Whips also known as Whisks

When I was at the store recently I picked a couple of whisks. There's my old one, the one with the metal handle between the new ones.


Did you notice when I made macaroni and cheese last that I had a paper towel around the handle right where the whippy wirey bits go into the handle? Look at when the egg yolks were whisked. The handle takes up water when I wash it and then it leaks out when I use it to whisk stuff. And that totally grosses me right the eff out.


The new whisks won't do that because they have glue where the whippy wirey bits go into the handle so water can't get in there. Now I can be confident I won't be adding dishwater to my food. And dang it, I forgot to get a new brush.


8" Sauce Whip with wooden handle: $6.50
14" Sauce Whip with wooden handle: $10.10
Get one of each at Chef's Toys for $17.93 including tax.

Kerr Pint Jars

There's a few bags of foodstuff in the kitchen with the loose ends twisted to close just laying around and they're starting to get on my nerves. Considering my options, I bought some pint jars to deal with that problem.

Conveniently, the mouths on these are the same size as the half-pints so the lids are all interchangeable. Some little stickers to use as labels came with these but I'll just write directly on the glass with Sharpie if I can find one.


Now the steel cut oats, pepitas, and gluten-free flour have nice pretty homes.


So does the buttermilk.


I neglected to keep the receipt or jot down the price somewhere, but I picked up this 12-pack of Kerr pint jars from Smart and Final. If I remember right, they were about $12 or $13.

Nested Mixing Bowls

I heard this big bang last night while in bed. It definitely came from the kitchen and assumed that since I didn't smell smoke, everything was fine.

And then I found this.


Shit fuck damn, that bowl that shattered? The size I use most often.


In case you're wondering, I bought this set of about 10 or 11 bowls (not all of them shown) for about $30 at Macy's about 5 or 6 years ago. Looking online it doesn't look like they carry them anymore but Williams Sonoma has a very similar, if not exact, set. Macy's does have these Pyrex bowls though, which would make it a hard decision for me to make.

In case you're shopping, I will tell you that my nesting bowls have been absolutely fabulous and I adore them. They are excellent as prep bowls, mixing bowls, serving bowls, salad bowls, ice baths, cereal bowls, pasta bowls, as the tops of homemade double-boilers for melting chocolate, and a bunch of other things I'm probably forgetting. Really though, if you're strictly looking for mixing bowls to use as mixing bowls (for cake, bread etc.) a set of three, small, medium and large, would be perfectly adequate.

The Pyrex bowls, four in the set - exceeding the number I'd call a minimum, are varied in size and have lids. They're probably thicker than the nesting bowls plus Pyrex can be used in the oven, fridge, freezer, or microwave. The downside about the Pyrex set though is that if you did buy them to use as mixing bowls, you might find that they are too busy holding stuff for you in the fridge/freezer and you still need a mixing bowl. I know that's what would happen to me if the 3-piece Pyrex mixing bowl set that Rodney had scored for me somewhere came with lids.

Hard Drive Death

So you know how I bought this computer a couple years ago? It was all bad ass and stuff? Well, the hard drive died. Fortunately, I was able to con a techy friend into saving all of my important documents and financial information photos so this blog could keep on truckin' without missing a beat.

What is hysterical is how the grinding and clicking noises the computer emitted from day one was probably because of a faulty hard drive. I didn't know better and thought it was normal. What the hell? It was brand new!

time spent recovering data: 8 hours
cost of replacement hard drive: $85
time spent uploading OS and programs: 12 hours
time spent transferring select data to new hard drive: 2 hours

Ugh! Back up your shit, and do it often!!!

Nordic Ware 2-Piece Angel Food Cake Pan

I'm gonna make an angel food cake and went shopping for an appropriate pan. Since the Nordic Ware bundt pan worked out so nicely, I looked for their angel food cake pan.


Plus, Nordic Ware manufactures in the USA, so I'm supporting my peeps.


Or so I thought! What is this Made in China statement doing on the package?


Anyway, here are the two pieces. It's supposed to make it easier to get the cake out of the pan, I think. And notice the three tab-like feet - that's so the baked cake can be inverted while cooling without the need for a wine bottle on which to balance the cake.


And look at this shit. It is made in China. I wonder why they print that mumbo-jumbo about manufacturing in Minneapolis, MN (second pic above) if it's not true. That's irritating.


Nordic Ware 2-Piece Angel Food Cake Pan available at Sur La Table for $25.00 or $27.00 out the door.

Morton Ice Cream Salt

Since I tried the last ice cream recipe, I realized that I should try ice cream again but with an ice cream maker. After borrowing one, I went on a hunt for rock salt, also known as ice cream salt.

A few stores later, I realized I somehow passed over a bunch of boxes of the stuff. My Michigan upbringing made me think this would be in a giant bag since rock salt is perfectly handy in freezing winters and blazing hot summers.


Of the suggestions, this is the one I was looking for.


Peeling back a portion of the cardboard, I saw the huge chunks of salt and began pouring/shaking/coercing the salt out of the little hole.


Let's make some ice cream.


Morton Ice Cream Salt available in the baking aisle among the other salts at Ralph's for $2.29 a 4-lb box.

