A Few of Our Favorite Things

1. Pastry Blender
While rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens are certainly cute and cliche, they aren't very functional in the kitchen.

So naturally, being that we spend a goodly amount of time, frolicking to and fro across our linoueum floor, we have come to love certain items more than others.

Above, The Pastry Blender, is the secret to pie dough. Just wonderful.
I was telling addROC, I'm always skeptical of recipes, especially baking recipes, that call for the use of a food processor.

Ummm...The master bakers of the universe, let me tell you, have been long in the ground. They were in the ground way before electricity, and while there are certain things I'll allow for, like, whipping my cream with the use of a mixer, making dough, should be done by hand. Call me old fashioned.

But, I was having some major issues perfecting that flaky crust.
Until the pastry blender.
This little tool gets in where your fingers can't, and isn't going to warm up your butter like your fingers will. Since incorporating this little tool into my routine, dough perfection!
So obvious, so cheap. Go get one.


2. Melamine Bowls

addROC's very awesome sister, who's obviously born of the same great cooking stock as her brother, got addROC these little bowls for Christmas.
Our set didn't come with the spatulas, but, we don't care! These little bowls are frikkin' awesome.
They're great for preping, storing, or when you just want a lil' bit of sumpin' sumpin', like salsa.
They're plastic, so, I can drop them (and have!) anytime, anywhere. Plus, they're a breeze to wash. We use them so much that we really should get another set, they're always in use!


3. The Microplane

You know the story...
A carpentry tool found by a chef. Said Chef decided that this little tool was best thing ever...
And, voila! Suddenly the Microplane is hot shit.
Well, what can we say? A kitchen shouldn't be without one. And ours certainly isn't.

We're zesting lemons, limes, grating garlic, maybe we'll grate our own spices someday, who knows?

I do know this, we love our Microplane! It's durable, easy to clean, and it's a great space saver. And, since it wasn't really intended for food, if you can think it up, you can do it...this tool is impromtu and fabulous!