In article >,
~patches~ > wrote:

> OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
>
> Great thread!

I agree... :-)

>
> > In article >,
> > "D.Currie" > wrote:
> >
> >
> >>I was just thinking about some of the things that I use regularly that I
> >>thought at first were stupid, useless, or gimmicky, but now I'd have a hard
> >>time living without.
> >>
> >>Prime example is my microwave. When I first heard about them, I thought
> >>they
> >>were insane. Why bother? Okay, I don't actually "cook": much in the mw, but
> >>I use it all the time for reheating things, and sometimes for thawing. Some
> >>veggies get cooked in there, just because I run out of burner space. And
> >>I'll admit to cooking winter squash in there. I'd miss it if it
> >>disappeared.
> >
> >
> > Mom was never happy about the concept of microwaves either, until we got
> > one. Now we feel so lost without one that if one croaks, I will use the
> > credit card to make sure we have a new one within 24 hours. ;-)
> >
> > I don't use it a lot for cooking, just re-heating but it sure beats the
> > hell out of trying to warm up leftovers using the stove. It's also great
> > for heating water and melting cheese, and making lemon butter.
>
> Ours is used for re-heating and defrosting. I wouldn't personally
> replace it but when I complained over a problem with ours, DH went out
> and bought a new one. It has a lot of bells and whistles on it so I
> might experiment a little with cooking.

It's actually not too bad for steaming veggies if you do it right.

The one thing I do cook in it 100% of the time is corn on the cob. Do
nothing to it! Leave it in the husk silk intact. 5 minutes for 2 ears
and add a bit for more. I never try to cook more than 4 at a time and I
do that many for 10 minutes.

Deeee-licious!

The ONLY meat I will cook in it is chicken and that will always be with
some sort of dressing or sauce and in an enclosed corningware. I like
cooking chicken thighs with Kraft original BBQ sauce. ;-d

I really do not cook in it that often tho' except for corn.

Oh yeah, popcorn too. <G>

>
> >
> > And for quick thawing.
> >
> >
> >>Gloves are another thing. Rubber gloves, latex gloves; whatever. I don't
> >>think food is "icky" and I never saw the sense in using rubber gloves for
> >>washing dishes or handling food, but lately I've been battling a little
> >>rash
> >>on my hands, and I've taken to wearing gloves when I'm working in the
> >>kitchen. Seems to be helping while I narrow down the exact cause. Using
> >>gloves while handling dough is kind of weird, so I just bought some fabric
> >>"dough gloves" which I never would have bought otherwise. They work. I
> >>don't
> >>know if I'll continue using them forever, but for now, they're a keeper.
> >
> >
> > I _hate_ mixing ground meat with my hands but it's really the only way.
> > Latex gloves that I purchase by the box are a godsend for that chore,
> > and indespensible when working with hot peppers. ;-)
> >
>
> I use those too! They are really nice when processing tomatoes and
> peaches too for preventing your nails getting stained.

That's important too in my line of work. Nobody wants their blood drawn
by someone with stained fingernails and you can see that right thru
gloves. :-(

There are other things about using them for working with peppers,
especially if you are a guy. <g>

>
> > I also use them to protect my hands when using harsh cleaners such as
> > muriatic acid. I double glove for that and wear a gas mask. Those masks
> > used to be cheap prior to 9-11. :-( I bought a brand new Israeli gas
> > mask for $25.00 off of ebay and $5.00 for extra filters prior to that
> > date. After that, you were lucky to be able to get one for a bid of
> > $150.00.
> >
> > I use it to clean the bathtub with acid and it works well. My bathroom
> > has lousy ventilation, and this is Texas with ultra-hard water. The
> > water comes from underground limestone caves.
> >
> >
> >>Electric meat slicer. Yeah, who needs a meat slicer if you have a sharp
> >>knife? This isn't something I use every day, but when I have a beef roast
> >>and I want thin slices for sandwiches or Italian beef this thing is great.
> >>Or for nice even slices of anything. Bread, cheese....Yes, I still slice
> >>things by hand a lot of the time, especially when it's small quantities,
> >>but
> >>this is a nice thing to have on hand when I need it.
> >
> >
> > After a very, very serious cut to my fingers, I now use a cheese board
> > for slicing cheese. It's just a wire and gives you ultimate "thin"
> > control. I use a knife for everything else. Electric slicers are still
> > not something I use.
>
> I use a mandolin.