KitchenAid Graters

I have two graters. They aren't box graters, but are like a box grater but with only one plane that can do three things: coarse grate, slice, and fine grate. I've had them a few years and they're pretty cruddy now. The white one, my first one is really (old, like 20 years, and) crappy and I don't even know why I keep it. It barely grates anymore. The black one still works  and is made with better (non-cracking) plastic but is rusting and the adhesive that holds the black plastic to the metal is peeling away so it holds water. And that's just gross.


I'd looked at other brands but sort of got overwhelmed with the fact that there is a single grater for a single purpose. Looking for something simpler, I thought this tri-pack, with a medium, fine, and coarse grater.


I liked that they were made my KitchenAid which has a decent reputation but was disappointed that not everything they make is done in the US.


After getting the package open, which wasn't exactly easy, I liked that the plastic handles were made of the same plastic that my old black one is made of. I liked that the grating planes of each one has a pretty good-sized surface area, a problem I had with each of the old ones. Each has a cover that slides on to protect the sharp edges so I wouldn't have to worry that they'd get damaged banging around in the tool drawer. And each has a little rubbery-plastic triangular-shaped foot so you can plant it and get to gratin' without it sliding around.


After washing them, I put the fine grater to the test by gettin' busy zesting a lemon (and then using the juice for caramels). The action on this is smooooth, man, real smooth, practically effortless. And the way it's designed, you get just the zest, no pith! I mean, look at this lemon!


Scoop the rest of the zest from the concave back of the grater. And then clean-up is a cinch with a rinse and dry.


KitchenAid three-pack of graters, available in the kitchen section of Costco for $19.99 + some for the man.

Kenmore Elite Basting Brush

I was at KMart for a shower curtain. While there, I looked for a basting brush made out of something besides real hair.

The brush I have, a boars bristle brush (similar to this), is fantastic for brushing and basting. But I started using it to apply thin coats of oil to cast iron and I cannot get that brush completely clean to save my life. It's now the cast-iron-oiling brush.

All the brushes were Made in China.

A means to mitigate that circumstance from ever happening again is silicone. Particularly one that says "easy to clean" right on it.


Judging by the spaces between the bristles, it should fit the bill.


Kenmore Elite Silicone/Stainless Steel Basting Brush in the kitchen section of KMart for about $10.

06/21/14
I have not used this brush a whole ton since I bought it. I hate it now. It works fine but it holds water, which is the utmost of grossness. After hand-washing because I don't have a dishwasher, I put it in the dish drainer thing bristle side up so the part I use to touch food isn't sitting in stagnant drain water. Not that there's a ton, but there is some. And then after it's dry, I put it bristle-side up in the tool caddy thing on the counter. When I went to use it the last two times, water poured out. If you look at the last picture above, you can see where the bristles are one plastic piece and it's inserted into the plastic piece that makes up the bottom of the handle. That's where the water gets in and stays. I'm gonna get a new brush, and when I do I'll be inspecting them for water-retention potentials and then select the best of the bunch.

Nordic Ware Original Bundt Pan

If you're going to make a bundt cake, you'll need a bundt pan. Nordic Ware is, apparently, the company who first produced the bundt pan (and I guess would have been the originators of the bundt cake) and are proud to manufacture in the US. And they actually MAKE their stuff IN the US, which is impressive.


They offer an array of bundt designs but I went for the classical bundt, no cathedrals,, no fancy fleur de lis, no swirls, no roses, just clean lines for my cakes.  And they offer different materials and weights. I went for the cast aluminum. It's shiny and weighty without being ridiculous but not plasticy.


After washing and drying it, I set about prepping it for my pumpkin recipe. The surface is quite slickery smooth, but it is recommended to generously butter and flour the pan. Not knowing how generous was enough, I loaded up.

Butter. Lots, probably a tablespoon, making sure to get in the crevices.


I put my flour in, two big spoonfuls.


And shook it all about before inverting it and banging the excess out over the sink.


Nordic Ware Original Bundt pan, a 12 cup capacity, available at Target in the baking part of the kitchen section for $24.99.

Souffle Ramekin

I picked up this ramekin the day I picked up the knife from getting sharpened.


It's 80 oz, 8.5", fluted.


Got it at Chef's Toys for $11.30 or $12.20 OTD with tax.

Reynolds Oven Bags

Thinking of a way to eliminate any possibility of water leaking into the next cheesecake, I remembered I had these bags.


Purchased a long time ago for turkey immediately before I discovered brining, the box just sat in the pantry. These should be perfect.

Shun 8" Chef's Knife Sharpened

Just after I started draining the pumpkin puree Feb 23rd, I clicked some photos of the knife. Click on them to see the blade and it's non-sharpness.


You should be able to see that it's pretty jagged. And before I changed my mind I put the sheath on it and dropped if off at Chef's Toys. I left the knife and the $3.75 for the service. I felt like I was sending my kid away to summer camp boarding one of my cats. It sucked.


I picked the knife up and am stoked to have it back. I didn't realize how much I was accustomed to this bad boy until I had to go back to my old Henckels. For one, this Shun is just bigger and with knives, I see now bigger is definitely better. But I like this part, just past the handle, at the spine of the blade where it narrows. My forefinger and thumb grab right there and it feels great.


But today, the most important part is checking out the blade.


And that baby is sharp. Not one notch or burr on it. So yeah, it looks like sharpening more than once every four years is definitely the way to go.


Knife sharpening available at Chef's Toys for $3.75 a knife, not by the inch. Totally worth it.