Get Them Before They're Gone...

I am a collector of kitchen gadgets. Sometimes they're wonderful, and sometimes I wonder why I bought them. Hubby is quite good at fuelling my obsession. He has provided some of my favourite gadgets. The ice-cream attachment for my KitchenAid mixer is one.  This is another:

Yes, I am aware that an ipad isn't technically a kitchen gadget, but I do love having it in the kitchen with me. And not just for the sentimental value:

It's great for looking up recipes:

Both the cookies and the granola glimpsed in the pictures above are made from recipes I found online. I find a recipe, try it once, and, if it turns out, I bookmark it for future use. For the longest while I felt quite smug about all the paper I was saving. Prior to ipad acquisition I was printing recipes. The ipad allowed me to green up my kitchen practices. Then catastrophe.

Some of my favourite food bloggers started taking down their websites. It wasn't just that they didn't post any more. The websites were actually disappearing, often without warning. My carefully-curated bookmarks led nowhere. The horror! The frustration!

Last summer Kristin, the author of one much-bookmarked website, announced she was moving on to other things. She kindly left her website Cook Bake Nibble available so her followers could continue to access her recipes. What a relief! 

Last week, I discovered that Kristin will be retiring Cook Bake Nibble at the end of the month. Thankfully she gave her readers notice, so I've spent much of my afternoon printing favourite recipes. Sifting through her recipes one last time made me remember how much I liked her cooking style. We had many really great meals as a result of her work and her willingness to share her ideas.

So, if you're looking for some decent, easy, whole-food recipes you may want to head over to Cook Bake Nibble before it's too late. And if you miss out, don't fret. Kristin also announced that she'll be releasing a cookbook this year that will include new recipes and recipes from her old blog. I've already signed up for notification when the cookbook is ready, and will try to remember to let you know when I know. In the mean time, you can visit Kristin's new blog Niblet and check out her new adventures. 

Green Kitchen Thingie

Today's post was inspired by Meghan over at Making Love in the Kitchen.  She asked her readers what they do to green their kitchen.  Here's my list. 

* Cloth napkins – Some I’ve had for 15 years or more.  They're getting a bit ratty, but they still work.
* Compost.
* Reusable microfibre cleaning cloths. I like the ones from e-cloth. I use them in the bathroom as well, but not the same ones as I use for the kitchen. That would be gross.
* Grow yer own herbs.
* Buy local and organic as much as possible.
* Weekly veggie/fruit bin (local, organic, no bags).
* Recycle or re-use packaging. Or both. Grocery lists go on the back of the receipt from the week before, then get recycled.
* Cloth bags for shopping (Some are almost 20 years old, so they're also ratty. The looks I get from the cashiers, especially the ones that aren’t as old as my canvas shopping bags!) 

Then there's this:

Hubby and I made it about 8 years ago.  I was inspired by one I saw in a magazine. Theirs was a deluxe version; it folded down when not in use.  A few bits from the hardware store, some glue and a few minutes with the power drill (That was the tricky part. The drill kept sliding off the round bit, so Hubby came to my rescue.  As a result, the job was finished in good time and we both had all our fingers at the end) and voila!

Okaaay, but what the heck is it?

It's my homemade plastic-bag drying thingie.  I still use zip-top bags from time to time, particularly the fresh produce bags by Ziploc.  So far they're the best thing I've found for keeping veggies fresh.  There are times when hubby and I are hard pressed to finish a generous bunch of greens before they go off.  These bags extend the fridge life of our lettuce, chard and spinach so less lands in the compost bin.  I hate wasting food, I like saving money and I feel better about using plastic bags if I reuse them.  Unfortunately, the bags aren't cheap (my opinion - remember, you're dealing with the under-employed here), hence my initial incentive to reuse the bags.

Most of the time this strange device sits on top of my fridge making it look like it's sprouted weird antennae.  Bags get washed, spend some time on the drying rack so they're not too drippy, then get transferred to the thingie to finish drying. 

Plastic bags aren't particularly environmentally friendly, I know, so if you have another solution for vegetable storage I'd love to know.   If you have a cheap, green solution even better.  In fact, like Meghan, I'd love to hear any tips you have for greening your kitchen.  If you choose to share here make sure you share there too; Meghan's offering a prizes.

Note: the friendly people at Ziploc do not recommend that you reuse these bags.  I'm not sure what their reasoning is, but I've been doing it for about 8 years and haven't suffered any (obvious) ill effects. 

Grinning Gadget

I have a weakness for kitchen gadgets.  Some are useful, others are not.  Some I've purchased, others were gifts.  Most make me happy whenever I use them.  This little guy makes me laugh right out loud.

He's a gift from my parents' trip to Seagrove N.C.   Funny-looking pottery is a long-standing tradition there.  The grotesque faces were originally designed to frighten children away from jugs containing items that shouldn't be consumed by children.  Like poison.  Or whiskey.  


This little fellow wasn't designed to alert us to the dangers of poison or moonshine, though he is a useful guy to have around.  Most days he just hangs out in my kitchen making me smile.  He only demonstrates his true talent on baking day.   

My little pottery pal is an egg separator.  You crack the whole egg into the top of his head, then you tip him and the egg white oozes from his mouth.  I laugh every time.  Useful and amusing.  What more can you ask from a kitchen gadget?
 

(Note: The hand in the photo belongs to Hubby.  Also a useful and amusing guy to have around. Thanks honey!)