Friday, September 28, 2012

Kitchen Cupboard Meme

I've seen this one everywhere lately. I wasn't going to do it but the avalanche of 'everyone else is doing it' got me.

Kitchen Cupboard Meme: Bold the ones you have and use at least once a year, italicize the ones you have and don't use, strike through the ones you had but got rid of. Oh, and I added [?] if I don't have the least idea what the thing is.

pasta machine, breadmaker, juicer, blender, deep fat fryer, egg boiler, melon baller, sandwich maker, pastry brushes, cheese board, cheese knives, electric wok, salad spinner, griddle pan [?], jam funnel [?], meat thermometer, filleting knives, egg poacher, cake stand, garlic crusher, martini glasses, tea strainer, bamboo steamer, pizza stone, coffee grinder, milk frother, piping bags, banana stand, fluted pastry wheels, tagine dishes [?], conical strainer, rice cooker, steam cooker, pressure cooker, slow cooker, spaetzle maker [?], cookie presses, gravy strainer, double boiler, sukiyaki stove [?], ice cream maker, fondue set, healthy-grill [?], home smoker, tempura set, tortilla press, electric whisk [I'm assuming this is a mixer], cherry stoner, sugar thermometer, food processor, bacon press [?], bacon slicer, mouli mill [?], cake testers, pestle-and-mortar, and kebab skewers

My juicer is one of those old glass things that you use by cutting an orange (or whatever) in half and screwing it down over the middle part so that the juice flows down into the little gutter, where you can pour it (and seeds, and pulp) into a jug or glass. I don't know if that's what the list means.

I almost bought a melon baller last week, actually, because they're so cool. But then I realized that I've lived my whole life without needing to ball a melon, why should I start now? Also, it sounds dirty.

If a "steam cooker" is the same thing as a basket steamer, I have one and use it. But I suspect it's yet another gadget you have to plug in.

Because I've moved so often in my life, I've pared down the kitchen stuff I need. It's easy to improvise if you have a decent selection of pots and pans, knives and spoons. I just bought the blender this summer and immediately thought, "Why did I get that?" It's in the back of a cupboard now and will probably only get used a few times a year, mostly for zucchini destined for zucchini bread. I only ever use my electric mixer for whipping cream (and occasionally egg whites). Otherwise I mix and chop and everything by hand. When I need to grate something, I have a metal cheese grater (that sometimes also grates knuckles).

AHA: The list came from this article. Now I can feel smug that I don't have most of those things. Also, that explains why I'd never heard of so many of the list items. The British terms are different from American. (I'm still going to look up tagine dishes, because what the hell?)

Another edit: I looked it up and I still don't know. I believe I can safely say that I have never owned and will never need tagine dishes.

2 comments:

Kelly Robinson said...

I think "jam funnel" sounds pretty dirty too. I know what a tagine is, but not tagine dishes. I've always wanted a tagine --sort of like the Moroccan version of a slow cooker.

P.S. I think melon ballers can be handy for proportioning out cookie dough.

K.C. Shaw said...

You make cookies out of cookie dough? *boggles*