Kitchen Gadget's

A few years ago when I started getting into cooking, my parents and brother found it extremely weird when for my birthday I asked for nothing but cooking stuff. Back then, it was simple stuff like pyrex pans, lemon zester, nice cutting board.... Now that my parents actually believe that I like to cook and am actually ok at it, they expect me to ask for cooking stuff for my birthday & Christmas.

Growing up working on cars and around the house with my dad, the one thing he always told me was that you need the right tool for the right job otherwise you are going to hate yourself. Since I finished cooking school in October, I realized that I need to take it to the next level in regards to cooking & kitchen gadgets. It also opened up my eyes to making EVERYTHING from scratch as opposed to store bought stuff. Well, I guess I need a lot more kitchen gadgets now! Guess what I asked for Christmas this year? Nothing but kitchen gadgets.

One of the things I've been into cooking the past few months is pizza with scratch made pizza dough. (see this blog). I've never been into baking because of the exact measurements. I like to cook by taste, so baking was kind of a turn off. Because I didn't like to bake, I didn't have a rolling pin, I've been using a Rogue Brewery Bacon Maple Ale 22oz bottle as a rolling pin for the past few months. Thank you Dave for finally buying me a rolling pin for Christmas!

In my cooking classes, one week we made pasta from scratch. I never realized how easy it was to make and how much better the pasta actually is. The only thing is that you need a pasta machine to roll it and cut it out the right shape. Thank you family for buying this for me. I made fresh pasta the day I flew back home from Buena Park (Center of the Southland Bitches!). I will write a blog in the future on pasta and sauces.

I received a bunch of other small items like a potato ricer, which I used at my parents house on Christmas Day, tasting spoons, measuring cups, knife wall magnet...

My family always wants to buy me a "big" gift, but what I usually want is more than their budget, so they just give me money to put to that item. I've been cooking on a non-stick pan set for almost 10 years now. It's chipping away and I probably have cancer now because of it. I wanted to upgrade to a nice Stainless Set, so that was the "big" present that my parents money went to. I just bought it this week and LOVE it. Thanks Mom & Dad!

The money from the rest of my family for my "big" gift went to a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer. I researched for a few weeks to find the best model for my $. I had to step it up and buy the Pro Series with the 575 watt motor. CostCo had a killer deal on it, way cheaper than anywhere else. SO I bought that and also bought the meat grinder attachment.

So in the next few months, get ready for blogs about pasta, breads, home ground burgers, home ground sausage and many other exciting recipes. I have been cooking a lot since my last post but just have been to busy to blog about them. I hope to blog about some of my past cooking adventures in the near future. Also, if you want to be a guest blogger, please email me with your recipe and/or cooking experiences. I have a few Vegan & Vegetarian friends that want to blog, so email me your stuff!