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For fun: What is your favorite kitchen gadget?


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I cook a decent amount and couldn't function without the immersion blender (I use it's attachments as a chopper and a food processor). It also works for smoothies, but my kids make so many smoothies (daily) that we found the Kitchenaid just can't hack the ice over time so we now have a small $15 Hamilton Beach smoothie blender for that purpose.

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My teak lime-squeezer. Really, it was dh's -- I think his mom gave it to him in college. I had never heard of a lemon or lime-squeezer before. I thought you just squeezed them in your hands! But, oooh, you get so much more juice and there's no fishing the seeds out, and it just feels so nice in my hands and... I use it very nearly every day. Crazy. ;) But I love it.

 

I also have a thing for whisks. I only have one right now. But I'm always drawn to whisks in stores. I just think they're beautiful. :)

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My Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

 

I bought it over 20 years ago. I was saving for it and couldn't stand being without it for one more minute. So I put it on my Macys charge card. I lugged it home on 2 buses and then had to walk several blocks with it. It was worth every bit of sweat (they are so heavy!).

 

It is still going strong and it is still my favorite kitchen gadget.

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My KitchenAid stand mixer. Her name is Betsy. I couldn't do without her.:)

 

:iagree: My favorite too; but I've never thought to name it! Now maybe I will... :lol:

 

My mother and father in-law bought it for me for Christmas last year. We were over visiting shortly before Christmas, and my fil asked me what I wanted. I told him I couldn't think of anything, except a KA mixer, which I had wanted for years. I laughed it off, saying how they're too expensive, and thought I made it clear that I didn't actually expect that as my gift.

 

I almost cried when I opened it on Christmas. It wasn't just the money; I could tell my fil was pleased to be able to get me something I had really been wanting. My in-laws and I haven't always been especially close, and I was just really touched. I hope I've expressed just how much I like it to them. I've made a point to tell them several times how much I use it, and how much I enjoy it. Especially my fil; mil is very ill, and I suspect the gift selecting was his territory last year.

 

Hmmm. Typing that all out makes me appreciate how much better my relationship is with mil and fil than what it was 8 years ago when dh and I got married. :001_smile:

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Probably right now my crockpot. These last two weeks have been crazy, busy and I have had several night meetings/get togethers. It is nice to be able to leave a meal in the crockpot and know that dinner is waiting for dh and kids when they get home from their evening events.

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We use our fryer several times per week... I know, shame on me! lol

 

I think if my husband ever lost a hand he'd replace it with a set of metal tongs, instead of a hook. Captain Tongs he would be...

 

I do love spatulas! They're magical!

 

I am waiting for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer... maybe for Christmas? I swear I'd bake twice as much if I had one! :001_smile:

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I don't have any kitchen gadgets. :nopity:

 

Ok, I have a crock pot. But so far I've found only two dishes I can make in it. So I don't heart my crockpot.

 

I guess my favorite kitchen gadget is one I don't have! I would faint over a stand mixer or a food processor. Every recipe I read lately assumes you've gone out and spent your grocery money on one of these things by now. If I did make the sacrifice to get one, there are a lot of recipes I'd like to try. A hand mixer and a box shredder only make an adequate substitute for a handful of modern recipes.

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Cheap: My locking OXO tongs - I use them for sauteing, stirring, flipping, grabbing hot stuff in the oven, serving pasta, veggies, everything!

Expensive: My trust 12 year old cobalt blue Kitchen Aid stand mixer. She doesn't have a cool name like Betsie, but she sure needs a name because she's a part of the family. How about Stella, because she works like a star, and is the color of the clear night sky here in Almost Mexico, AZ :)

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I have so many I love...

 

I am differentiating gadgets from appliances, and say that my favorite gadgets are my Williams and Sonoma spatula/spoon, my Pampered Chef garlic press and orange peeler, and my good, sharp knives.

 

The gadget I have had my eye on for years is a Pampered Chef peeler/slicer/ corer...

 

Susu

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:iagree: My favorite too; but I've never thought to name it! Now maybe I will... :lol:

My mother and father in-law bought it for me for Christmas last year. We were over visiting shortly before Christmas, and my fil asked me what I wanted. I told him I couldn't think of anything, except a KA mixer, which I had wanted for years. I laughed it off, saying how they're too expensive, and thought I made it clear that I didn't actually expect that as my gift.

