It’s no secret that I like kitchen stuffs.
So, over the years, I’ve managed to get my hands on some of the quirkier things.
Some have found their way to yard sales (quesadilla maker anyone?)…but others, in all their unnecessary nonsense have found a permanent home in my cupboards because they are surprisingly nice to have around.
And everytime I use them I think “Man, I’m glad I have this! This would make a good gift!”
A cake tester poker thing.
Andy put this in my stocking one year at Christmas…likely a filler item so he could get free shipping on Amazon…and I remember pulling it out and thinking: Seriously? We have toothpicks.
It got tossed into a drawer and never used for a long time…but I’ve grown to love it.
It’s longer than a toothpick so you can actually get all down in there to the middle of whatever it is you’re checking, but it’s also got a really skinny pokey thingy so it doesn’t leave a huge hole in the middle of your cake.
Besides, somehow my toothpick stash is never in the same place twice. I can never find a stinking toothpick when I need one.
A cookie scoop.
Be gone the days of using two spoons to make little cookie balls!
I need the big one next…so that I can easily fill muffin tins.
In this case, I have an all in one, no need to stack two pots kind of double boiler.
I rarely rarely ever use this.
But when I do, I love that it’s all one piece and so easy to use.
And it takes up minimal space in my cabinet.
And I don’t burn the chocolate.
Which is just awful on so many levels.
(I found mine in the clearance section at TJ Maxx for $6! Maybe no one knew what it was???!!! SCORE!)
I make apple pie about once a year.
But that’s all it takes for me to want to make out with this apple peeler corer contraption.
Peeling, coring, and slicing up 8 apples for a pie is annoying!!! (I know, I have such problems in my life.)
This thing that looks like something out of a medeival torture chamber is worth every penny when that time comes.
As a bonus, my kids want to eat more apples…they think it’s fun. So I’ve actually been using it a lot lately.
I can’t find my egg separator online anywhere, but in general, an easy way to separate your whites from your yolks.
Genius.
I’ve heard myths and legends of people doing it from sloshing the egg back and forth between the shells, but I’m just not that talented.
We ate more pineapple this summer than we probably ever have in our entire lives.
My kids were in pineapple heaven.
I actually had to cut them off so they’d eat real food.
Totally unnecessary. Bulky. Takes up a ton of space gadget.
Find one on Craigslist for $5.
But a couple of hints for bread machine success:
1) never ever ever ever ever bake your bread in it. See that little loaf in the picture? It may look yummy, but it’s not. Hard, dense little brick. Not okay. Just use your machine for the dough cycle. Make it do all the kneading and resting and mixing and punching for you. Really, that’s the hard part of making bread. Then take the dough out, form it into little rolls, roll it into a baguette, or put it into a bread loaf pan. Cover with a towel and let it rise again for 20 minutes. Bake in your oven. You’re welcome.
2) Make this easy peasy delicious bread. But pay attention: add 1 tbls. of olive oil to the recipe and put five ice cubes in an oven safe bowl underneath your baking bread. (I read all 250 reviews. I just saved you like 40 minutes.)
I almost didn’t put my stand mixer on the list.
Because I kinda feel like it’s not in the “you don’t really need it” list.
It’s more in the “If you don’t own this already, we need to organize a fundraiser for you because you really don’t know what you are missing out on in life” list.
Mine is black and that glass bowl is on my Christmas wishlist.
I love it and if I could marry a kitchen appliance, there is no doubt that it would be my stand mixer.
Sure, you can use those hand mixers, but there’s always that awkward moment when you need to set it down and it just drips all over the counter. And don’t even try to lie and tell me that you’ve never pulled the spinning whisks out while they were still turning and gotten cake batter on your ceiling.
It’s happened. Don’t front.
A stand mixer lets you do the waltz in the middle of your kitchen while you cream butter and sugar.
You can separate your eggs while it expertly folds in your whipping cream.
It’s amazing.
It should have it’s own planet named after it.
Did I miss anything? What’s one of your favorite kitchen doohickys that you know you totally don’t need but you really totally love?
