0 Kitchen Wish List

This week the Target Holiday Gift catalog came in the mail.  You know what that means...the kids started taking turns with pens and post-its to mark their "wishes" in the catalog.  I told them, "dream on"!  It reminds me of the years in my childhood when my grandmother would pull out the Sears Catalog and would ask us to create our wish lists to offer her. As adults, in our family, we tend to keep running lists of wishes, in the event that someone asks!

I am a kitchen tool junkie.  I love them.  I have drawers and cabinets full of them.  My list of wishes most always includes a new kitchen tool.  My mom, sister and I often give each other new kitchen gadgets for Christmas.  Some of my tools are used daily, like my kitchen scissors and my 4 Tbsp. measuring cup; while others I use only once in a while.  But when I need it, it is extremely useful...like my cherry pitter.

About a year ago a friend asked me for recommendations of kitchen tools that she might collect to better equip her kitchen.  What a fun task it was to make a wish list for her.  I thought I would share with you, a further expanded list of some of my favorite kitchen tools.

Just in case anyone asks!

I have divided them into categories by cost, and of course, this is not an exhaustive list, but rather one that includes some of my favorites!

Small: ($25 or less)

Cherry Pitter

Cherry Pitter - Check out my story about this gadget.
It is only used for a couple of months
each year when cherries are in season but,
if you love fresh cherries, it will
change your cherry-eating-world!
(I call it a cheap thrill.)

Kitchen Scissors

Kitchen Scissors -
These come in handy when
trimming raw chicken
and cutting parchment paper
and chopping fresh herbs.
They are dishwasher safe
and they come apart for easy
cleaning.

Pampered Chef Spatula

Pampered Chef Spatula -

this is the perfect

getting-cookies-off-of-the-pan

spatula with the sharp thin edge

and nice large surface

Scoops

scoops - various sizes

Scoops - We use scoops all the time when baking cookies and muffins. There are several sizes which are all useful. It decreases the mess and creates more consistent-sized baked goods.

Solid Measure

Solid Measure- This is very helpful in
measuring Crisco, peanut butter,
Coconut oil... any solid, gooey substance.
You simply adjust to your measurement,
spoon in the ingredient, level across the
top, and push out. It all pops out and
none goes to waste.

Mini Spatulas

Just Lucy's Size

Mini Rubber Spatula-
We are super-romantic at our house. For my birthday a couple of years ago, Dave gave me a couple of these spatulas from Williams Sonoma. They are a great little size for cleaning out a measuring cup, and a perfect size to fit in your mouth when scraping batter or cookie dough
out of the bowl.

BBQ Turner

BBQ Turner-

This was a gift from my

sister to Dave from Pampered Chef

and it is the best grill tool

we've ever had.

Dave swears by it - for it's size, 

and long handle, sharp edge on 

one side and its ability to easily
get under your burger to flip it.

Cake Lifter

Cake/Pizza Lifter- This is one of those
"when you need it, you need it, but you don't need it every day"
kind of a tool.  You can lift your
entire cake and move it from a
cooling rack to the serving dish.
It can also lift a Pizza right off the pan.
Amazing!

Favorite Cookbooks

Favorite cookbooks:
Everyday Food magazine (by Martha Stewart)- It is so practical, user-friendly and a great way to inspire new recipes in your kitchen.  I've had a subscription for years and some of the "staples" in our kitchen have come from it.  I have given it as a gift a few times too.  It's only $12 and it's the gift that keeps on giving.

Barefoot Contessa cookbooks- You can't go wrong with these beauties. There are several to choose from and I love all the ones I have.  There are beautiful photos of each recipe and great tips.  She is a fabulous teacher through her cookbooks.

The Joy of Cooking cookbook- If I were to recommend ONE cookbook for your kitchen, this would be the one! It's my favorite Primer.  I call it my kitchen encyclopedia.  It has so much information including: varieties of lettuce, to cuts of beef, to temperatures for doneness of meat, to "what is salad nicoise?", to how to make a good graham cracker crust, and 1,000 plus pages of other instructions!

