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Useful food gifts and kitchenware that you have received


Anna N

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Over here we have topic devoted to useless food gifts.

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/39825-useless-food-gifts-youve-received/

I have recently been found guilty of accentuating the positive; a trait I'm extremely proud of. So in that vein how about a topic devoted to useful food gifts and kitchen gear that you have received. I know we like to show off our holiday gifts but some of us are fortunate enough to receive gifts at other times of the year. Perhaps a birthday, perhaps a friend or relative brings a something from the trip they've taken or perhaps like me you are lucky enough to get random gifts at any time of the year. Or failing all of the above you treat yourself. From a package of specialty salt to a $5000 range hood, let share our good fortune.

I promised another member I would post a photograph of the baking pans I received today. This was a random gift and came along with some highly treasured overripe bananas and the book.

You would think after a very unpleasant encounter with a vegan restaurant this would be the last book that would interest me. But I'm not easily discouraged. If vegan food was really as bad as I was served in the restaurant there would be no vegans. They would all surely have died of starvation. So I intend to explore the field a little further. This book was a pleasant surprise.

image.jpg

Those are 2-- 9 inch cake pans and a 12 inch bread pan.

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

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I've received several useful gifts.

I think the biggest surprise was the Pampered Chef silicone basting brush that my Mom gave me.

Silicone gadgets were completely new to me when I received it and my first thought was that it's an expensive and worthless piece of garbage.

Boy was I surprised...I really love the thing...not only does it work quite well...it's VERY easy to clean compared to other brushes...that's a BIG plus!

I also love the high-heat silicone spatulas that I've received as a gift.

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~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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I've received several useful gifts.

I think the biggest surprise was the Pampered Chef silicone basting brush that my Mom gave me.

Silicone gadgets were completely new to me when I received it and my first thought was that it's an expensive and worthless piece of garbage.

Boy was I surprised...I really love the thing...not only does it work quite well...it's VERY easy to clean compared to other brushes...that's a BIG plus!

I also love the high-heat silicone spatulas that I've received as a gift.

Love my silicone brushes. Was given a very long handled one for the barbecue. Brushes always used to gross me out because they never seem to come clean. These I can put through the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle.

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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My first Trudeau silicone spatula was a gift from my confectionery partner, Barbara.  I love it.  And I love all the extra ones just like it that I have purchased.  A woman cannot have too many excellent spatulas.

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Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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Silicone has certainly proved useful.

I want some silicone pan lids but I'm not thrilled  with most of them being "flowery."

That's non-sense!  :smile:

Edited by DiggingDogFarm (log)

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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For those who remember late last fall when I was asking about trying to repair a cracked large cast iron griddle I tried to repair it  but did not succeed. However, an anonymous benefactor replaced it. That was a most appreciated gift.

 

My good knives have been gifts from my sweet wife. The first one, still my favorite, a 10" chef knife, was given to me 31 years ago.

 

About 20 years ago my MIL and FIL gave us a graniteware stock pot with a steamer insert and a colander. The stock pot is gone but the colander is still in use in our kitchen, a sweet reminder of a lady I miss.

 

This is not quite in the same vien as what has been expressed but my dear FIL gives checks for Christmas and birthdays. The last Christmas check allowed me to acquire a 3 qt saucier. My birthday check will be buying a14" Tramontina saute pan for use in my ren faire kitchens.

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Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

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Silicone has certainly proved useful.

I want some silicone pan lids but I'm not thrilled  most of them being "flowery."

That's non-sense!  :smile:

They make some square and rectangular ones that look like leaves instead of flowers.  

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Hubby always buys me things from Lee Valley (sometimes under instruction - sometimes on his own).  He's picked up some pretty useful items for the kitchen for me there - 

 

The little tiny can opener is great, as is the jar lid popper.  One of the first things he got for me there was my first microplane many years ago.  He's brought me some very nice Sabatier knives from there and a bunch of earth magnets that I use to hold things on my fridge in the chocolate room.  

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Hubby always buys me things from Lee Valley (sometimes under instruction - sometimes on his own).  He's picked up some pretty useful items for the kitchen for me there - 

 

The little tiny can opener is great, as is the jar lid popper.  One of the first things he got for me there was my first microplane many years ago.  He's brought me some very nice Sabatier knives from there and a bunch of earth magnets that I use to hold things on my fridge in the chocolate room.  

 

I love Lee Valley.

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~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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As a child bride of 18, i could hardly boil water.  Grew up in a non-cooking family where a TV dinner was a real treat.  My new hubby, probably out of sheer desperation, gave me a Good Housekeeping cookbook on our first Christmas.  I still have the book, tattered and worn, much like me these days. It gave me the confidence to trust my own taste and accept my failures as part of the learning process.  That one book started me on a lifetime journey of cooking and enjoying food that continues to this day.  The day I ordered the Time Life Food of the World Series, I knew I had arrived and could call myself a real cook. I still have and enjoy the books as a symbol of how far I have come.  