{I jacked all of these photos from Williams Sonoma because they were prettier than the ones on Amazon. I have no affiliation, nor do I get any kick backs if you buy anything. But if you want to buy me that glass bowl, I mean, that’s cool too.}
Latest posts by jeannett (see all)
- Dirt in a Jar, Laundry Scientists, and Clean Water - October 20, 2015
- Because Cake. - October 11, 2015
- How to design a luxury bathroom for less - August 12, 2015
I would agree with this list! But, I would add one more thing. I absolutely love the spoon holder I got that clips onto the side of your pot. It’s amazing!
Good Stuff! Love your suggestions! My faves are the Quick-Stir pitcher and ice cream scoop I got from Pampered Chef years ago. I use the pitcher all summer when I make sun tea and I love the ice cream scoop because it is one piece and heavy duty. I also love my over the sink colander.
Immersion Blender – http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CSB-76BC-SmartStick-200-Watt-Immersion/dp/B000EGA6QI/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1319640322&sr=1-1
{I use mine all the time for soups, tomato sauce, applesauce, etc. … Mmmmm}
iSi Easy Whip – http://www.amazon.com/iSi-1-Pint-White-Cream-Whipper/dp/B0039B3YD2/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1319641186&sr=1-2
{Necessary, not at all. Pure indulgence, but oh so good, just like you just whipped it yourself whip cream. Awesome this time of year ;)}
And I’d challenge you to try bread dough with your KitchenAid. That’s what I do now and got rid of the bread maker {which I was only using for the dough cycle} years ago. Just sayin’ … then you could *justify* more kitchen tools ;).
I’d also mention my KitchenAid food processor and toaster. But like the mixer, they are kinda a given, not even an option :).
Happy Day!
My favorite thing is the jar funnel I bought for canning. I don’t know what I ever did without it. Well, I do. Make one heck of a mess and spent WAY too much time wiping jars. I love your writing style. :)
I am totally with you on the KitchenAid stand mixer. I LOVE mine! I also love my bread maker, though I always let mine bake the bread too, and I get good results.
I would add to the list: a rice-cooker with a vegetable steaming basket. It seems totally stupid — like, how hard is it to cook rice? But I wind up using mine 2-3 times a week minimum. We buy jasmine rice in 25-lb bags at Sam’s Club and it’s a favorite side-dish at my house.
I like your likes!. I am glad to know I’m not the only one who doesn’t bake bread in my bread machine. The first few times i baked bread, I thought it must be me, what am i doing wrong. So i start it out in my bread machine, and bake it in the oven. My kids don’t understand!!
hi i’m cuppakim, and i’m a kitchen gadget addict.
my pink kitchen aid is dreamy.
growing up, my mom had one too.
i haven’t had to use the handheld kind in several decades.
until last weekend.
made me appreciate big pink even more.
cookie scoop is life changing. I LOVE that sucker.
also, garlic peeler thingy. This silcone mat that your roll a clove of garlic in and SNAP it peels it in about 2 seconds. i use that thing A LOT.
I LOVE kitchen gadgets too!! That cake poker would totally be worth it, I laughed at what you wrote because I know I would think the same thing..haha
I would marry my KitchenAid also..didn’t understand the obsession until I got mine :) the one thing I LOVE is…are you ready?? My George Foreman grill! But heres the thing..it was given to me by my friend because she was going to throw it out. Well I use it for making “pannins”, hamburgers, fajitas. etc. It is so great to not have to wait for the bbq, or when its 110 and you don’t want to melt while making dinner! :)
And I’m totally KICKING myself for taking our bread machine to GW! :(
I love me some kitchen gadgets too. My kitchen is small and I do mean small. I’m very quickly running out of room to put everything. I sadly do not own a stand mixer. I’m not even sure I have counter space for it. But maybe I can get rid of a thing or 2 and start my own little fundraiser for one. Here’s to wishful thinking. ;o)
I love my little silicone egg poachers! they’re super easy to use & clean. i love poached eggs!
ooo and my olive oil spritzer-turns reg old olive oil (or any kind of oil ) into a mist for my pans :) no more crappy Pam chemicals :)
A few of those are on my “to buy” list – the cookie scoop (and the corresponding cupcake scoop), the apple peeler-corer-slicer, and the grand-daddy of them all, the KitchenAid mixer. That’s right, I do not own one of those beauties. Soon… soon….