The Chopper

The Chopper- This is loud 

and requires some aggression 

to use, but it can chop an onion, 

or pecans or chocolate like 

nobody's business! 

(And it can be washed in the 

dishwasher, which is a bonus.)

Travel knife- I found these at the check-out at Williams Sonoma (in those glass jars by the register) and thought they were cute. When I got to looking at them, I realized they are more than cute, they are really useful. The knife has a good, sharp blade, but with a sturdy plastic cover.

Kuhn Rikon Paring Knife

the same knife in orange

I bought a couple, one to keep, another to gift, and I have ended up keeping mine at my desk at school to use for lunchtime to slice my apple.  I then bring it home for the summer, to put with our picnic gear for our meals at the pool and park.  It's a great knife and safe and easy to tote.

4 Tbsp Measuring Cup

4 Tbsp measuring cup- it's adorable and so useful!  Do you ever try to measure Tablespoons of vanilla or oil and end up pouring it everywhere when it overflows the measuring spoon? No longer does this happen with this!  And the curved design makes it so easy to properly see the measurement.  My mom found it and gave one to my sister and me.  I have since gifted it to a couple of people because I think it is so useful!

Small Metal Spatula

Small metal spatula- the pampered chef "petite spatula" is the perfect size (though I have had two, and the handle broke off both of them eventually), and now this one (that my sister gave me recently) has been a great substitute. Having a small, metal spatula makes serving gooey bars, brownies, sheet cake, etc. a much easier and prettier task

Lemon Zester

Lemon Zester - You have to have a zester! There are many varieties and styles. I have a little one that creates long strips of zest, but this one, that is more of a zesting plane, makes a finer zest. Mom gave it to me last year and I have loved it.  This one fits nicely over a bowl and steadies the tool for the zesting. (Your muffins will thank you!)

Pitcher with plunger

Pampered chef pitcher with plunger- This is great for serving lemonade and fruit tea, especially because the plunger allows you to "stir it up" before each serving.  Before I had this, I served my fruit tea with a large, awkward wooden spoon in the pitcher.  Though it is plastic, the design is classy enough to serve at a party and not look tacky.

Medium: ($25-50ish)

Kitchen Scale

Kitchen scale- My friend, Gretchen, and I took a cookie-making class last year and learned about the value of this tool.  I wrote about it HERE.  For Christmas, she gave me one!!  It has been so fun to find uses for it.  My mom saw it at my house (and since it was the only tool she didn't own) she asked for one and I gave it to her for her birthday! Now she has every tool in the world.  This measures in ounces and pounds and is helpful in weighing meat, determining the size of a ball of cookie dough
(and Dave uses it to weigh his CD packages to determine postage when mailing them to people...I recently discovered!)

Baking Stone

Baking stone- I had a pampered chef baking stone in my cabinet for years, un-used, until a friend in my Bible study asked if I had a stone on which we could bake her cranberry crescent rolls.  I pulled it out and we put 1/2 of them on it and 1/2 on a cookie sheet. The difference in the baking consistency was remarkable. The rolls cooked on the stone much more evenly and without being overdone on the bottom. It made me a fan.  I now use it especially when I am baking scones,  shortbread and biscuits.

Cutco knives

Cutco knives- These knives are my VERY FAVORITE. They are expensive, but so worth it. They have a lifetime guarantee and they make food prep much easier.  Do you ever find cutting an apple or slicing a cucumber difficult? It's because of the knife you are using.  My mom converted us years ago and any time I am able to buy one for someone, I do so.  If you only have one, I would purchase the trimmer.  Everyone I know that has one, says that it is in constant use in their kitchen.

Large: ($50-100ish)

Waring double waffle iron

Waring double waffle iron -Read Here for the story behind this waffle maker.  Basically, if you love a deep-grooved belgium waffle and you like to make a bunch quickly, this appliance should be added to your list.  It is cool! You will feel like you are at a Hilton hotel breakfast bar. (And use the Oh Boy Waffle Recipe that won our taste test).

