence a secret, but let’s be frank: you did a pretty poor job of it.

Your presence was made obvious by the fact that our utensils, especially the vegetable peeler, keep disappearing from their assigned drawers.  I’m not doing it, and Brian says he’s not either, so clearly you are the one moving our utensils.  I’m sure you think it’s funny to watch us search for the vegetable peeler on a daily basis.

Just like you think that putting spells on our appliances is funny.  You make our refrigerator shrink while I’m grocery shopping so there’s no room for my purchases when I return home and cause our stove top to never have the correct burner turned on.  Moving tools is one thing, but playing with appliances that belong to our landlord is an entirely different matter.

Speaking of grocery shopping, I also know you’re hiding things in our pantry.  I check to see what we have before I go food shopping, so why do we suddenly have 5 cans of tomatoes when I just went and bought 4 more?  Items that I was sure we had seem to mysteriously disappear as well.  Please stop rearranging and/or hiding our food (or eating it, if that’s the case).

Honestly though, you keep things interesting around here.  It’s good to know that it’s not Brian or I doing any of the above behaviors.  And we wouldn’t mind you sticking around.  We just have one request:  once in a while, could you please do the dishes?

Sincerely,

Emily

Comments (1)

By Emily, January 7, 2009 6:29 pm

Mark Bittman (him again?!) recently wrote this piece on “items you might spurn, along with some essential pantry and long-keeping refrigerator items you might consider” when stocking your cabinets.  This article makes me want to throw out most of what’s in my cupboard…but it gave me a lot to think about, especially in regards to what I’ll be filling my pantry with once I get married.  Some of the suggestions, such as using olive oil instead of aerosol cooking spray, are so easy and make so much sense that I’m not sure why we have Pam in our house.  I’m a little overwhelmed by the notion of only using fresh spices, though I don’t deny their quality.  I think jarred spices will remain essential to my cooking.  I love the recommendation to use real Parmigiano-Reggiano instead of “shaky cheese,” especially since Bittman writes that it keeps for a year if wrapped well!

In other news which I hope is a sign of things to come, my mother purchased turkey cutlets for me at the supermarket yesterday, after I casually inquired whether or not our notoriously annoying store even carried them because I wanted to  make a recipe from the current issue of “Every Day with Rachael Ray”.  Who knew the store would actually have them and that my mother would get them for me!  It’s nice to be encouraged in my culinary ventures.