Stocking my Kitchen: Supplies

As time has goes on, I find that more and more I want things for my kitchen. Maybe this really means I am a baker at heart.

This past holiday season has been good to me, as I got many fun goodies for my kitchen for Christmas and my (January) birthday. The big shiny from Christmas was the new blender from my parents. This was actually a gift for me and my husband - our old blender, while still functional, had developed a crack in the plastic blender jar. It was used primary for making milkshakes, and you always lost some of the shake through the crack as the blades whirred away. The trick was to pour the milkshake into glasses as soon as you could, but that only minimized the mess. Our new blender is pretty, (and see how the jar is glass - it won't crack unless we drop that sucker):



My mother-in-law got me a "Perfect Brownie Baking Pan" (www.perfectbrownie.com), you know, the ones that have the divider that sits in the batter, giving you 18 identical all-edges brownies (or I suppose cake slices). My sister-in-law christened hers making brownies for Christmas dinner, and I was thrilled to see the other feature, where you place the pan on it's stand, and then the side of the pan slides sown and away, leaving you with just a tray of a dozen, divided treats. I can't help but wonder if the brownie recipe we tried last year would benefit from this pan. I'll have to try out that recipe, (or another brownie recipe) soon, it looks like a truly fun culinary toy.

In early January I treated myself to a belated-Christmas / early-birthday present (using book-store gift cards and coupons from the rewards program). I am now the proud owner of my own copy The Joy of Vegan Baking. And I am a very proud owner. I read all the non-recipe tid-bits in the book in the car when we took a day-trip. I was gushing over the information with my travel companions. I was chiming in and making copies of pages on different sweeteners in response to a conversation with my co-workers. I have nothing but good things to say about this book.

Then, for my birthday my sister got me a sifter and a pastry blender. Like me, she remembers the sifter my mom had, and how our hands were always sore from squeezing the handle to get it to sift. And to my delight she found a sifter that has a turning handle. I was able to use it right away in making my birthday cookie-cake, though the pastry blender had to wait to a different recipe to be used.


And while it's not new, I recently re-discovered a food processor in my pantry that my mom gave me a few years ago. And man, that thing is a big ball of fun and scary and useful all rolled into one.

I bought parchment paper the first time to make the cookie-cake as well, and while I've been baking this year, I find that as I go my wish-list gets longer. Luckily I shared some of my desires with my mother on a recent visit and discovered she had extras on had. From her generosity I scored from her a second set of measuring cups (a fantastic retro-green), and a 3-canister set that will be ideal for flour, sugar and, well, I'm still working on what will go in the third container. These are a pretty blue with a cool design on the side.

There are still other things that I want for my kitchen. I know I can get by without them, I have so far, so I won't say "need," but in the case of some of them (like the replacement cake-pans, my old ones are on the verge of rusting) I'd just feel better about having them.

My Wish List (so far)

• better cake pans - currently have two 9"-round pans, one is usable, the other, I think I'd only use to heat frozen things in
• cake saver - A dinner plate and my large mixing bowl are my temporary solution
• candy thermometer - just want one, no particular reason
  
• double boiler -see above
• More measuring cups / spoons - Half achieved, Thanks Mom. Now on the hunt for more measuring spoons.
• kitchen scale - to prevent things like the possible probable too-many-carrots problem with the carrot cake
• immersion (hand-held) blender?? - Not sure I need this, but it would make mixing the Ener-G egg replacer and the flax seed in easier without losing stuff to the sides of the blender jar. I'd love to take Lila's for a test-drive before investing in one of my own.

I'm sure as I go I'll find even bigger, and more exciting toys for my kitchen, but right now I'm excited for what I have, and saving up for the rest. Wish me luck!