 

I almost cried when I opened it on Christmas. It wasn't just the money; I could tell my fil was pleased to be able to get me something I had really been wanting. My in-laws and I haven't always been especially close, and I was just really touched. I hope I've expressed just how much I like it to them. I've made a point to tell them several times how much I use it, and how much I enjoy it. Especially my fil; mil is very ill, and I suspect the gift selecting was his territory last year.

 

Hmmm. Typing that all out makes me appreciate how much better my relationship is with mil and fil than what it was 8 years ago when dh and I got married. :001_smile:

 

 

Start a "what should I name my mixer" thread. :lol:

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It's such a little thing, but my apple corer/10 piece slicer. Just place it over the apple, press down, and voila! I sure wish I had it when my kids were younger. This thing makes serving apples for lunch or slicing for apple pie or apple crisp a dream. And it fits so nicely in the drawer!

Edited by Evergreen State Sue
Can't believe I spelled apple wrong!
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Dh (the cook) ;) :lol:

 

(Ok, if I have to give a serious answer, I'll say any of my Alessi cool, uber-modern pieces that my mil has given me over the years -- fruit bowl, cookie jar, funky kitchen timer, etc.... Oh, and my very old little Tupperware scooper spoon that I use for scooping out coffee beans. It gets used constantly & it reminds me of my grandmother, who was a Tupperware lady for many, many years.)

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Well I have permission to buy a Thermomix so I think thats going to be my new favourite kitchen appliance when I actually get it. (dh bought himself something I definitely didnt approve of, that cost about as much as a Thermomix, so I figure I may as well make the most of it).

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I don't have any kitchen gadgets. :nopity:

 

Ok, I have a crock pot. But so far I've found only two dishes I can make in it. So I don't heart my crockpot.

 

I guess my favorite kitchen gadget is one I don't have! I would faint over a stand mixer or a food processor. Every recipe I read lately assumes you've gone out and spent your grocery money on one of these things by now. If I did make the sacrifice to get one, there are a lot of recipes I'd like to try. A hand mixer and a box shredder only make an adequate substitute for a handful of modern recipes.

 

I didn't have one until about 3 years ago . . . I was in one of those closeout special stores and ran across a Bosch food processor (with blender) that was ordinarily over $200. The price was $100 and then it had a 40% off sticker on it. I couldn't resist, and I'm so glad I have it. I remember hearing all my homeschool friends who used theirs for making bread and everything else and I'd look at them online and knowing I couldn't justify the money . . . well . . . You never know! A super deal might fall into your lap. :)

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I have a Salad Shooter that I got when I was still in high school. I use it for salads, grating cheese, running pickles and eggs through it for Samuel's tuna salad.......I love it!!!! I even use it instead of a potato ricer for making gnocchi.

 

Thanks! NOT! Now the Salad Shooter song is in my head!

 

:lol:

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I have this thing from Pampered Chef that I don't even think they sell anymore that breaks up ground beef so there aren't any lumps. It is simple and, as Alton Brown would say, a uni-tasker, but I still like it. I must have an unhealthy obsession with lump-free ground beef. :D

 

But I do love my KA mixer and my Cuisenart Breadmaker too.

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Goodness, how do I choose?

Expensive;

KitchenAid Stand Mixer (I don't know how I lived without it all those years)

Rice Cooker

Santuko knife

 

Less expensive:

My new Pampered Chef garlic slicer. I thought it was the most useless thing but oh my, perfect slivers of garlic. All the flavor and my picky children can pick out the pieces of garlic. It does fail the Alton Brown multi-tasker test.

 

 

I am seriously trying to think of a good name for my KA now. She definitely needs a name.

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inexpensive fav: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EN0YHW

expensive: http://www.amazon.com/Vita-Prep-Variable-Commercial-Blender-Vita-Mix/dp/B000LQETHI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1251928016&sr=1-1

 

Now if you had asked which kitchen gadgets did you buy or accept as hand me downs that are a total waste of space......THAT is a LONG list :001_smile:

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