Category: Tools of the Trade
-
A Flame Thrower? It’s Just What I’ve Always Wanted!
Love, love, love, trying new things in my kitchen. New ingredients, new tools, new recipes, new gadgets. Recently I mentioned I thought I would like a kitchen food torch, or as some call it, a Creme Brulee tool. Either way I wanted to try one and voila I recently came home to find one waiting on my…
-
Play A Food Tune On Your Mandolin!
Slicing vegetables is really quick and easy, especially if you are going to toss them into a stir-fry, or add to a soup or stew. Uniformity of slices is not as important for stews, soups, or broths. Sometimes sliced vegetables may be taking center stage on your table. Perhaps for a relish tray, a ratatouille,…
-
Eeeek! There’s A Spider In My Kitchen!
Oh no! A spider in my kitchen! Good heavens! I hoped that might draw you in to read about kitchen spiders! No traps or pesticides necessary (heaven forbid). A ‘true’ kitchen spider is pictured in this post. The spider is often associated with chineese wok cooking, and is infact how I came upon my first…
-
Food Steamer – sometimes the old items are the best!
People could literally fill their cupboards, and heaven forbid, clutter their counters with kitchen gadgets. Kitchen gadgets are an industry in themselves eating up fuels, creating mounds of plastic with a life expectency beyond reason, and leaving a huge carbon footprint. Granted many do make life in the kitchen easier. I love my gadgets but…
-
Once You Start Making Your Own Pasta, You Will Never Stop!
Four words: homemade pasta is delicious. Simply put, simply true. The first few times I made my own pasta it was a lesson in frustration. Practice makes perfect and you will get better and better at it. The recipe is simple too: for every cup of flour, use 1 whole egg. I usually make pasta…
-
I Really NEED A Latte….And I Am Only 2 Years Old!
A few years ago, almost 3, I found myself in downtown Denver. Our daughter, a successful young attorney met us for lunch in a restaurant that struck me as never seeing the sun through all the tall glass windows that were shaded by neighboring skyscrapers. Back home in central Iowa skyscrapers are few and far…
-
Don’t Touch My Scissors!
Time after time, while preparing food for cooking I reach for my kitchen scissors, or shears. Kitchen shears help out in many situations. They are the perfect tool for cutting up a chicken, meat, or fish. Herbs and green onions snip into perfect, uniform pieces with a kitchen shears. Cutting meat packaging and wrapped foods is…
-
A Simple Little Thing
Sometimes the simplest little things are the best. In my shelves and bins full of kitchen gadgets the one I use so frequently is the one that cost the least, only a dollar years and years ago. Still being sold today I recently noticed something similar at a kitchen store for $3.00. Antique shops usually…
-
Meet Kitchen Scale: Your New Buddy
Not so long ago the only scale I owned was on the floor in our bathroom, and I ignored it every chance I could. Now I have a kitchen scale. It is very modest, sits demurely on my counter but it packs a punch! Meat, seafood, and poultry portions are about 4 ounces each. I…
-
Dough Scraper, Bench Scraper – both names work for me!
This is by far one of the handiest kitchen tools I have! I use it for scraping and moving dough when making pasta or bread, (OK, useage for bread dough is way, way, way, infrequent!). I use it all the time when cutting and chopping vegetables or proteins for cooking. The blade is about 6…