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Monday, June 04, 2007

Gadgets and Appliances

FavoriteBoy and I spent Saturday afternoon at the mall hanging out with Cara and Gregg. We all lusted our way through Williams-Sonoma one item at a time. Notable desirable items included the Vegetable Chop and Measure (useful), a cute beehive-shaped honey drizzle stick (cute), and an egg poacher (clever). Mmm. The world is full of kitchen gadgets I never knew I needed. Like a citrus zester, which would save me from messy-ing my whole four-sided grater each time I need a bit of lemon zest. Or like a mandoline, which I never knew existed until I became obsessed with SmittenKitchen.

And then there are the things I've long known I need, like a non-stick skillet to go with my set of KitchenAid 5-ply stainless pots and pans. I have a beautiful shiny 10" skillet, but it is becoming harder and harder to maintain the shiny-ness with the passing of each grilled-cheese sandwich and fried egg I prepare for FavoriteBoy. Sigh. I guess there might be something to this non-stick thing after all?

Remarkably, FavoriteBoy and I made it in and out of Williams-Sonoma without buying a single thing. After a stop at the Apple store to look at iPod nanos, we made our way to Sears. Oh, Sears, I love you. You make me want to buy a house and get all new appliances immediately! Like a refrigerator with five shelves and multiple drawers, oh my! A freezer with space for ice cube trays! And just as we were getting ready to go, FavoriteBoy saw it: a chest freezer on an amazing sale. We're both so sick of trying to cram things into our tiny, tiny freezer that we decided to buy it. It can help us save money in the end, because with freezer space we'll be better able to buy meats and things on sale and freeze them for later instead of buying them just when we need them.

I'm pretending that FavoriteBoy bought it for me because he loves me, but deep inside I know the truth: he bought it for himself because he loves frozen pizzas and buffalo chicken tenders.

6 comments:

  1. Hi Sarah!

    Yes I am coming to the east coast. We leave Saturday for Hilton Head, South Carolina and then are driving up to Maine later the next week, and then down to Boston for a day or two. With the exception of Williamsburg and the Jersey airport I haven't seen any of the east coast, so I am excited.

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  2. Anonymous1:31 PM

    That sounds like fun :) There are so many neat things for the kitchen! And I'm so glad you got a new freezer, how helpful that will be!

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  3. Yes, having extra freezer space is definitely a good thing and can be a money saver too... depending on what you fill it with! *grin* I once talked to someone about a chest freezer and he waxed euphoric about all the different kinds of ice cream they used to keep in there!

    BTW, a hint on the stainless steel cookware - usually it can be cleaned with something like Bar Keeper's Friend or Bon Ami. Check the manufacturer's website and see what they have under cleaning recommendations. I use our small skillet for frying eggs all the time and just clean it up once or twice a month with the Bar Keeper's stuff and it looks practically brand new still. I definitely recommend looking into this because it is much better than buying a nonstick that you'll just have to replace every couple years.

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  4. I do use bar keeper's friend, actually. Maybe I'm just not adding enough 'elbow grease,' as my Mom would say. :) And I hate using any abrasive cleaning pad and putting scratches all over it, so I try to just use a soft sponge.

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  5. heehee, Amber, I'm sure our freezer will be filled halfway with frozen fruits and vegetables and meats, and the other half with pizzas and buffalo chicken. And probably some ice cream in there, too. :) But preferrably homeade!!

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  6. Yeah, Cara and I have freezer envy now. I'm going to see if our oven has a cold setting...

    - Gregg -

    Ok.. there is no edit button and having deleted comments makes you look like a moron. I need to use the preview button more often...

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