Friday, July 15, 2005
LIFE-CHANGING KITCHEN DISCOVERIES:
The leave-one-end-intact method of chopping onions, which I learned from "America's Test Kitchen." Maybe I'm just imagining things, but it appears to solve the crying problem as well as improving the dicing result.
Setting up coffee the night before. I don't mean fiddling with the stupid timer, which requires a prediction about wakey-wakey time (we night-shifters have the luxury of varying that quite a bit). No, I just mean grinding the beans and filling the water reservoir so that the push of one button is all that is required in the morning. The speed and design of my coffee maker (I'm currently using a Hamilton Beach BrewStation, which dispenses directly into the cup and skips the carafe middleman) mean I can pour myself a cup less than a minute after I hit that button.
Honorable mention: The garbage bowl. Yes, the Rachael Ray garbage bowl. The idea makes no sense at first glance -- why not just throw things directly into the garbage? -- but few kitchens have refuse facilities mere inches from the cutting board, and at the same height. Yes, the Racher is often annoying ("Mmmmmmm!" ... "E-V-O-O" ... "Just water, please" ... "Tip: 38 cents"), but that idea is genius, and her ruthless critics need to calm down a little. Even if there were something wrong with small boobies, which there isn't, that isn't a suitable topic for public criticism, especially of someone you've never met. (I'll admit, though, that some of the cruel stuff on that site is pretty funny.) I'll report back on whether Rachael's love for the santoku knife is justified, once mine arrives.
Honorable mention: The garbage bowl. Yes, the Rachael Ray garbage bowl. The idea makes no sense at first glance -- why not just throw things directly into the garbage? -- but few kitchens have refuse facilities mere inches from the cutting board, and at the same height. Yes, the Racher is often annoying ("Mmmmmmm!" ... "E-V-O-O" ... "Just water, please" ... "Tip: 38 cents"), but that idea is genius, and her ruthless critics need to calm down a little. Even if there were something wrong with small boobies, which there isn't, that isn't a suitable topic for public criticism, especially of someone you've never met. (I'll admit, though, that some of the cruel stuff on that site is pretty funny.) I'll report back on whether Rachael's love for the santoku knife is justified, once mine arrives.
