Day 45 Gonna Get My Pesto On

Valentine's Day is upon us and instead of my beautifully planned stuffed mushrooms and macaroni with Gruyere, I had corn chips and salsa. I just didn't have time to be nice to my self today and was too pooped to cook anything, much less something amazing. But, there is a light in the Valentine's vortex of singledom. My co-workers hooked me up today with kitchen swag! First let me preface the gifts with this fun fact, I've had a dented can of garbanzo beans on my desk for about a month. Every day, I look at the can and wish that I had some magical tool to open it, every day,  nothing but empty wishes. Today, one of the girls presented me with a can opener for my can o' beans, to be used solely for work based opening issues. I was elated, but decided that the can looked rusty and could not chance a case of on the job botulism so, am saving the can opener for a cleaner and less fatal lunch. My next gift was a red rubber spatula, a baking scraper, and.....a mortar and pestle! That's right, the blog fairy answered my call, now I can crush things to my heart's content, spices, herbs, garlic, maybe grind some corn, who knows? My first experiment with this lovely tool will be Pesto and I have already found the perfect recipe, Asparagus Pesto with pasta! This, I will add to my original V-day meal, which will now be a post V-day creation, tomorrow night. Today was a great day and I can't wait to share my new pulverized creations with everyone Happy Valentine's Day!

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Day 40 What Is An Egg Topper And Why Do I Need It?

Today, as I click through the entire Williams Sonoma catalog online, I have discovered that I am woefully ill prepared in the kitchen. How was I to know that garlic actually needed a canister, why can't it just live in the little produce baggie, on the counter? In fact, according to the Williams Sonoma product line, nothing in your kitchen should be exposed, viewed, or smelled until, it is ready for use! There are canisters for onions, potatoes, whipped cream, I could go on and on. The most confusing item, I encountered was the egg topper, I don't understand this product. When you hard boil an egg, aren't you supposed to remove the entire egg shell? The egg topper only removes the top of the shell, why not just crack it on the edge of the table and peel it off with your fingers? The banana slicer was another head scratcher, can you not find a butter knife for this energy sapping chore? Yes, I know some gadgets are helpful in the kitchen, but does it take away from the cooking experience to have a tool for every single thing you do? For example, I love the tedious and labor intensive process of making bread. I love kneading it and waiting for it to rise and smelling the yeast wafting out of the oven. The bread machine experience makes it so much easier but so much less enjoyable, you can't smell anything through all that plastic machinery! OK, I admit, I did see several things I would like to have on hand in my own kitchen, I've always wanted a mortar and pestle to grind herbs and garlic and for making pesto, but 49.99 is a little steep these days. I also need a good chef's knife, I have never actually gone the distance and bought a real one, right now I am using a big butcher knife, a friend brought, when she came to visit. I was also mesmerized by the four in one avocado tool, which would actually be very helpful, I hate trying to pick out the slickery pit, and I never seem to get all of the avocado out of the skin, this one was only 15.99. I may treat myself to this tool for Valentine's day, with all of the money I've saved from not eating out, I think I deserve it!
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