Category: Tools of the Trade

  • Sticky cookie dough = messy hands.  Here is the simple solution!

    Sticky cookie dough = messy hands. Here is the simple solution!

    Some cookies and dough you need to shape by hand are less messy than others. Some are so sticky and gooey you end up with a mess everywhere.. You may even have flashbacks to the days of making mud pies.  The solution?  Cold water. No, not to wash your hands in after you shape every…

  • Stylish Compost!

    Stylish Compost!

    For the past few years as I began to compost in earnest, a plastic coffee can adorned my counter to house the vegetable scraps destined for the compost bin. The color would vary as I checked out different brands of coffee. I did try to keep the can tucked away behind my coffee pot in…

  • Easy Squash Prep Tool!

    Easy Squash Prep Tool!

    Cleaning a squash or pumpkin for baking can be messy, and time-consuming. Make it easy on yourself by using a tool you may already have in your kitchen drawer. Scraping a squash or pumpkin is crazy easy when you use a grapefruit spoon. The spoon, though small, makes scraping easy because the tip of the…

  • Condiment Cups

    Condiment Cups

    Condiment cups are the handiest little kitchen helpers. Often when preparing ingredients for a recipe I like to measure out the ingredients prior to mixing everything together. The condiment cups work perfectly for this. Perhaps the best use for individual condiment cups is for salad dressing ‘on the side’. Each cup holds up to 4…

  • Clean Enough To Be Healthy, Dirty Enough to Be Happy!

    Clean Enough To Be Healthy, Dirty Enough to Be Happy!

    It doesn’t matter what might need cleaning in my house. As long as my floors are clean I feel like my house isn’t in such bad shape! I especially like my kitchen floor to be clean, really clean. My favorite tool for cleaning my laminate and tile floors is my steam mop! My sister told…

  • Dress Up Your Kitchen – And Your Olive Oil!

    Dress Up Your Kitchen – And Your Olive Oil!

    Several years ago we were so close, so very close, to moving to Indiana. Anyway during the ‘visit’ to Indiana I met the most intriguing woman. She was a doctor of this or that. Well that is insulting. She had a PHD and was so intelligent and well versed in her field. When talking casually…

  • Woks Are Wonderful!

    Woks Are Wonderful!

    For several years I have had a wok. My kids got together and just knew I needed a wok. They ‘tapped’ into their dad and voila I have a wok!  Thinking a wok is meant for Chinese cooking I have used it a few times but not very often. Of late I am using it…

  • Save The Wine!

    Save The Wine!

    Mmmmm, I love the full taste of a good red wine. I always enjoy a glass of good Cabernet, but one or two glasses is it. The remainder of the wine is saved in the bottle, cork stuck back inside. The next time I pour a glass from that bottle the good, rich, velvety flavor…

  • Green Pan – Love It!

    Green Pan – Love It!

    Here I am sitting with my second cup of coffee early on a Sunday morning thinking about ‘kitchen stores’. I absolutely love browsing through a kitchen store stocked with endless items just waiting for me to drop in my basket. I truly cannot remember a time I did not wander through the displays and not…

  • Oil Misters – A Kitchen Necessity

    Oil Misters – A Kitchen Necessity

      Oiling pans, cookie sheets, bread bowls, or just about anythng else is so easy is you have a oil mister. I love using these simple kitchen ‘must haves’. The biggest advantage to using an oil mister is knowing  exaxtly what type of oil you are using. It is difficult to find a spray with…