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Silly little thing, but the can opener my FIL gave us for xmas the year before he passed away. It's the kind that uncrimps the lid rather than slices the metal, and it's still working beautifully, even given my left-handed ineptitude with can openers. I have to smile every time I use it, because it makes me think of him.

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MelissaH

Oswego, NY

Chemist, writer, hired gun

Say this five times fast: "A big blue bucket of blue blueberries."

foodblog1 | kitchen reno | foodblog2

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Over the several decades I have been cooking and baking, I have received numerous kitchen items that are extremely useful, some are also fun and some are absolutely essential - I couldn't be without them.

 

From tiny gadgets to appliances, I have appreciated every one.   A little lemon gadget that screws into the lemon and allows for small amounts of juice to be extracted over an extended period is one.  Then there is the pan-lid holder that keeps one side of a pan lid elevated so stuff doesn't boil over. 

 

I've also given a few things to folks who really needed them and have passed on things that I no longer use because I no longer do the extensive baking.

Sent a bunch of cake pans off to someone a few years ago.  Large cooling racks that were at the time difficult to find and I had lots (still have several extras).

 

I gave away one of the superautomatic espresso machines and got a small pod type in return, which I love. 

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Toots recently gifted me with a Breville smart oven, although it was a few months ago.  And my dear friend Tree made me a lovely utility crock with which she surprised me when she came for coffee one morning. 

 

crock.jpg

 

And while it may not be considered kitchenware by some, a couple of years ago Toots gave me a laptop which I frequently use in the kitchen and which is a repository of all my recipes and cooking info.

Edited by Shel_B (log)
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 ... Shel


 

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Silicone has certainly proved useful.

I want some silicone pan lids but I'm not thrilled  with most of them being "flowery."

That's non-sense!  :smile:

You'll soon forgive them for their flower shapes once you start using them. I really didn't think I needed one until I got one a couple of months ago. I soon bought another one. The rectangular leaf one. Now I reached for them so many times when I would've used plastic wrap in the past. They are far less annoying and just as effective for covering a bowl or baking dish. I do not,however, use them on the stovetop or in the oven though others do.

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Told you I was fortunate! A birthday gift! I was told on my birthday that it had been ordered in my name!

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/148325-new-anova-precision-cooker-announced-may-6-2014/?p=1984524

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Braun immersion blender my sister gave me 26 years ago because it was useless to her. She got it as a wedding gift here in the States but she lives in Australia.....  I said "Geee thanks" not knowing what I would ever use it for. Silly me. 

 

From my wedding gifts eons ago - a nested set of stainless steel bowls. I only have the 2 largest left but they are incredible useful. The largest generally for washing greens or mixing salads before transferring to a serving bowl. 

 

From my dad who never ever even tries to fathom what I might like and always sticks with cash I was surprised with a pair of Messermeister kitchen scissors. The kind that easily come apart for cleaning. I use them almost daily. 

Edited by heidih (log)
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Heidi, you reminded me of the Wusthoff shears that my daughters gave me a few years ago.

 

The latest "just because" gift from my DW was a set of small silicone bowls. They are made for toddlers but she thought they would make great mise en place bowls. They do.

Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

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I received a set of silicone spatulas a few years ago and I have probably used at least one of them every day...I don't know what I did before I got them!

 

I also received a Peugeot Peppermill as a Christmas gift from my sister in law, the first year DH and I were together.  I use it everyday and can't believe I lived without a pepper grinder for so many years.  Now I have been eying a salt mill but that will have to be hinted for another Christmas present perhaps :smile:

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pasta maker for my 30th wedding anniversary

 

recipe cards for various occasions

 

nutmeg grater

 

kitchen shears

 

citrus reamer

Edited by suzilightning (log)

Nothing is better than frying in lard.

Nothing.  Do not quote me on this.

 

Linda Ellerbee

Take Big Bites

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This weekend I was gifted two serving platters by one of Toots' friends.  I helped her at a garage sale a few weeks ago and this was, I suppose, a nice thank you.  Toots mentioned to her that I was interested in buying them, but we thought they had been sold.

 

Platters copy.jpg

 

Nothing special or fancy, but just exactly what I needed and wanted.

 

 

 

Edited by Shel_B (log)
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 ... Shel


 

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A special sharp-edged spoon for digging around the stones in cling stone fruit. My parents mentioned my need for it one summer when they were visiting and I was fixing our family standard, fruit salad. I'd never heard of such an implement. Lo and behold, 'Santa' put one in my Christmas stocking that year. Mom and Dad were tickled pink to have found one; it had taken a lot of garage-sale haunting.

1410233364756.jpg

Yes, it's very useful, but it's even better because of the memories.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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A special sharp-edged spoon for digging around the stones in cling stone fruit. My parents mentioned my need for it one summer when they were visiting and I was fixing our family standard, fruit salad. I'd never heard of such an implement. Lo and behold, 'Santa' put one in my Christmas stocking that year. Mom and Dad were tickled pink to have found one; it had taken a lot of garage-sale haunting.

 

It reminds me of a grapefruit "spoon", except where the edge on your tool is beveled, a grapefruit "spoon" usually has more of a serrated edge.

Thanks for posting a picture of it!

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“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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