Wednesday, December 23, 2009

"These are a few of my favorite things!"

Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens....Maybe for Julie Andrews but for me my tune is more like,
Spatulas, whisks and my pizzelle maker,
More of a cook than I am a baker,
Snitzel with noodle not really my thing,
But angle hair with clam sauce could make me sing.

Ok, you get the idea and I'll spare you from my attempt at being clever. I do have a couple of things that really are my favorite in the kitchen and thought I'd share them with you. Lately my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, which is my favorite color orange has been working over time. While most of us use a mixer for baking, mine does double duty. I've made meatballs for the masses and meatloaf for crowds. It saves time versus hand or spoon mixing and gets the job done lickety split! It's great for mashed potatoes, creamed turnip and well, I could go on and on.
Another tool I can't live without is my heat resistant spatula. It comes in handy of course for bowl scraping but I love that it doesn't damage my cookware. Yes, I am in love with my cookware set too. I started out with a hodge podge of eclectic pieces but bought my first "real" set a few years back. It's the Bialetti Italian Ultimate 13 pc. set. Can't beat the results for the money.
I also love my flexible cutting boards. I have 3 color coded ones for meat, fish and veggies. Just chop, fold the sides and pour into your dish! They take up no room in the dishwasher or for storage. One of these days if I should be so lucky, I will have my butcher block counter. In the meantime though, these inexpensive cutting boards are great.
While these are just a few of my favorite things, there are many more I could mention. Do you have a handy kitchen item you can't live without? I'd love to hear about it or any other gadgets that help you prepare you're favorite dish.
So I'll end with a recipe that is put together in no time with my Kitchen Aid mixer. Hope you like it!


Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

4-5 large russet potatoes(Yukon Gold are great too)

1 stick of butter

¾ cup of sour cream

Approx. ¾ cup of milk

1 tube of wasabi paste, about 1.5 ounces

Garlic salt, about 1-2 tsp.

Black pepper to taste

Peel and boil potatoes until fork tender. Drain and add back to the pot or place into mixing bowl. Mix in butter, milk, wasabi, salt and pepper. If they still seem dry add milk accordingly. I mix everything together in my stand mixer but a hand mixer or potato masher gets the job done too! Goes great with meatloaf or steak

2 comments:

Leesa said...

Pasta w/ clam sauce is one of my favorites. Sal usually made the sauce with wine, but he also liked to mix things up, and would sometimes make a creamier sauce. I remember one meal when we didn't have wine or cream so he tried a little International Delight coffee creamer - hazelnut flavor. It was disgusting...about the only time I can say that about his cooking. Even our dog, Bella, turned up her nose at the leftovers - and it was ALL leftovers.

Unknown said...

My favorite kitchen item is my butcher block cutting board. I had originally purchased it as a gift for my Mom but she ended up giving it back to me because it was too heavy for her to lift.--(Ummm yah, whatever)
I love it. It's big enough to chop several items into neat piles. I just make sure I place it by the stove before I begin chopping so I don't have to pick it up and move it. Also, it's super easy to clean and I have only oiled it a few times. Jen, until you finally get your butcher block counter tops, you should treat yourself and pick one up!