Ice Cream Maker

Ice Cream Maker -  This is our newest appliance. I have long loved making homemade ice cream but this is our first indoors-without-rock-salt-and-ice maker. It is a nice 2 quart size, so you can experiment with different creative flavors without investing in a giant batch.  It is easy, fast and we have been making some tasty treats in this beauty!








Extravagant: (over $100)

Bunn Coffee Maker

Bunn Coffee Maker - I will be posting soon about making a good cup of coffee, and I must say, when it comes to a cup of brewed drip coffee, nothing compares with a BUNN.  The technology is fascinating.  There is a reservoir of hot water stored in the tank behind the pot.  When you pour water into the coffee maker, DISPLACEMENT occurs as the new cool water pushes out the hot and it SPRAYS over the coffee grounds to produce immediate, hot, fresh, delicious coffee. When our friend Amy lived with us, and our coffee pot died, she encouraged us to buy a BUNN and we have been fans ever since.  We gave one to my dad a few years ago and he's become a fan too (as much as he would claim be a "fan" of any inanimate object).

Kitchen Aid Mixer - Many of you have a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer in your kitchen and you might be able to vouch for the fact that it is a tremendous asset in the kitchen.  It is costly, but it is a work-horse.  I love mine.  It has served me well.  There are several varieties of them and they each come with accessories.  I love the dough hook as well as the flat beater.  It is stately and beautiful and used at least once a  week in my kitchen!

Food Processor- this is worth having, if only to make THIS  homemade salsa recipe!  It is so great. I don't use it as much as I use my stand mixer, but I use it often enough to justify owning it.  For chopping, pureeing and slicing, it is fast and powerful.








Happy Shopping and Wish List Making!

Detail: Kitchen Wish List

0 The End of the Pits

I have a thing for kitchen tools.  I really like them.  Garlic presses, zesters, kitchen scissors, measuring cups... In fact, for my birthday and Christmas, I usually get some kind of kitchen tool as a gift from my family.

Some gadgets you have in a drawer and never use.  They are not worth the space they are taking up in your drawer, and hardly worth having to wash when you've used them.  Others you use everyday.  Then there are those that you don't use often, but when you do it's so helpful that nothing else could do what it does.

the amazing pitter

My cherry pitter falls into the 3rd category!
Do you have one?
Have you ever used one?

It's genius! When I pull it out to use it –people are wowed!  It's simple, inexpensive, it takes very little drawer space and with the squeeze of your hand you can have a pitted fresh cherry.  And as special as cherries are,  cherries with pits are a challenge to reckon with – unless you enjoy the eating and spitting activity. (Which I do, given the right time and setting).

When you have cherries with the pits removed you can put them in a fruit salad, or make a pie, or chop them up for a topping on a meat dish.  You can find one at a kitchen store for about $10. (Ours is the oxo brand that my mom got at Bed, Bath and Beyond a few years ago).  You ought to consider buying one, if you love fresh cherries.

Lucy is really into cherries and is actually a very skilled pitter with this handy dandy gadget, especially considering that she is 3 years old.

My friend Melissa (the florist) was coming over for our women's prayer group the other night and was in charge of bringing a goody.  A few minutes before group she texted to tell me that she was on her way and asked if she could use my pitter for cherries for her dessert.  "Of course" was my reply and in a few minutes she arrived with a delightful Almond Shortcake, freshly whipped cream and fresh cherries.  We oohed and ahhed. She said our friend, Beth, who gave her the recipe serves it with blackberries.  Both sound amazing to me.

The Almond Shortcake is like a huge, puffy, almond sugar cookie with toasted almonds on top with a crunchy edge.  There is something so simple, yet elegant about this shortbread and it is de-li-cious! It seemed like the Shortcake and the cherries complemented each other so well.  Don't you think almonds and cherries often do that?

Almond Shortcake

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup (4 Tbsp) unsalted butter

2 eggs

2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

For topping:

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350º

Cream the sugar and butter

Mix in almond and vanilla extracts

Mix in eggs, one at a time

Mix in flour until combined

Pour into a greased 9" pie pan

Top with sugar and sliced almonds

Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned on edges and a toothpick comes out clean.

