My Favorite Kitchen Things — by Guest Mom Adriana Velez
First I just want to say how thrilled I am to be guest blogging on Design Mom. I have ZERO design experience but a growing interest. Design Mom has been one of my favorite classrooms — how fabulous, then, to appear on her pages!
Since my expertise is in cooking rather than design I’m going to start the week off in the kitchen. Perhaps you’ve seen Oprah’s “My Favorite Things” episodes around the holidays; this is my version. These are My Favorite Kitchen Things. Regrettably, the audience will not be going home with these items. But they’re cheap and easy to find!
Citrus squeezer. This squeezes lemons and limes with ease; juice gushes out while seeds stay in.
Bonne Maman jam jars. We reuse these jars for everything. We drink juice from them, collect grease in them, store food in them (microwavable, unlike your plastic storage containers). Salad dressing is a snap: just add your ingredients, close the lid tightly, shake vigorously, and pour. The jam isn’t bad, either.
Box grater. I’ve tried just about every cheese grater out there and this is my favorite. The cut edges enable you to work with gravity. Meanwhile, the box holds all the grated cheese in. Unless you have room for an electric grater (and I don’t), there is simply no substitute for the box grater.
Little scrubby friend. One of my Swiss friends gave me this for Christmas. It’s for scrubbing veggies, but I use it for scrubbing dishes. He’s just adorable, isn’t he? When I’m not using this fellow I’m using another great dishwashing tool, the flat scraper (Pampered Chef). And I feel like the most glamorous lunch lady ever with my pink dishwashing gloves.
Cast iron pot with skillet lid. I love my All-Clad and Le Cruset, but this old lady really delivers. The pot is deep enough for chili, roasts, and even baking bread. The lid doubles as a skillet, perfect for scrambled eggs.
Mr. Happy cold/heat pack. This isn’t exactly a kitchen item, but it does live in our refrigerator. These little guys help soothe the many boo boos an active, boundary-pushing kid collects throughout the day. You can heat it in hot water as well.
Danby countertop dishwasher. This will give you an idea of how small our apartment is. It hooks up to the sink. I can’t imagine life without it.
Since my expertise is in cooking rather than design I’m going to start the week off in the kitchen. Perhaps you’ve seen Oprah’s “My Favorite Things” episodes around the holidays; this is my version. These are My Favorite Kitchen Things. Regrettably, the audience will not be going home with these items. But they’re cheap and easy to find!
Citrus squeezer. This squeezes lemons and limes with ease; juice gushes out while seeds stay in.
Bonne Maman jam jars. We reuse these jars for everything. We drink juice from them, collect grease in them, store food in them (microwavable, unlike your plastic storage containers). Salad dressing is a snap: just add your ingredients, close the lid tightly, shake vigorously, and pour. The jam isn’t bad, either.
Box grater. I’ve tried just about every cheese grater out there and this is my favorite. The cut edges enable you to work with gravity. Meanwhile, the box holds all the grated cheese in. Unless you have room for an electric grater (and I don’t), there is simply no substitute for the box grater.
Little scrubby friend. One of my Swiss friends gave me this for Christmas. It’s for scrubbing veggies, but I use it for scrubbing dishes. He’s just adorable, isn’t he? When I’m not using this fellow I’m using another great dishwashing tool, the flat scraper (Pampered Chef). And I feel like the most glamorous lunch lady ever with my pink dishwashing gloves.
Cast iron pot with skillet lid. I love my All-Clad and Le Cruset, but this old lady really delivers. The pot is deep enough for chili, roasts, and even baking bread. The lid doubles as a skillet, perfect for scrambled eggs.
Mr. Happy cold/heat pack. This isn’t exactly a kitchen item, but it does live in our refrigerator. These little guys help soothe the many boo boos an active, boundary-pushing kid collects throughout the day. You can heat it in hot water as well.
Danby countertop dishwasher. This will give you an idea of how small our apartment is. It hooks up to the sink. I can’t imagine life without it.
posted by Gabrielle of Design Mom at Monday, January 22, 2007
17 Comments:
wow! a lid that doubles as a skillet. love it.
