Tag Archives: kitchen utensils

The Excitement

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It probably seems a bit at odds with my last post about decluttering but I could not contain my excitement when GMan spotted this in an op shop today. Sometimes you don’t know that you need something until you see it.

For the princely sum of $6 I am now the proud owner of a cast-iron tortilla press.

It needs a bit of cleaning but then I will definitely be attempting to make my own tortillas.

If you have any experience using one I would love to hear about it. I will post about the results in due course.

Too Clever

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I have been meaning to write this post for ages but every time I think of it I am in the middle of serving dinner. You will understand why in a minute.

This is a jar lifter which I bought a few years ago. It is designed for lifting preserving jars out of a water bath or otherwise manipulating/moving hot jars. Who would have thought that it would have another use?

One of the challenges of the airfryer is extricating dishes of cooked food from the small space. Oven mitts are really not much use as they are too bulky. I often use these small dishes for making individual serves and they are perfect in the airfryer. I use them for making pot pies, individual baked desserts and mini quiches to name but a few.

So, back to the jar lifter. It is the perfect size to lift these small dishes from the airfryer. The lip on the edge of the dish means that it can be held securely to remove it.

I keep the jar lifter on the shelf in the pantry with the empty preserving jars and it is within easy reach of the airfryer on the bench opposite. Sometimes things just work perfectly and I actually smile to myself every time I use it to lift dishes of food from the airfryer.

It really is the simple things that make a difference.

Beautiful Bowls

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I recently scored these 2 large ceramic bowls. They were on offer through our local LETS group (Local Exchange Trading System) for the equivalent of $12.

They are in perfect condition and exactly what we had been searching for. The larger one is big enough to mix the full quantity of sourdough mix that GMan uses for 2 loaves of bread. He is so pleased with it.

There is something particularly thrilling about finding just what you need through a variety of secondhand avenues.

Op Shop Finds

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It is hard to believe that it is a week since my last post. There has been plenty happening, including committee meetings, a friend’s milestone birthday party, family visiting from interstate as well as lunch with a group of extended family. PHEW!!

On Saturday we were out and about with our visitors and had fun checking out a few op shops in our travels. I had a couple of small wins with the spatula ($1) at one shop and 3 more of my favourite jars (50c each) at another.

The spatula shows very little sign of previous use and the metal handle means that I can safely prop it on the side of the pan.

The jars are my some of my favourites when making jams or chutneys as well as for general storage. The wide neck and straight sides make them simple to fill using a wide-necked funnel and also easy to scrape out the last of the contents.

Food Waste

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Food waste comes in many guises. It may be less than perfect produce being refused by supermarkets and ultimately being dumped. Excess produce being grown and discarded rather than being shared with those in need. Food that is bought and not used for a variety of reasons. Home leftovers that end up being thrown out rather than being used creatively. Large serving portions in cafes and restaurants which result in food wastage.

Food waste going to landfill produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Additionally, it makes absolutely no sense to waste food at any time but especially at the moment, during a cost-of-living crisis when many people are struggling to provide enough food for their families.

Every little bit we do can make a difference and here are some examples.

When I was cooking over the past couple of days I made bulk quantities of chilli con carne, beef and onion casserole and leek and potato soup. It usually use a large soup ladle as a measuring guide when portioning these up but it is not effective at thoroughly scraping the pot. There can be as much as half a serve left in the pot.

That is where these silicon scrapers come in really handy. I bought them nearly 4 years ago and they are honestly worth their weight in gold.

Here are the results of using them to properly empty a large pot and the insert of the slow cooker.

Much better than washing food (and money) down the drain.

Easily Pleased

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Those of you who know me well or have been following this blog for an extended period of time will be aware that shopping is not a great love of mine.  For the most part, I have pretty well everything I need.  However, my plastic spatula which I have owned for at least 20 years met an untimely end courtesy of the blades of the blender.  I realised that I definitely needed one so checked online and found that Big W had Pyrex brand large and small silicone spatulas on special so when we were out and about on Tuesday I attempted to get one of each size.  The small ones were sold out so I will look again another day as GMan is keen for a small one to use when making sourdough.

In the meantime, here is the new addition to my collection of kitchen utensils.

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Coincidentally, I had planned to clean out the utensil jars and drawer.  Each time I do this there is usually something which I decide is no longer required but I have culled my collection of utensils to a point that everything is worthy of its place in the kitchen.

Like all decluttering/streamlining projects, there is no ‘one size fits all’ as we all have different needs in the kitchen.

I have 2 utensil jars.  These hold the majority of frequently used utensils.

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Here they are laid out on the bench.

The hand beater lives in the side of the regular cutlery drawer.

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The contents of the utensil drawer.  These are generally too small or too sharp to stand in a utensil jar.  Some, such as the vegetable peeler and measuring spoons are used every day while most would be used at least once a month and a few less frequently.

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I have an expanding bamboo divider which helps to keep them in some sort of order.  Once I had wiped the drawer and the divider, I replaced all of the items.

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There is one item missing from these photos.  The pie slice which GMan is revarnishing the wooden handle.

I have not shown the sharp knives which I keep separately in a knife block.

I have multiples of a few things – measuring spoons, tongs, wooden spoons and pastry brushes but these are all used.

What are your essential kitchen utensils?  Have you reviewed or reduced what you have recently?

New For Old

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Apart from consumables such as food and to a lesser degree clothing, I do not have a need to buy a great deal of stuff.  Household items sometimes need to be replaced and I think this purchase falls into that category.

I bought a set of two china mixing bowls from Aldi for the princely sum of $10.  It bothers me a bit because how something can be produced, transported across the globe and sold at a profit defies logic.  Someone is losing out and I suspect it is the worker.  This is a good reason to minimise your purchases, particularly of cheap, imported products.

2015-03-02 01They are to replace these two bowls which have seen better days.

2015-03-02 02The white bowl is a Tupperware one which came to me from my grandmother about 37 years ago.  The surface is crazed and discoloured.  The yellow bowl (36 years old) is more of a salad bowl and not ideal for mixing and it has a crack in the surface which makes it impossible to clean properly.  It is time for them both to go and make way for my shiny new bowls.  I hope they stand the test of time as the others did.