u is for utensils

uten·sil

Pronunciation:

\yu̇-ˈten(t)-səl, ˈyü-ˌ\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Middle English, vessels for domestic use, from Middle French utensile, from Latin utensilia, from neuter plural ofutensilis useful, from uti to use

Date:

14th century

1 : an implement, instrument, or vessel used in a household and especially a kitchen2 : a useful tool or implement

Oh, yes. I struggled for a while with what to write for u, but I'm convinced this is a good idea. We are going to talk about utensils. What are your favorite kitchen tools? I have a few. Let's share...

1. The Magic Bullet: I think I've mentioned this one before. I use it for smoothies, ice cream shakes, pasta sauce, baby food, zucchini soup, and guacamole. I love that everything fits nicely into the dishwasher. It's a good buy. BJ got mine at Target.

2. Mini Rubber Spatulas: I got mine at Williams Sonoma and they are a lovely yellow. Yellow always reminds me of my mom, so I love it. These are especially helpful with soup cans, blenders, and even scraping off my kitchen aid attachments. I use mine a lot.

3. Kitchen Aid: I got mine from BJ's aunt and uncle when we got married. It was a very generous gift, which is something his family is very good at. That mixer actually stopped working one lovely evening in 2005 when Caleb was helping me cook. He dropped a measuring cup in there and it got stuck and the mixer stopped mixing. I could never get it to start up again after that. It may just be Houston, but I couldn't find anyone in the area who would fix it. So we decided there were two options: we could starve or we could spend $200 on a new one. Yes, sadly, I am very attached to my mixer. I grew up watching my mom use hers constantly. That's just how you cook in my mind. So, we bought a nice new one and now I have two bowls and two of each of the attachments, which is very convenient. I use mine to make everything from pancakes to cookies to bread. I love love love it.

4. Pizza Stone: My dad bought me a pizza stone in February when he came to visit for a couple days. He loves kitchen stores and book stores, so BJ and I love to go shopping with him. I had made pizza off and on before, but with this new appliance specifically for that purpose, I figured I'd better institute a pizza night and start practicing. Now I make pizza every Friday and any other day I can fit it in. I love it. I have "invented" a couple new topping combinations and I love to experiment. I made cookies on it once and they were nice and soft on top and crisp on the bottom. Good texture. I used mine for a big fruit pizza too and that was fun. I want one more stone so I can make two pizzas without having to shift from stone to cooling rack. It's on my wish list. Dad got mine at Sur La Table.

5. Mini-muffin Tin: This was another gift from Dad and I have used it a couple times with great success. The kids loved eating the mini-muffins and I could get the normal 12 muffins plus the 12 mini-muffins out of a regular sized batch. This also came from Sur La Table.

6. IKEA dishes: Obviously from IKEA, these come in six different colors, including the essential (at our house, at least) pink and orange. We have the plates, cups, and bowls. We've never invested in the forks and spoons because we already have a good supply of kidsy ones. These are great size for kid portions and they fit well in the dishwasher and our crowded dish cupboards. I love the bright colors and the kids love to use them.

7. Little cutting boards: These come in fruit and vegetable shapes and colors and they are very convenient. BJ and the kids got me some for mothers day one year and I use them daily, usually more than once. They fit nicely in the dishwasher and it's easy to keep track of what you cut on which board. I have a green pepper, an orange pepper, a red apple, and a yellow lemon. These are from Target.

8. Pyrex with lids: I have bowls of three different sizes, which are wonderful for storing or serving. I love that I can prepare fruit or dip or something ahead of time and keep it covered in the fridge without using a ton of plastic wrap or transferring it to a nicer looking dish for serving. I am all about simplicity, especially in dishwashing or other forms of cleaning. I also have three 7"x5"x1.5" casserole dishes and a 2.75 Quart casserole dish with lids. Those are really nice for making things ahead or doubling a recipe and freezing one for later. For example, I prepare my cheese enchiladas early in the day in those dishes and then store them, covered, in the fridge until I'm ready to cook them. Then I pull them out when I preheat the oven so the pyrex is closer to room temperature when it goes in the hot oven. These are handy for me since our dinner time is very rushed with picking up BJ, meetings, and aiming for a decent bedtime. I don't know where we picked these up, but I'm pretty sure they're easy to find at a Target or Walmart or Kohls.

Well, these are a few of my favorite convenience utensils. What do you love to use in your kitchen?