Kitchen Gadgets for Christmas?

Christmas is sneaking up on us again this year, and it's harder than ever to find the right gift for those on my list. Every last one of them is male and they are less than helpful giving hints as to what they might like. Women are much easier as, while men generally like something useful, women want beautiful things they would never buy for themselves.

My hubby informed me early on never to buy him tools. He likes to pick his own. Likewise, I'd rather not get things that would be useful around the house as I would consider those gifts to be for the house and not for me. But just in case you are need a few hints as to what might just become the most useful gadget in the kitchen, and still not something she would buy for herself, I have decided to show you some of my favorite kitchen tools.

I got this handy little grater, that fits right onto a non-slip container at IKEA. Everything goes neatly into it's own bowl so there is no mess to clean up.  It even has a lid so that if you grate more cheese than you need, for instance, you can put the lid on it and put the freshly grated product right back into the fridge. I use this a lot, and often wish I had a second one.  They are so cheap, it's just silly not to have two.

I have a food processor, but sometimes you just want to make a few bread crumbs or mash a banana, or chop up just a bit of nuts or something and the food processor is really too big for the job. I found a mini processor at Canadian Tire, and I use it so often that I don't even put it away anymore. The big one hardly ever comes out of it's storage spot.  I know I paid about $7.99 for mine several years ago. I'm not sure Canadian Tire still has them but Walmart has something similar.

The third thing I wonder how I ever got along without is a gravy separator.  You poor the juices from your roast pan into it. There is a filter at the top to sift out impurities and after the fat floats to the top, you pour what you need to make gravy back into the pot. Only the good broth comes out of the spout. All you have to do is watch and stop pouring when the fat decides to follow. But by then you have what you need anyway. My grandson says I make the best gravy ever!

None of these gadgets costs more than $20. But all three are worth their weight in gold.

And for those of you who fill stockings for adult women, go to the Dollar Store and find a mini whisk. I do have two of those as they, like the mini food processor, get used way more often than the full sized model.  I see Amazon has them too.

This year I'd like a garlic press, if anyone is listening.

All these things are kitchen gadgets she doesn't know she needs, likely wouldn't buy for herself, but will be so glad to have. Happy shopping.

Fresh Start - Week One

New beginning number one (art) is going to interfere with new beginning number three (losing weight). I have now signed up for an online art course, and between watching videos, and following links and doing assignments, I find myself firmly planted on my butt.  That's certainly not going to reduce the size of it.

For new beginnings number two (de-cluttering) I'm following the Home Solutions  Declutter 365 web page that breaks things down so you have a 15 minute mission to accomplish each day.  My first 15 minute chore went on for half an hour and still wasn't finished because my step stool had mysteriously disappeared over the holidays. But just the idea that it took that long to clean off, (and clean up) my kitchen counter meant it really needed it.  Yet I know my counter is much neater than some I've seen, so if you haven't done yours yet, get to it! Start at one end of the counter, take things off to clean under them. Sort through that stuff and put things that don't belong there away, or get rid of them.

After cleaning and decluttering surfaces, we have now moved on to the drawers. A couple of years ago, when I cleaned out my over-stuffed utensil drawer, I put all the useful things I don't tend to touch into a box and took them to the basement. If I found I needed something, I knew where to find it. Anything left in that box now will be disposed of. I suppose I should have done that sooner. This time, when I did that drawer, the only things I found that I felt I could remove, were a handful of plastic straws. They got moved to my studio, as now I like to blow paint and ink around to create interesting abstract designs.

The drawing course is a lot of fun, and not too hard, even for me.....so far, anyway. It's called How to Draw Without Talent, and I found it at Sketchbook Skool.  Some people are very talented. I think they inherit it from someone and are able to translate the world around them into some form of expression the rest of us can only marvel at. I may have some talents, but drawing is not one of them. It has taken me a long time to be able to paint pictures that I feel are good enough to even give away, but I've been working at that for years. I can't draw, according to instructor Danny Gregory, not because I don't have talent, but because nobody has ever taught me any of the basic skills. Yes, I can see, but I can't translate what I see to paper. I hope this class, or klass as they call it, will change all that.

