That’s important also. No one gets hurt and she feels creative. Everyone wins.
3 Likes
I’m a big batch soup, stew, chili and red sauce maker. A lot of it goes in the freezer, but I do can stuff in the fall with a safe, updated water bath process. Stuff for the freezer, I usually let cool as is, but watch the time, and keep an eye on the temp in the kitchen. I know that I should technically cool it faster and when I need to, my hack is to freeze water bottles and put them in the batch to cool faster. If they get dirty/greasy I just toss them and make more.
It is the kitchen knife. For so many times, I have been hurt by it.
Kitchen knives most underrated? or most overrated?
Just joking dear…
Just a warning that using spray oils voids your NordicWare Bundt pan warranty.
I believe most overrated kitchen tool is a special juicer for celery. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I realized there are such a big tools for just one kind of vegetables.
I think an ordinary juicer is a tool which isn’t essentials, but this one is like a joke for me.
2 Likes
I guess that there are some people who want to get exactly what they want from their celery. It seems to me you’d have to be very serious about celery to buy one of those models. Who knew there were even so many?!
I just purchased a manual olive/cherry pitter and sailed through 2.5 lbs of cherries in record time. I can guarantee it never would have been on my shopping list even a yr ago. Handy gadget.
1 Like
Agree - they make a mindless task kind of fun, even.
1 Like
Cherry pie, perhaps? After trying to put cherries without a pitting tool, I would say one would be worthwhile and way less messy.
A pie-making person might see a payback from the cost and time spent in stain removal alone. Not that I’m naming names. (Me!)
If you are inclined, google up pitting cherries with a paper clip - supposedly works great…
1 Like
I agree, although I’m never sure why I buy so many cherries. We mostly get Bings and Rainiers, pre-packed in about 1 pound bags around here, which dont seem to be called for in most cooking. When I think of eating all I buy out of hand, especially without having to slow down for seeds, I have visions of that scene in “The Witches of Eastwick”.
Last year I made, yes, you guessed it, shrub! I also pickled some.
What will you use your pitted cherries for?
2 Likes
Depends on the cherry. In the country we have a volunteer cherry tree (from a Bing pit) that produces small sour cherries. In 40 years, I have been able to steal 2 crops from the birds. BUT when that happens, they make the most wonderful pie! A real treat since we don’t get commercial sour cherries here.
With Brooks and Bings, I make and waterbath process cherry compote to serve with cheese courses. My efforts at cherry jam have produces only ordinary product and therefore not worth the expense or effort.
1 Like
Agreed! Rooster’s picture looked like Bings, so I was thinking there might be some Bing specific ideas I could use. I have yet another big bag.
Same here. Why do you think that is? I’m guessing most people dont plan to cook with the cherries they buy around here.
Oh, sour cherry pies are amazing!
2 Likes
I have a flowering cherry tree in my yard that I love dearly. After 20 yrs (maybe longer), this was the first year that I noticed it bearing fruit. 
I guess i didn’t pay that much attention to it after the spring blossoms fall. We also get a lot of birds and I think they eat them. I read that they are semi sweet and tart. They are small though and I wasn’t brave enough to try one this year.
2 Likes
I know it’s been quite some time since you posted this. Does it only apply to sprays with propellants like Pam, or also compressed air such as many olive oil sprayers. That latter would seem hard to justify…
One of my most underrated kitchen “tools” was a set of maybe 4 very small nesting glass prep bowls. I just cracked the second-to-last remaining one, and spent half an hour online looking to replace them. I can’t find a single replacement set!
The requirements are: (1) glass (2) small [the biggest one was smaller than a cereal bowl] (3) graduated sizes that nest and (4) lids not necessary.
I can find a couple sets where there are 8 or 9 bowls total, which would mean at least four of them would be duplicates for me. I only want the small ones.
Not mixing bowls. Wee little prep bowls.
These used to be everywhere!
1 Like
