What's Your Favourite ...?

and the CSN&Y tune:

Wooden Ships

lol.

BTW, very nice photos, RiaD

My son is addicted to Pepsi and when he had his old van he just threw the bottles into the back, and I hate to admit it but he does/did the same thing in his room.  When he would clean either out there would always be at least 4 large garbage bags full, one time I think it was 18.  I used to get blisters from screwing off the caps, that he always put on very tightly. (I have told this sounding like a very naughty story before not letting people know I was screwing off bottle caps until the end) Sometimes I would use a rubber but it was still a pain fighting them.  Then all of a sudden I realized I had this little do-hickey I had gotten free from Pampered Chef, well duh, it works like magic.  The handle gives enough leverage to get off the tightest top, and its magnetic and hangs on the fridge.

Since Dale inherited driving my hubbys old van and hubby still uses it for hauling stuff Dale keeps the van cleaned out inside now.  I'm pretty sure he is doing much better bringing them out of his room now too, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Me?  In addition to wooden spoons, I have two very favorite kitchen gadgets, as well.  One is a Zylis (Swiss) garlic press -- have had it for years and use it for numerous purposes.  Another is the whisk -- don't think I could get along without it.  And, I must say, after having spent a number of bucks over the years on a pepper mill, I finally broke down and got one of the best -- and yeh, I'm happy about -- it can even be milled in the size of grain that you want.  It's a Peugeot!  It's not often I do something so lavish, but sometimes it's friggin' worth it!

Thanks for this, RiaD!  Fun idea!

Aside from pasta grabbers (really essential for saucing & serving long pasta like linguine, fettucini, etc.), my favorite kitchen things are my Le Creuset dutch oven and a 12" stainless steel skillet from the Martha Stewart line.  I got the MS skillet (for an extra $5) that has copper on the bottom.  Dad said the copper was too thin to make it heat evenly, and he was probably right: but that sucker is still worth every penny -- and, hey, we're talking K-Mart: it wasn't as expensive as it should have been.

The Le Creuset was expensive but I can use it for almost anything except deep-frying.  The skillet is made of thick stainless steel & b/c it is all stainless, including the handle and the lid, I can take it from stovetop to oven without worry.

That skillet is essential for one of my favorite comfort dinners, ham & hominy.  Mom used to make it in a cast-iron skillet...but the stainless is so much easier to clean.  (Don't get me wrong: I wouldn't trade my cast-iron skillets for the world, but not everything is suitable to cook in them.  Plus, a 12" cast-iron skillet would be a whole lot heavier, and frankly, my 12" stainless steel skillet is quite heavy enough.)

One other favorite thing (also from Martha Stewart: I've loved everything I got from her line of cookware) is one of those round potato mashers with the little holes in it.  Again, heavy-duty stainless.  Although I have used it to make mashed potatoes, or mashed potatoes & turnips, or rutamousse (mashed rutabaga & carrots, roughly 50/50, with plenty of butter and salted to taste), what it's usually used for, chez Youff, is [drum roll, please] refried beans.

English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment and education - sometimes it's sheer luck, like getting across the street.
E. B. White  

First, straining bacon fat. I do this less and less frequently as each year goes by (because of inhumane conditions for the hogs and because of the devastating cholesterol content) but this strainer almost perfectly removes all but the tiniest of the little bitty overcooked black carbonized bacon particles that always happen in the bottom of the pan when you fry bacon 'til it gets nice and crispy. When I have some I use tiny amounts of bacon fat in just about anything you can bake or fry. It's both of my southern grandmothers' influence over me...and it always makes stuff taste just so...

Second, it is perfect for straining those tiny little fig seeds out of the cooked-down fig syrup I prepare almost every year.

The strainers I find at various stores always have too large of a mesh size to keep out the fig seeds and they always allow way too much of the bacon solids into the bacon grease mug.

I also like my spud peeler. Its the really cheap kind with just the metal framework handle...

"In proportion to the vigor of the individual, these revolutions are frequent, until in some happier mind they are incessant..." R.W.Emerson - Compensation

Here is one..........

Here is all 3 hanging over the island.......

Second is my sprout jars (I am getting together an essay about sprouting) I always keep them right by the sink and the lights that hang over the island are the perfect amount of light to green up my sprouts.  These sprouts are about 3 days old and half inch tails but no green yet. When they are done growing they will have filled up the jar and sometimes I will transfer to a larger jar if they get too tight.

I guess I have to go with the Henckel.  A chef's knife is pretty much always a cook's first and most important tool.  

I mean, really, I would be lost without my Henckel.

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Oh, and btw, when I first came back to San Francisco in the late 90s, pre-Laurie, I was looking to find a room in North Beach.  I got an interview with some guy who had two-bedroom right near Washington Square Park and when I walked in the door I was struck by two things.  The first was that my potential roommate, Bob, offered me a beer.  (Which, of course, I took as a very good sign.)  But the second thing that struck me was that Bob had a wok sitting on his stove-top.  And, more importantly, it was well seasoned!

Anyone with a well seasoned wok is a friend of mine.  It tells me something very positive about a person if they happen to own a well seasoned wok.  

And, needless to say, if anyone ever puts SOAP in my wok there'll be hell to pay!  I will sick General Snort: Dog of War on anyone who puts soap in my wok!

:O)

the three windows above the kitchen sink.  They face south, so when the sun rises at 10 and sets at 3:30 in the winter, the kitchen and family room catch all the light.  They also have a wide sill, so my big metal rooster has a perch.  

And yup, I do live that far north.  Not far enough so that we have no sunlight in the winter, but still.  Way the hell up here.  This time of year, the sun hits the north side of the house.  Which I still find freaky.  But the snow is gone, except for the giant piles scraped up by the plows and dumped into snow storage lots.  That snow is insulated by dirt, so it will be around for a while yet.  Anchorage is the weirdest place I have lived, for sure.

If windows don't count as an item, then it's pitchers.  I adore pitchers.  I haven't and won't count, but if you held a gun to my head and forced me to guess, I would say I must have two dozen, all different sizes and shapes, glass and metal and pottery.  Lots of pottery.  

Dinner...whooops.  I hope we still have some of those Aidell's sausages from Costco, because I have been busy cleaning today.  And I had to call my Mom and my aunt, who are both birthday girls!  I should have hidden the pizza left over from last night, but that is the kids' preferred breakfast.