I'm so glad you posted on those citrus juicers! I saw an episode of Martha that featured them, but I couldn't tell what they were like up close. Where does one find such a tool?
I am so in love with my cast iron skillets. I use them more than any other pans.
Now I'm interested in that countertop dishwasher....
Great list. I love the little scrubby dude.
That last comment was me.
I love the citrus juicers! I got mine at Crate and Barrel, but I've also seen them at World Market.
"this old lady delivers' best line ever. hehe and with iron in the kitchen it doubles as a good work-out! I am too much of a weakling to bring that into my kitchen, but recognize it's abilities.
great post!
Hey, A: I like the pot/skillet thing. Clever. And I've got something similar to your on-the-counter dishwasher. Mine's on casters and sits in the corner of my apartment next to our kitchen table. It contributes extra counter space, and wheels into the kitchen, hooks up to the sink, and plugs into the wall when it needs to be used. Nifty little thing, portable dishwasher. A good investment, too.
~Kate
great list, love it all
i'm so happty to see someone else loves bonne maman jam jars as much as me. it makes my day when the jam goes on sale and i can stock up on paint jars, salad dressing bottles and jam of course!!
I've got to get a citrus juicer like that. I've been drinking lemon & honey all week (since I'm STILL sick)and since I use the reemer and am too lazy to wash a strainer, it'e been full of seeds! (Also, your little cold pack guy is actually Mr Strong. Mr Happy is yellow & round. We have the Mr Bump version - and we love it too.)
hey adriana, quick question. do you use the box grater as a zester as well? i'm in the market for a new one. let me know if you have any tips.
ps: i saw jasper's b-day pictures on your blog. i love how aiden managed to slip into every one of them!
typed my name in too fast. that's supposed to be sara stratford!
Namona, thanks for the tip on the juicers. I got mine at the Park Slope Food Coop but I thought I'd seen them elsewhere.
Lindsey, we ordered our dishwasher online (google "danby" and "countertop dishwasher" and you can compare prices), but supposedly Target and Wallmart carry them. After three years we had to replace a part, but it was inexpensive and easy to do so through the company's website.
Tania, thanks -- I threw the packaging away and Jasper just named the guy himself. Our friend has Mr. Bump, too. So cute.
Sara, you could use the grater as a zester, but a smaller tool would be better. Crate & Barrell and other similar shops carry the smaller, hand-held zesters that make it easier to zest directly into a pot or bowl. They're also good for grating nutmeg.
I love my gloves too; they're just like yours! I looked everywhere for some long enough and small enough for my hands. I liked these ones so much that I stocked up. And they're so bright and pretty!
Now I just need to get me a cute scrubbing fellow to keep me company while I do dishes. And I love the juicer. Both are adorable items.
Also, I haven't even begun looking, but have wanted a pot/skillet thingy forever. Where would I look for one like yours?
i just re-read and realized i missed that straight scraper thing for doing dishes, tell me more about this, is it to replace the fingernail scratching the dishes clean?
Jenni, you can get the scraper thing from pamperedchef.com -- look for it under their "stoneware" (the scrapers are made for cleaning the stoneware, but so useful for everything else!)
Brooke, the little scrubby guy is by "Kozial" and I found some on welltemperedkitchen.com. Before my claims of "easy to find" I should have admitted that a friend in Switzerland gave me mine! But I've seen them in a kitchen store in my neighborhood.
As for the cast iron pot, I got mine at the Broadway Panhandler here in New York (again, so much for "easy to find...") It's by Lodge Cast Iron Cookware -- there are lots of places to buy it online. You may also find it at camping supply stores.
i love those citrus juicers. i got a smaller "cruder" one at a mexican tienda about 7 years ago. since it's mexican, it's really made for limes, but i've found that if i cut the lemons into smaller pieces, it works just fine. i love the bright yellow and bright green ones -- mine's just metal.
and the little scrubby guy is great!
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