For cheese? Hmmmmmm... Imho the wire "blade" on a cheese board is easier
and this one is little. About 6" x 10" so it does not take up a
significant amount of storage space.

Mandolins scare me. <G> Hell, I just noted a bit ago that I grated one
of my fingers grating fresh ginger for today's lunch. ;-P Not badly, but
it's annoying.

I cut up a white onion and pressed an entire head of garlic after
peeling it, and chopped up the remains of a head of celery and sautee'd
that in butter and EVOO. Once it was well wilted and the onions started
to brown, I added salt free lemon pepper, a large package of quartered
fresh shitake mushrooms and 1/2 of a bag of baby spinach leaves. Mixed
that in well with my aromatics.

Once the mushrooms and spinach were done, I grilled some more marinated
rib eye steaks that I got on sale and served it with the
spinach/mushroom mix and some leftover gingered carrots and onions I
made a couple of days ago.

It was great and dad ate those damned leftover carrots first... <lol>
He says he loves carrots so I cook the silly things for him, but he eats
better if I make up a plate! <sigh>

If I don't plate stuff, leftovers sit and he'll eat turkey spam
sandwiches or those damned wal-mart fried chickens.

What's up with that??????


>
> >
> > My very sharp cleaver can slice meat paper thin with care.
>
> I have nice knives but not a cleaver. It's on my kitchen wish list

Oy! Seriously, I can get you a decent one at my local oriental market. I
recommend the big heavy KIWI brand one for $9.99.

I'll mail it to ya, Priority mail is currently running $4.05.
Let me know, I'm willing and at no profit. ;-)

I won't be without it! Holds an edge like you would not believe for a
supposedly "cheap" knife.

> >
> >
> >>On the other hand, I've gone though so many cheese grating devices in my
> >>time...this must be my major impulse-buy weakness. I was cleaning out
> >>kitchen gadgets a while back, and I got rid of quite a few grating devices
> >>that just didn't do the job. I had rotary graters and box graters, and all
> >>sorts of stupid gadgets. For big jobs, my kitchenaid has a grater device
> >>which does a good job, but I went through a lot of hand graters before I
> >>figured out what I liked for the small jobs.
> >
> >
> > <lol> I have a nice tower grater that works for various things, I mostly
> > use it for fresh ginger. I have a rotary grater for carrots etc. If I
> > need grated cheese, I buy it PRE-GRATED! It's the same price as block
> > cheese so why not? It freezes well and I mostly use it for cooking so
> > texture is not an issue.
>
> I don't buy pre-grated. I have 4 types of graters - food processor,
> hand-held rotary, hand-held straight, and box grater. I use the food
> processor for large amounts of grated cheese. The rotary grater is
> mainly for fresh parmesan. The hand held is for when I only need a very
> small amount of grated cheese. The box grater was the worst grater
> getting used to. I managed to take off the top of my thumb knuckle so
> for a long time that grater hung on the shelf. I think I have finally
> mastered it though so use it more often now being very careful to keep
> my fingers out of the way.

Why won't you buy pre-grated?
Here, the 2 lb. bags of pre-shredded are the same price per lb. as the 1
and 2 lb. brick cheese.

It freezes well so won't go moldy. I get the Mozarella, Monterey jack,
Chedder and Colby-Jack. Lasts forever and works great!

Saves time too.

> >
> >
> >>So...what things to you have that you found out were really wonderful
> >>and/or
> >>terrible?
> >
> >
> > I used to hate garlic presses until I found the right one. :-)
> > Now I swear by it.
>
> I love my garlic press. It is ss and does a nice job while fitting my
> hand well. My first one was plastic and not worth a hoot!

Mom and dad had that wedge shaped POS that never worked for me. I used
to just grate, or mince garlic with a chef's knife or cleaver.

I was going thru my Aunt's old stuff a few months ago cleaning out the
storage shed (she is dead and I ended up with all her stuff) and found a
little cylinder shaped one that looks like an eensy little potato ricer.

That thing is the gods! :-D
--
Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson