A kitchen is a special place. It certainly is the center of our home. Most days that center is a blessing and a sanctuary. Occasionally it is a workhouse (blissfully, not often, but one must do everything possible to defer those days). Comfortable and cozy surroundings and handy tools make all the difference.
For this reason, we are recommending gadgets in our kitchens that make our kitchen time more pleasurable and efficient. Items we would not want to live without. All three of us are cooks. We cook at home every day, focusing on healthy and delicious meals our families will enjoy. We try to be inventive while maintaining our sanity.
So, today’s gadget….drum roll, please….
SCOOPS
What the heck, Jan. Scoops? Really? You do not want to live without scoops?
Yep. I lived my first (Grandma age) years without scoops and never missed them. Fool, me! Scoops are great!
How did I live without these for so long?
They are a must have for baking. Duh. Okay, for cookies they are expected. Every cookie is a uniform size and shape. The Grandkids do not spend an inordinate amount of time selecting the largest cookie because they are all the same! The cookies look professional and cute as a button on the tray. Nice!
Then, there are muffins. No longer is there dough dripping all over the top of your muffin tin. Instead you have a tray of identical muffins to present to your family with no burnt on bits on your muffin tin. Another nice.
Finally, there are meatballs. Ah, the scoop comes into its own with a meatball. A uniform ball of meat scooped onto your tray (if you are baking them like I do. Really? You fry them? Okay, you are a better man than I. Still, when frying the scoop works.} I usually give each scooped ball a quick roll in my palms to smooth the ragged edges but it only takes moments and you have beautiful meatballs….Italian, Swedish, Mexican…you name it. They are the same size so they cook in the same time. And you do not have raw meat under your fingernails. Fuggetaboutit! (Have I mentioned I am an Ohioan transplanted to Jersey?)
One of our favorite meatball recipes is Low Carb Swedish Meatballs from Low Carb Maven.com. Yum!
Carol:
I must admit that I am scoopless, at least with a scoop that can be used to make perfectly rounded balls all of which are a uniform size. The closest I come is my Zyliss ice cream scoop. Although it is perfect for scooping ice cream and frozen yogurt, a perfect spherical shape of reliable size it does not provide.
As I watch the chefs on a variety of cooking shows use their scoops for a wide range of tasks, I have been enticed to consider a new scoop. Unfortunately as I study the storage availability in my utensil drawer I second guess myself. As often as I make meatballs, I may need to reconsider. My next step in considering “gadgets” may be to purge and reorganize my kitchen storage.
Pat
If ya gonna make cookies, ya gotta have scoops (although I’m still reeling from Jan saying “Fuggetaboutit”…) I love the uniformity of them in both appearance and cooking doneness. I’ve got the scoop style Jan shows above, and my only complaint is the releaser/scraper thingy doesn’t always get all the dough out, so eventually you need to do a rinse, which created my habit of having a glass of warm water nearby when doing my cookie scooping. Between trays (typically about a dozen on a tray) I stick the scoop in the water. When I’m ready to resume, I just squeeze it a couple of times to scrape out the build-up and I’m back in business.
I’ve also used a scoop as a melon-baller (yes, please hand me a tray of canteloupe wrapped in prosciutto, garcon) and to form truffles (of the chocolate kind). Could I live without a scoop? Not as long as I bake cookies (although those meatballs look mighty tasty…)
