Thrifting for kitchen tools

That Mikasa pattern is the first time ever I spent any money for dishes. It was called something like “Lillies Opus”. I loved it and thought the design was simply gorgeous. But what I got was just the usual place settings, 8 dinner plates and 8 small plates, but no extra dishes like your quiche dish - it’s really a find (I’m jelly). But all in black with white lilies like you have.

Now I’m trying to remember, 40 years later, whatever became of them. Damn.

Damned nice quiche dish, though, Dan.

The meat chopper thingie is the same as I got about 2 years ago, though. Near as I can tell from your photo exactly the same. I gave up on it because the edges deteriorated and so I went back to just using stiff spatulas. But it’s still in the drawer (just looked) for some reason.

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Thank you for the information about the quiche pan.
Yes, It was just sitting on the shelf at my local “Goodwill” and caught my eye.
We had gone in to “Goodwill” to get Sunshine some “temporary” Jeans. She has gained a few pounds and has vowed to lose the weight, but needed a pair of jeans (in a larger size) in the interim. I told her get something cheap and when the weight is lost, she can re-donate them. Thus she wouldn’t be throwing away (major) money on a “temporary” pair of jeans.
While she was looking and fussing with various pairs of jeans, I wandered over to the kitchen ware section. It was safer to give her some space while she “shopped”.

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Omg, what have I done? I see spiralizers 100% of the time when thrifting. There must have been a huge fad period some years ago and people are over them. Clearly they are underutilized. The other day I finally bought one. Why you ask? Several factors:

  1. It was in good condition
  2. This model gets good reviews on Amazon and ATK
  3. It was cheap ($5)
  4. There was nothing else at the thrift store worth buying, which signals that I’m vulnerable to buying something stupid. Sometimes I have difficulty buying nothing.

What Spiralizer recipes do you use?

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We have not used ours - bought one as a gift to ourselves one Christmas pre-pandemic. We did unpackage it, but put it all back into the box and it sits on a shelf in our garage with all of our other bulky unused kitchen widgets.

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I like zucchini noodles…I saute them to let them sweat, then toss them with a light tomato sauce

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I have that model of Oxo spiralizer. I use it for dealing with summer’s onslaught of zucchini, either making zoodles or chopping up the spiralized strands for fritters. I also chop up spiralized carrots for slaw.

That spiralizer is sturdy and super easy to clean.

I appreciate being able to avoid close encounters with the box grater or getting out the food processor. Outside of summertime, the gadget doesn’t really get used though. That’s the downside.

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My daughter asked for one for a birthday and used it quite a bit at first (mainly zuknoodles and tomato sauce like Sunshine mentioned, or just butter/garlic). But after a while the excitement wore off.

The kitchen gadget items I see the most are the George Foreman grill presses (or knock-offs), in all sizes. This is at the Humane Society thrift, which for whatever reason has a much larger kitchen section than the nearby Goodwill.

There’s usually a dozen or so of grills, so I figure those also must have had a fad boom-then-bust as people got tired of them. Pretty much tied for second place are coffee makers and toasters.

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Now you need a Salad Shooter and a Jerky Shooter.
Salad Shooter

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I seem to recall that it was in the Pogo comic strip–or one like it–that adversaries faced off in a duel: salad shooters at 6 paces.

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For misbehaving dinner guests!

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Oyster shucker?

ETA: oh, no - I see now that it has an edge.

Looking online, comparable knives are listed as fruit or tomato knives.

I have made my share of spiralized zucchini. Has anyone here tried convection baking a spiralized potato?

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Not yet. Sounds like a worthy experiment when I start receiving potatoes from our fall CSA share.

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You can call it a “Dizzy Hasselback”.

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The last time Sunshine and I drove cross-country we ate entirely too much “Fast Food”. Maybe I’m getting old, but my stomach can’t tolerate it.
Any who, I was thinking about how to make a “hot meal” in a motel room and an electric kettle came to mind. In a motel room, we’ll have access to water and electricity. I’m finding a wide variety of instant noodles, mac & cheese, soups, etc. (just add boiling water). Moreover, hot (instant) coffee and instant oatmeal for breakfast!
I found this electric kettle on Home Depot’s website for $12.99 with free shipping. It’s all plastic, so no glass to break and it boils a liter of water in 6 minutes. Sunshine liked the “pink” version, so that is what I ordered.

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My home one is glass, but I had a small plastic one I took with me on journeys for years.

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Cute kettle. You might also be able to hard/soft boil eggs in it. For your travel kit, I’d suggest a small cutting board and knife, little cooler, porcelain bowls to reheat soup or whatever in a microwave, flatware. On a road trip, I generally bring or buy a tomato, small cuke or pickles, bread or tortillas, and an apple or two. Can or frozen container of lentil soup maybe. I also save up packets of soy sauce and hot sauce to bring along. I usually get a few items from a motel breakfast to augment my stash if there are decent items, lunch at a rest stop, and have dinner at my overnight locale where I favor a brew pub kinda place with decent salads.

Pic of my lunch spot on my first day leaving LA for DC in lovely Yucca

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We have and love this set. Razor sharp. GSI Outdoors, Santoku Knife Set, For Camping, Grey https://a.co/d/byTzojF

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It’s been a while since I’ve found anything worth posting. Found a Matfer mandoline, a pair of green Emile Henry ceramic pie dishes, an oxo bench scraper, a cutco peeler, and a nearly new aero press. Not exactly steals due to thrift store prices that constantly creep up, though.




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You tha man!