It’s a sad fact that when I clean out the drawers and cupboards in my kitchen every few months, my response is not, “Yippee! Look at all that space!” It’s, “Woohoo! Time to look for some more gadgets!” I’m a gadget addict, obviously.

Kitchen gadgets make kitchen life fun - and sometimes easier

Kitchen gadgets are some of those things that make life in the kitchen just a little more fun. You don’t need them, but they do make your life more fun, and sometimes even easier. The other night I made 200 chocolate chip cookies for teacher gifts. That meant the big stand mixer, and I sure could have used this nifty gadget – a mixer paddle with the side-scraping spatula incorporated -  instead of stopping every couple of minutes to scrape down the sides of the bowl. In fact, I have ordered it. Absolutely ingenious! There is no way I am making 16 dozen (plus) cookies again without it.

Cool off with fun-shaped ice pop molds 

Also, with the hot hazy days of summer upon us, I’m looking for more ways to cool off. I think I have found it in these ultra fun shaped ice pop molds. Since my kids enjoy making smoothies, I think I’ll have them pour some of their next creation into one of these molds. Even better, they come in other fun shapes, too (read: more gadgets). 

Fun shapes for the kids 

Silicone has really taken off in cooking and baking. From baking to hot pads to ice trays, this flexible material makes for lots of fun. We have Lego ice trays and penguins and stars (they all can double as butter molds) and I’ve seen dolphins and Tetris shapes and all sorts of others. A little trick to cooling down? A single drop of food grade pure peppermint oil in each ice cube tray before freezing - and when you use those ice cubes for water later, it’s like you are cooling off from the inside out. Aaahh.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Another fun gadget for summer will be this ice cream sandwich maker. Between the cookies I make with the spatula paddle and my favorite homemade ice creams, I think I need to up my time on the elliptical.

Speaking of that homemade ice cream, get the kids involved by getting one of these nifty ice cream makers. Send them out into the yard to kick the ball and earn their ice cream by making it first! We’re going camping later this summer and that means S’mores (with dark chocolate for us). As much as a little grit from a found stick is more authentic when roasting marshmallows, I’m thinking we’ll take along these skewers this time.

Poached eggs made easy 

One of my favorite all-time breakfasts is Eggs Benedict (traditional and variations). Not the healthiest, I know, but I love it. We’ve never made it at home much because we never did refine the egg poaching skill. However, these silicone egg cups look like they will do the trick – and my husband will be making me my favorite breakfast for years to come.

Butter up 

And finally, corn on the cob is a frequent menu item in the summer. Grilled or boiled, this nifty gadget for corn on the cob applies butter just right.

Happy summer, everyone!

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Right up there with my love of gadgets is my adoration of novelty bakeware.

When I first started seeing elaborate Bundt cake pans in the catalogs several years ago, I thought they were cute. I had a Bundt pan, though, and didn’t need another. But then Nordicware came out with a sunflower pan, and I was smitten. It was the only thing I asked for one birthday and I was almost giddy when my husband arrived home the day before that birthday, carrying a Williams-Sonoma bag but not letting me see what was inside.

You see, if I had the kitchen space, I’d have six or seven of these novelty pans, and countless other novelty cooking items as well. They are just so much fun! I’d have the chrysanthemum, the wreath and/or the poinsettia pan, the ice cream cone pan, and a few others for cupcake sized cakes.

I’m sure you have one or two novelty items in your kitchen; just about everyone does. Sure you enjoyed it when you first acquired it, but when was the last time you used it? I admit it had been a while since I’d used my sunflower, and I admit that I do go in phases in terms of the frequency with which I use it, but even infrequently used, it makes me smile. Every time, mid-winter, summer or spring. It’s a happy pan.

I pulled out my sunflower pan this weekend, in anticipation of spring. I searched for just the right recipe, and found it in a lemon pound cake that uses lots of real lemon juice and peel, and not just extract.

Even though the pan is coated in Teflon and supposedly non-stick, I do find that efforts to grease and flour the pan are worth it. Extracting finished cakes can be just a little delicate with all those nooks and crannies. I use canola oil spray to grease it, and a light hand with flour (or occasionally powdered sugar)

The cake turned out really nicely. Excellent edge of pucker to it with the fresh lemon juice. I dusted the finished cake with powdered sugar – but not enough to obscure the shape. When I put it out on the table after dinner, even the dog was grinning.

Fresh Lemon Pound Cake

1 3/4 cup sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
3 large eggs
3 egg yolks
2 lemons (zest and juice)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a cake pan or load pan.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and yolks one at a time, blending well after each addition. Add the zest, juice, and vanilla extract and incorporate completely.

Add the flour, baking powder and salt and integrate completely, but be careful not to over mix, either.

Pour the cake into the prepared pan and bake about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool, then turn out onto a plate. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.

PointsandPrizes.com Keyword: POWDERED worth 50 points good through 04/06/08.
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A sucker for kitchen gadgets!

There’s nothing like a new gadget to perk up my cooking, if only for a short while. Any excuse to use it – any excuse at all – and I’m there. I love to peruse cooking stores and websites for new gadgets. I’m a sucker for new tools, and a complete idiot for those tools in funky colors.

Last year when I picked up a mango splitter, I proceeded to buy many overpriced mangoes for weeks just so I could use it. I figured out just the level of ripeness of the fruit that resulted in the best split. My kids thought this was just the best thing ever as they love mangoes and I would buy them only rarely. We had many smiles around the dinner table, and many mango fibers to floss out of our teeth.

I was equally excited when I received a microplane grater as a gift. I sought out all my recipes that contained grated citrus peel or fresh grated nutmeg. Fresh tangerine tart out of season? Eggnog in July? Why not! Then I started using it to grate Parmesan onto pasta. Those thin ribbons of cheese melted so easily, and prettily. I was in heaven.

Any excuse for a new gadget…

Even my new garlic press has me excited. Our 15+ year old garlic press gave up the ghost recently, so I got to pick out a shiny new steel one with these lovely rubber grips. There are so many things I could press with that. What to try, what to try…

There’s that new avocado slicer around that looks very interesting. Although I don’t often slice avocados (I usually smush them into guacamole) and don’t find it onerous when I do, it’s awfully pretty.

The pineapple slicer looks like lots of fun, too. Except that we have a fresh pineapple once or twice a year. Mere details!

My oldest son has inherited my love of cooking gadgets. He has short fingernails and asked for a citrus peeler for Christmas. Seriously, he did.

As you can imagine, my drawers are overfull with seldom used items. But when I do want that gadget, no other will do. Whether it’s the apple corer, melon baller, bowl scraper, or one of a dozen others, I love them all.

Tangerine Tart

Think of tangerine as the starting off point for this tart. Pink grapefruit, lemon, or lime also work.

Crust

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp grated tangerine peel
14 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar and tangerine peel. Whir together about 10 seconds. Sprinkle the butter over the top of the flour mixture, then pulse the food processor until the dough just holds together. Press the crust into a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. It will be a bit crumbly.

Bake 25-53 minutes until crust is light brown.

Filling:

2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup fresh tangerine juice
2-3 tsp grated tangerine peel
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup half-and-half

Keep that oven at 325 degrees.

With a mixer on high speed, mix all ingredients until well-blended, a minute or so. Pour into the baked crust, and bake 30-40 minutes, until the filling no longer giggles. Cool about 1 hour.

Topping:

3/4 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 tsp grated tangerine peel

Beat cream, sugar, vanilla and tangerine peel together until just shy of soft peaks. Mound spoonfuls on the tart as you serve it.

Jen’s Guacamole

I’m not a big pepper fan, so this version has none. The focus is the lovely creaminess of the avocados.

3 perfectly ripe avocados
1 plum tomato, seeded and chopped fine
2 tbsp finely chopped red onion
juice of half a lime
generous pinch of kosher salt

Peel and mash the avocados well. Add the tomato, onion, lime juice and salt and mix/mash well.

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