Pulled Pork (or, Edna Redux)
Posted: January 2, 2012 Filed under: Table Talk: Rachel – posts by Rachel | Tags: Christmas dinner, cuisinart, leftovers, pulled pork, slow cooker, suckling pig Leave a comment »
Ode to a Spatula
Posted: December 16, 2011 Filed under: Table Talk: Janet – posts by Janet | Tags: christmas, Cook, cuisinart, Home, kitchenaid, mixers, Shopping, Spatula, spatulart, stand mixer, sur la table Leave a comment »For years (or at least the two we’ve been writing this blog) I’ve lorded my lack of bona fide cooking equipment over Rachel. Yes, she of the gigantic, semi-professional KitchenAid stand mixer can make good pie crust, etc. but is she really sure it’s not at least somewhat related to the equipment? I mean, could she really make tasty pie crust using a fork the way I do (badly I admit)? HA!
But since writing this blog and reading a ton of other cooking blogs and interviewing cookbook authors and reading more cookbooks than is probably normal (not to mention foodie magazines), I’ve got to admit I’ve been wondering if maybe, just maybe, having some equipment might be okay. I mean, do I really have to recreate the 19th century when I cook?
So last Christmas I asked Santa for — and received! — my little Cuisinart and I have been an electrical chopping wizard ever since. It is simply one of the best devices ever.
My New Best Friend
Posted: January 3, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cuisinart, kitchen gadgets 2 Comments »The holidays are over and a new year is upon us. Time to think new thoughts and so it is that I kick off this year’s postings with an admission. Regular readers know that I have prided myself on doing things the old-fashioned way. Let the other — read lesser — cooks rely on fancy schmancy gadgets that dice in seconds and knead dough in minutes. I remained true to the cooks of yesteryear who made the food the old-fashioned way. Like the Smith Barney commercial, they earned it.
So I eschewed the cadillac Cuisinarts and pasta makers and ice cream makers and felt ever-so-slightly superior when my pie or bread or soup came out tasting just dandy without all those geegaws. Obviously, my thinking went, my food was superior if for no other reason than it was made sans gadgets.
I clearly was not only wrong but delusional.
Over the year as Rachel and I have written this blog and she touted the wonders of her machines or made a recipe in half the time it might take me, I began wondering whether or not I was just being pig-headed. So I asked Santa for a small Cuisinart for Christmas and I am here to tell you, I was an idiot. After only one use, I fell totally, thoroughly in love. It chops, it dices, it minces, all of it in seconds and without a mess. What was I thinking?????
The downside, of course, is that I am now in full lust mode for every kitchen gadget ever made. Sur La Table catalogs are like porn, with just about every page turned down for the next must-have item. Where will it all stop? Who knows? But now I’m just enjoying being in love.
What’s your favorite kitchen utensil or gadget? If your kitchen was on fire, what item would you grab and run?
