Homage to Kitchen Toys and a Simple Menu

Well I'm finally home and although I really will miss Boaz and his parents, it's good to be back. My daughter and I teased each other over the past month about kitchens (hers is big and bright with great views and lots of counter space, you can actually see it in the background of my video on knives and chopping and mine is miniscule) and kitchen toys (or more accurately - her lack of them and my abundance). For instance, although she does have a food processor, it's a million years old, small and is missing the grater blade which means grating everything with an old box grater. The truth is, she is a wonderful cook and loves to do things the old-fashioned way. I, on the other hand, love my gadgets and want to do things as quickly as possible. I'd never make latkes if I actually had to hand grate the potatoes, sweet potatoes or zucchinis.

So I thought I'd share my first day back in the kitchen, from the perspective of my toys....

My electric De Longhi Coffee Makerdrips right into a thermos so there's no continued "cooking" on a hot plate.

And, I do love to freshly grind beans just before perking in my KitchenAid Coffee Grinder(that I also use to grind spices - it really brings out the flavor).

But the "toy" I missed the most was my Weber BBQ. I didn't realize how much I would crave grilled dinners even in the winter....sooooo much better than under the broiler. It's just as natural to me as having a fridge or a stove. I use it several times a week, especially when I'm tired, frazzled or just plain too busy to think of something special for dinner. I just open the back door and there it is...ready to work (even when it's -27 degrees C - that's -16.5 F! with the wind chill! )

So here was my very simple dinner with tons of herbs for Kalyn's Kitchen Weekend Herb Blogging Event - lots of thyme on the sweet potatoes (made quickly in the microwave - about 8 minutes) and fresh mint, parsley and basil on the simple romaine and red pepper salad with Champagne Vinaigrette and, the star....rib steaks done on the BBQ.

My plan is to use as many of my toys as is humanly possible over the next week. What gadgets do you play with in your kitchen?

Related links: Food and Drink easy cooking Weekend Herb Blogging South Beach Diet steak kitchen toys salad bbq