Danny says learning to draw is actually easier than learning to drive. Well, I can't drive either, but then, I've never actually tried to learn how. This week I have learned the basic components of drawing.  I took steps to learn to copy lines, curves, angles and spots or circles. Instead of drawing actual things, I had to try to duplicate abstract patterns containing these elements. It wasn't easy, but it was fun. I had trouble with just one of them and thought I wasn't getting the angles and perspective right.  But when I looked at it the next day, I saw exactly what I had left out, and fixed it with no trouble at all. That gave me the confidence to try to duplicate an ad that had come in the mail. I don't think I did too badly. So already this course is working. 

Danny makes us draw with a pen, so that we will commit to our lines. That makes it even scarier for me, as I know I can't erase even the most glaring mistakes. I did this one with a ball point pen so it doesn't show up as well as I would hope, but I have just purchased a couple of nice new black pens to work with in the future.

So, to summarize week one: I'm learning the basic skills behind learning how to draw; the kitchen is looking neat and tidy and I've started on the drawers; and I've somehow lost three pounds, but that may be because I've been too busy to snack.  Hey, whatever works!

How are you doing with your project?

Not Better by Design

Last fall, in my husband's ongoing quest to protect me, he purchased a step stool.  He had, on numerous occasions, seen me climb up on a kitchen chair to reach things in my cupboards. In the old days, I guess I was deemed young enough to climb on anything, and my chairs were the old sturdy chrome style that could support me without problem.  But now I have wooden chairs, that sometimes get a little wobbly and need regluing from time to time. Apparently he didn't like to see me climbing on those as I may be getting a little wobbly from time to time myself.

My kitchen is green and white but the stool is red, so I don't store it in the kitchen.  Rather than go and get it, I still drag a chair over to do my climbing.  There was another reason that I didn't use it too. When caught on a chair, and confronted with the question of why I wasn't using the stool, I just said it didn't work for me. 

It was only after preparing for Christmas that I was able to explain that statement to my hubby.  I didn't want him thinking I was looking his gift horse in the mouth. I finally had an example of why it wouldn't work, and decided to demonstrate the problem.

My kitchen sink is built over the stairwell to the basement.  That means there is plenty of room between the sink and the window behind it for a shelf.  I wanted that shelf nice and clean, so I'd have someplace to put such things as pies and cookie platters for my guests, without them taking up all the working space on my countertop.  From the floor, I can reach about half way back, to wash and polish that shelf.  From a kitchen chair, I can reach all the way to the windowsill.  From the new step stool I can only reach as far as I can if I'm standing on the floor, with nothing to climb on.  The problem is in the design of he stool itself. 

The first problem is that the stool goes from it's flat storage state, to an A frame, so the back legs prevent you from putting the steps close enough to the cupboard. There is a cure for that, I know you are thinking, but I'll address that in a moment.  The second problem is that the stool has a handle that, centers itself over the top step, and keeps my knees from going beyond that.  My feet go under it just fine, but the handle holds me back away from what I'm trying to reach. 

Now, I'm sure you wonder why I don't just turn the stool around sideways, so that I can snuggle it up against the cupboard.  I tried that, and I also demonstrated it to my hubby when he suggested it.  Once he saw that the handle had me standing so that my outer foot was not only right on the edge of the step, but actually hanging over the edge, he agreed that he didn't want me doing that.  I'd get busy doing the job in front of me and slip right off that step, for sure! 

I'm sure there will be things this stool will come in handy for, but as something to climb on in my kitchen, I'm better off standing on my kitchen chairs.  If hubby thinks they are too wobbly to be trustworthy, I will remind him that I have a wild assortment of glues available in the basement.