Jeannette, what a fun and helpful post this time of year when everyone is asking, “What do you want for Christmas?” I love what you said about the bread machine. I got one for a few bucks at a garage sale and I totally agree, I always bake the dough in my real oven. I read the ice cube/water trick on Anna’s blog recently so I need to give that a try too.
I totally agree with your list and love everything you said. Nobody understands my love for cake testers, but I appreciate that I’m not alone. I don’t have the apple corer genius thing or the pineapple slicer thing. I immediately sent both link to my hubby for the Christmas wishlist. We went apple picking for the first time ever and came home with so many apples, I think my hands are in permanent positions for peeling and cutting apples. Millions of tiny hand-picked lovely fujis. The results were amazing, but the work was a pain in the tushie!
Our first married Chrisrmas, I bought Dave the quesadilla maker. He still makes fun of it. RUDE and ungrateful.
i have wanted a stand mixer for ages! :D
love the cake tester thing :)
Yes, I agree with you on the bread machine. Really it is a great recipe that makes great bread. Who has space for those machines anyway. I use my ice cream scoop for just about everything.
Ha. I never knew there was a gadget that would separate the white from the yolk! Would come in handy around my house! My dislike of yolks has passed on to my 1 1/2 year old. We eat a lot of egg whites! I spend a lot of time picking out tiny pieces of shells from ‘sloshing’ yolks back and forth. :)
I want a fire engine red kitchenaid mixer…. they’re $800 down here in Oz!
I’ll take a fund raiser!
So many items on this list, I own and love. Most of mine are from Pampered Chef when I used to sell it. I got rid of my bread machine because I couldn’t stand the tough bread. Now you’re making me regret it. And I have a 4-1/2 quart KitchenAid mixer. I cook more now than when I originally bought it, but I feel wasteful buying a new one (bigger) one because the old one works fine. Plus I have 2 extra mixing bowls and beaters. It would cost too much to get a new mixer AND bowls AND beaters. So I stick with the too-small one. :(
I got a few pampered chef things at my bridal shower. I LOVE the crinkle cutter! My hubby’s coworkers were impressed that he got a packed lunch and his cheese had wavy cuts! (Great for party presentation too.) I got a long metal offset spatula that is bar none one of my favorite kitchen doodads EVER! I use it mainly for spreading pizza sauce. Works a treat!
And because you read all 250 reviews, I am so printing this recipe out and trying it :) Thanks!
oh, i really WANT an apple/peeler/corer! i would make apple pie then. i would. i would. i….would apple/peel/core and let michael make the pie. :-)
Had to laugh about your husband throwing in the random gadget to get free shipping on amazon.com. We do that all the time, lol! I’m a little jealous of the cookie scoop and pineapple thingy. I finally felt like a grownup when I got a stand mixer. It’s the nicest thing in my kitchen.
I love my salad spinner. I don’t think I could live with out it. The cookie scoop is also used often at our house. Thanks for the great ideas. I think I need an egg separator now.
Omg, totally can’t live without my stand mixer. In fact, there are days I know I could justify two. I’m just saying. The other things I can’t live without are my bamboo spatulas that take the place of the wooden spoons we used to get…ahem…anyway, yeah, love that I can sautee, stir, etc and not worry about it breaking or the whole bacteria thing since they’re naturally anti-bacterial. I have 3 and they’re awesome: I rarely use a regular spatula.
Cracking up about the cake tester thingie. Because we use it for about 752 different things around here, and occasionally to test cakes :) SO useful!
Ok, definitely love my KitchenAid stand mixer. As in, couldn’t live without it, love it. But, since I sell Pampered Chef, I have gotten the chance to fall in love with lots of their gadgets. The cookie scoop quickly became a fave of mine as well (and forget the two spoons, i just always used my hands!). I never used to buy fresh garlic until I got a Garlic Press (http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=26463&words=garlic%20press) and now I use it all the time. I’m also totally in love with my Manual Food Processor (http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=33219&words=manual%20food%20processor) for chopping onions (and everything else). Adjustable measuring spoons, so I don’t have to keep 5 different sets in the drawer anymore (http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=27482&catId=123&parentCatId=123&outletSubCat=). In other words, it’s not wise to get me started on my kitchen gadgets! :-)
I love my lime juice squeezer (no I don’t think that is the official name). I slice my lime/lemon in half, put it in the little press, and viola! Plenty of just comes out. Love it.