It's all gouda: kitchen tools

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Favorite Kitchen Tools - Installment #1

I have a kitchen full of gadgets and gizmo's. Some things I use regularly, a few items make obligatory appearances during the various holiday seasons, and others are doing time in the back of the cabinet waiting to be paroled once every couple years. I try to buy only those things that I know I will use, and refrain from impulse purchases (well, I like to think that I do). Still, I find myself reaching for the same spoon or knife or pan for most meal preparation.

Today's post is the first installment titled My Favorite Kitchen Tools. Perhaps others find themselves also using the same pieces over and over. Maybe there are those out there who are more adventurous taking advantage of multiple pieces. I am very interested in learning what all those magnificent blog chefs consider to be their valuable, indispensable, favorite kitchen tools.

Today's "My Favorite Kitchen Tool": Wooden Utensils: Spoons and Spatula's

Several years ago, when I converted most of my cookware to non-stick pieces, I also switched out my cooking utensils to nylon or silicon. Not only did I cease using my metal cooking utensils, I also stopped using my wooden spoons. Those new safe-for-teflon pieces with their comfort grip handles caught my attention. Fast forward to about a year ago, I purchased a new wooden spoon by OXO and immediately fell in love with it. It was like greeting an old friend. That little wooden beauty handles both stainless and non stick cookware with ease, won't bow or buckle when mixing cookie dough, and can stir soup without the handle getting too hot. The folks at OXO are very good about incorporating comfort in their designs, and this one has a comfortable, wide handle. The wood doesn't splinter, hold odors, or get "fuzzy". The bowl portion and handle length are perfect. Ah, the perfect multi task tool. It's the one item I consistently reach for. It just keeps on keepin' on.

The one thing it doesn't do well is spatula work. Then today I saw the answer. Hanging on the utensil rack at Target of all places ... A wooden spatula made by OXO. I picked it up. For those of you who saw the Harry Potter movie, do you remember when Harry gets his first wand at Olivander's shop? Remember the dramatic orchestra music sounding out and how the wind blew and the light shown on Harry? Olivander told Harry, "The wand picks the wizard, Harry!" Well, that's what it was like for me and my wooden spatula. Really. Only without the orchestra and the wind, and ... ok, well, let's move on shall we ....

This wooden spatula, like it's spoon cousin, will be a great multi-tasker. I plan to use it for scraping up those luscious browned bits off the bottom of skillets, for scrambling eggs and flipping sausage patties, for two-fisted stir fries, and who knows what else.

Then, while still enjoying my state of glee at finding the spatula, what do I see? The cast iron skillet that I've been scoping out on line. I haven't used a cast iron skillet for about 20 years. I've always found the skillets to be way too heavy for my small wrists, and the iron itself was a pain to care for. Now, though, the newer breed of cast iron skillets come pre-seasoned and in a variety of sizes. This one is only 10", not very big by skillet standards and it will require me to use both hands to lift it when full of food, but it's the perfect size for the types of food I want to prepare in it. Plus, it will give me a chance to see how I feel about using cast iron. It will be rigorously tested on the stove top, in the oven, and on the grill.

Now I just need to season my new wooden spatula tonight with a couple coats of mineral oil and it will be ready to go. Tomorrow morning, prepared in the cast iron skillet and managed with the wooden spatula, it's sausage and eggs, baby!

Homeschool Tips and Tools: 2010

Bananagrams! Not too long ago, my kids and I discovered a great new game called Bananagrams. Far more fast paced and loads easier to play than Scrabble, this game requires only a table top and kids to get the fun underway. Better yet, adults and kids of all ages can play together. The playing pieces come packaged in a delightful, banana colored and shaped, zippered cloth pouch. It's free formed fun, and great entertainment for the entire family.

From a homeschooling perspective, it's a great tool to segue into creative writing or story telling. My kids create their own Bananagram "puzzle" and then use the words they created to write or tell an impromptu story. Silly or serious, all type of stories are encouraged!

The book titled English from the Roots Up by Joegil K. Kundquist has rapidly become one of my favorite resources for building a strong vocabulary base for my children. This spiral bound book provides both Latin and Greek word roots that provides students with tools to help them determine word meanings. I absolutely love it, and the rapid results that I see in my children are amazing. This is way better than a spelling program; by studying word roots, my children are gaining a much broader understanding of language and the power of words. The lessons are very easy to administer, short in duration, and my kids enjoyed them.

On the writing frontier, there is a book called Story Starters, Helping Children Write Like They've Never Written Before by Karen Andreola that provides writing prompts in the form of partially written stories for children to complete. While I found the book to be just ok, my children love it. I read the partially written story aloud, and they write the rest. The kids really enjoyed doing this as each of them looked forward to hearing the other's completed versions. This ended up being a great experience as the kids really wanted to impress their siblings with their version, and thus put more effort into their writing.

And for the grammar enthusiast lurking inside your student, here's a great book that explains how to diagram sentences. Diagraming Sentences by Deborah White Broadwater is a 46 page workbook complete with an answer key, and is perfect for your middle schooler.

Does your student embrace Science? Do you need quality supplies to conduct more in depth experiments at home? Check out Home Science Tools. I'm very impressed with the quality of the products we just ordered. Beakers, flasks, stirring rods, thermometers, chemicals, safety equipment, and so much more can be found and ordered on their website. www.homesciencetools.com . The items we received were top quality, the customer service rep was super, and the items were extremely well packed and delivered as promised. Look out Bill Nye ... future scientists in the house!

Lapbooking and Notebooking are buzz words in the homeschool community. Here are two great resources for incorporating those strategies into your learning curriculum. Big Book of Books by Dinah Zike and The Ultimate Lap Book Handbook by Tammy Duby and Cyndy Regeling helped me enhance our homeschooling experience using lapbooks. The content found in these books enabled me to teach a group of homeschool mom's how to incorporate lapbooking into their curriculums. You'll want to laminate your copies as they will get pulled off the shelf over and over again.