What’s New in the Kitchen

I suppose this post would have been more appropriate to start the New Year, but it still feels like 2012 has just begun. Since Christmas, I’ve acquired a short list of new things for the kitchen; ALL of which I am very excited to share with you.

The first item is this cookbook stand given to me by my mother for Christmas. Thanks mom!! It is truly awesome. Who knew I’d be so excited about a cookbook holder, but if your cookbooks and magazines tend to look like they’ve gone through a food war after you cook, you need this too!

This one is made by Clear Solutions and I guess it was rated #1 by Cook’s Illustrated Magazine.  A clear cover goes over your pages to protect them from splatter.  It also folds for easy storage, which is a definite plus.

The second is a ceramic Y-Peeler.  Why did it take me so long to buy a Y-Peeler?  This makes peeling large items so much easier than the traditional designed peeler and I personally prefer it for peeling just about every vegetable I’ve tried so far…cucumbers, carrots, potatoes, squash…I am a big fan of the Y-Peeler.  Plus, the sharp ceramic blade lets me put it through the dishwasher without fear of dulling.

Next up is a stainless steel slotted spatula. Mine is a vintage find from my mom’s kitchen. Apparently she hadn’t been using it, but I love it so much that I feel bad that I’ve taken it from her. From carefully turning eggs to removing cookies from the cookie sheet, this is another item I can’t believe I waited so long to add to my kitchen.

Speaking of cookies, I finally bought a silicone baking mat.  I was gifted a larger silicone mat a few years ago and love it for rolling out dough, but it is too large for any of my baking sheets.  This one was under $10 from Nordic Ware and I’m loving it.  My addiction to parchment paper has been curbed in favor of baking with this mat.

And finally!  This one is more of a fun gift for myself than a kitchen essential, but I was very excited when it came in the mail on Wednesday. Bobby Flay recommended I buy this on Open Sky and it’s called “Bobby’s Bourbon Barrel Baking Bundle”.   (I say that jokingly.  If you aren’t familiar with the site, you sign up for free membership and receive regular e-mails stating that different celebrities have shared a product with you.)  The bundle contains regular sorghum, vanilla bourbon sorghum, bourbon barrel vanilla, and a bourbon vanilla sugar.  If you’re not familiar with sorghum, it is a natural sweetener more commonly used in the south.  I had never used it before, but it had been popping up in my latest food magazines and I figured I better have some on hand. I used the bourbon vanilla sorghum in some chocolate chip pecan cookies this week and they were fantastic!

Well that’s what is new here. I guess I’ll get cooking!