Top with whipped cream and fresh fruit: berries or cherries or peaches. 

Cherries have been on sale the past few weeks here – so it has been time for cherries at our house.  And the pitter has hardly made it to the drawer, as it has been in constant use.  So, go get yourself a pitter or add it to your wish list!

Detail: The End of the Pits

0 Fresh Apple Cake

This is a great cake. It is really simple, full of sugar and diced apples and screams “autumn”.

This was the week to make it because David had already requested this for his “October Goody of the Month” and we went apple picking last weekend in East Tennessee. (Which is very fun although the farmer told us that actually September is prime picking month, so we were a bit late this year).

In 1996, the summer after I got married, Dave and I worked at a camp in East Tennessee. We lived on a college campus and ate cafeteria food all summer. The camp was a great experience, however, the food was lacking significantly. One of the weeks, a leader from the camp organization, Joe, came to visit with his wife, Freda, because one of their daughters was on our team that year. Freda, knowing the treat that it would be to bring us a baked good, arrived with A Fresh Apple Cake in hand. Well, I thought I would eat the entire cake! It was so moist and cinnamony with a crusty top and a moist inside. It seemed coffee cake-like. I asked Freda for the recipe so that when I returned to normal life with my kitchen, I could make it. She told me to grab a piece of paper and proceeded to quote the recipe. I think she has made it a time or two. I have been making it ever since!

My only gripe about this cake (other than it is full of calories and fat...like most great cakes) is that it chronically sticks to the pan! What a pain! The good thing is that it is forgiving. I am always able to dig out the stuck part and smush it on the cake. I have tried greasing and flouring various ways- Baker’s Joy, Crisco, butter, cooking spray, etc. I have resorted to loaf pans when I have felt discouraged. I even thought it might be my cheap-o bundt pan so I used Birthday money one year to buy a real, Bundt brand, high dollar pan at Williams Sonoma. But alas, it stuck. Nevertheless, I am loyal to this cake and think it is exceptional. So... I make it, hold my breath and prepare for surgery. It is worth it.



Fresh Apple Cake
4 cups fresh tart apples, peeled and diced
¾ cup oil
1 Tbsp vanilla

Mix together in a bowl
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. (or more) cinnamon

Stir dry ingredients together in another bowl.
Add the dry mixture with the apple mixture.



In a separate bowl (you can re-use the one from earlier) mix together:
2 eggs
3 cups sugar





Combine all ingredients together and stir until evenly blended. It will be chunky and thick.

Place in a well-greased and floured bundt pan (if you dare).


Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour 15 min- 1 hour 30 minutes. It is tricky to know when it is done because the top puffs and forms a crunchy exterior and the inside is moist.

Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto a cake plate.

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My friend had a birthday a couple of weeks ago and asked what kitchen tools I thought should be on her wish-list. It was fun to think of “essential tools”. So, when I was baking this week I thought of a couple of cooking tools that I think are of great value in the kitchen that I wanted to mention to you. When peeling and cutting apples, a good knife is essential. It is certainly the most taxing part of the recipe and if you have a good knife it helps. My favorite knives are Cutco. They are easy to handle, sharp, effective knives with a lifetime guarantee. If you don’t have a good knife I suggest you add it to your birthday or Christmas list.

Also, I love a batter bowl. You can see in the photo my new plastic batter bowl. I have always had glass ones (1 quart and 2 quart) and use them all the time. The handle makes them so easy to use and stir, and the spout comes in handy when pouring batter is required. So, I have to confess that I am kind of a wild cook. I am messy in the kitchen (which I deem as an indicator of my creative chef-ness, when teased and criticized about this quality). And I have a lot going on in my life, and in the kitchen, and in my fridge. Because of these variables, I have shattered BOTH of my batter bowls in the past few months. My mother graciously replaced the large one for me and decided plastic would be a safer route this time. She knows me pretty well.

Detail: Fresh Apple Cake