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she's holding her tonic like a cross

criminal minds bad shirt brigade
via kelliem  and silme : Kitchen Cupboard Meme: Bold the ones you have and use at least once a year, italicize the ones you have and don't use, strike through the ones you had but got rid of.

"I wonder how many pasta machines, breadmakers, juicers, blenders, deep fat fryers, egg boilers, melon ballers, sandwich makers, pastry brushes, cheese boards, cheese knives, electric woks, salad spinners, griddle pans, jam funnels, meat thermometers, filleting knives, egg poachers, cake stands (wish I had one!), garlic crushers, martini glasses, tea strainers, bamboo steamers, pizza stones, coffee grinders, milk frothers, piping bags, banana stands, fluted pastry wheels, tagine dishes, conical strainers, rice cookers, steam cookers, pressure cookers, slow cookers, spaetzle makers, cookie presses, gravy strainers, double boilers, sukiyaki stoves, ice cream makers, fondue sets, healthy-grills, home smokers, tempura sets, tortilla presses, electric whisks, cherry stoners, sugar thermometers, food processors,bacon presses, bacon slicers, mouli mills, cake testers, pestle-and-mortars, and sets of kebab skewers languish dustily at the back of the nation's cupboards."

I wish I had a food processor. It's on the list. Garlic crushers are utterly useless, though.

Comments

desperance
Sep. 26th, 2012 03:08 am (UTC)
Garlic crushers are utterly useless, though.

Aye that. And pointless, too: if you have a knife, a little salt and a flat surface, what do you want a garlic crusher for>?
desperance
Sep. 26th, 2012 03:09 am (UTC)
(Actually, a knife and a flat surface takes away the need for so many gadgets, it's probably supererogatory to say so...)
matociquala
Sep. 26th, 2012 03:40 am (UTC)
I like the opportunity to practice my knifework a little. Also, if you have a good knife, cutting is fun.
chantalzola
Sep. 26th, 2012 03:51 am (UTC)
I like my garlic crusher =( I have zip zero knife skills. I want to take a class or something some day. I'm a self taught cook. I apparently have not been able to teach myself that =*( I finally got nice knives though! That has made a huge difference.

Edited at 2012-09-26 03:52 am (UTC)
matociquala
Sep. 26th, 2012 04:06 am (UTC)
I never get anything useful out of garlic presses. *g*

Nice knives make ALL the difference.
Steve Downey
Sep. 26th, 2012 05:23 am (UTC)
I don't care about 'nice'. I've been handed too many 'nice' knives.
Well sharpened edge, an actual point, a sturdy spine, and enough of a bolster to keep my fingers from slipping up the blade, that's all I ask.

Nice usually means you spent too much money, and you've never sharpened it, nor knew it would need sharpening.

sprrwhwk
Sep. 26th, 2012 06:02 am (UTC)
No, nice knives are knives that are sharp. Period, end of story, everyone lived happily ever after (with no cut fingers!).

And sharp knives need sharpening very rarely if they see a steel on a regular basis.
matociquala
Sep. 26th, 2012 06:32 am (UTC)
Nice knives are knives that are sharp (actually sharp, not what many people mistake for sharpness), that hold an edge without being brittle, that are sharpened to a correct angle for the composition of the steel, that are balanced for their task, that are weighted properly for their task, and that feel like an extension of the cook's hand when used properly.

They are safer, faster, and more effective than bad knives.

"Nice" does not, however, equal "expensive." There are some quite nice, inexpensive knives in the world--although the nicest I have ever used does indeed cost an arm and a goddamned leg.
freyaw
Sep. 26th, 2012 11:03 am (UTC)
My favourite knives are the Kiwi brand small cleavers I get at one of the Asian supermarkets in town for... well, they were AU$5 per blade last time I bought them, but that was quite a while ago...

They're sharp, they stay sharp, they sharpen easily, and they're cheap enough that I don't mind them going through the dishwasher. I use them for everything except harvesting stuff from the garden.

My partner likes his chef's knife and the other various blades of goodness in our kitchen. But he'll use my cleavers, because they can go through the dishwasher :-P
matociquala
Sep. 26th, 2012 06:25 am (UTC)
I have a Shun. I maintain it with a steel, and send it back to the manufacturer once every couple of years as needed. It's just as lovely as Chaz describes below.

It is well worth what I paid for it, and I expect I will be willing it to somebody I like a lot someday, and if you haven't used one that's the equivalent, I don't think you can judge.

Edited at 2012-09-26 06:34 am (UTC)
ronin_kakuhito
Oct. 3rd, 2012 05:40 pm (UTC)
Most of the new hand-held knife sharpeners now have a sharpening slot angled for harder steel knives like the Shuns.

Mine lost the tip last year, and the edge needs a little bit of attention, but I second the incredible experience of using a shun. Even battered and bruised, it is the best knife experience I've had in the kitchen.
silme
Sep. 26th, 2012 07:01 am (UTC)
Agreed 100%. :)
desperance
Sep. 26th, 2012 05:08 am (UTC)
Yuss. I was badly missing the knives I left in England - only then we got married, and one lovely friend gave me us a Shun eight-inch chef's knife, which is really all the knife I need. I've been using it for five months, and it's still a physical pleasure that I'm very aware of, just to handle it.
matociquala
Sep. 26th, 2012 06:26 am (UTC)
I have a Shun, too. It was a trilogy-sale present to myself.

It makes every other knife I've ever used feel like a baseball bat.

Also, Shun will sharpen them for free when you need it. (One does pay postage, obviously.)
ammitnox
Sep. 26th, 2012 02:54 pm (UTC)
I love my Shuns. I also have the cleaver, and look for any excuse to whip that guy out.
clawsoftiamat
Sep. 26th, 2012 12:05 pm (UTC)
I love my garlic crusher. I keep trying with my knife, but I fail miserably, the knife slides all over the place, and one of these days I'm going to kill myself. So I pull the dumb little thing out, crush my garlic in like two seconds, and move on. :)

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