A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

Gleefully Rubbing My Hands Together

Look at all the new toys I got at my friend Ashley's Pampered Chef party:

Let's see, there's the 9x12 oval baker to replace the one I had years ago, only this one has a lid and it's cranberry glazed on the outside.  There's a small oval baker that will be perfect for sides (I've already baked mac & cheese in it), and a loaf pan that I've already used.  Then for the toys there are a half dozen of the little quickcut paring knives that are so sharp and versatile, kitchen shears, a tart former, a cut and seal dumpling maker, and a couple of herbs Ashley was nice enough to throw in.

I have to say that I'm not usually a big home party product fan but Pampered Chef is my one exception. I love all of their products.  I'm probably the only person who doesn't use the stones but I use all of their other crocks. I love the way all of the bakers, including the loaf pan, brown food and keep it warm on the table or at a potluck. And I've never bought any tool from them that was shoddy. 

I'm not shilling for them.  :-)  I'm just excited. Can't wait to play.

It's a little treasure cache. Is there anything more inspiring than new cookware and kitchen toys?

Oh Yay! Oh Drat!

Bought some toys yesterday! (Hand clapping):

Mostly to replace supplies that are getting old but I did get a few new things like a ribbon cutter and embosser and I'm going to try Wilton's pre-made sugarpaste since I'm only going to practicing flowers. Also, on a whim, bought Wilton's last 2 yearbooks I don't have. Replace my foam disk, fondant smoother, and, rolling pin. I think the silicone will work better than the wooden one.  Stopped buying petal dust at the metalics because I didn't like the harshness of the other colors. I think I'll get better colors online at www.sugarcraft.com.

I used to make up sugarpaste/gumpaste flowers in advance and dole them out when I felt like it, for free mostly and a few at a time, but I only have about a dozen cakes where they were actually ordered. Springfield wasn't that big of a market for them then and people weren't willing to pay for gumpaste yet. That was 15 years ago.  Either that or I simply wasn't tapped into the proper market niche.  Maybe a little of both. Nah, it was about being cheap.  Every time I read Diary of The Food Whore I see life flash before my eyes.  People WANT the best, they just don't want to pay you for your labor.  I can't tell you how many times brides have salivated over my flowers, sitting in my kitchen but then balked at pay a $1/stem (a freaking buck a stem) when I have hours, hours as in plural, worth of work in them but then they act like they're being ripped off to have to pay more than the base rate of $1.50 per person slice for the wedding cake.  Fifteen years ago, $1.50/person wasn't even expensive for wedding cake and you would have thought I was asking for live organs. 

But hey, that was then and this is now and now I get to do it for my own personal fun.  The flowers have nothing in them that will go bad so I'll store my projects and use them as I begin to bake for family and friends again (now that I'm out of school and have the time) when I have time. It's a win-win situation.

But I feel the need to stretch my decorator muscles again.  I'm happy with the skill I had but I don't want to lose it.  I definitely want to expand it. What I did was fine, it was okay as far as I went with it, but okay has never been good enough for me.  I want to learn to do it very well, really stretch to see what all I can accomplish if I really set my mind to it, and see where it takes me.  I'll probably start out with a couple of basics like roses and some fillers and expand. Dogwood is my favorite. That will definitely be on the list.

So that's the "Oh yay!" part. The "Oh drat!" part is I'm starting a work stretch so it's going to be a couple of weeks before I can start playing with my new toys.  Sigh.

Here's a couple of cakes from back then:

Favorite Food/Kitchen Gadget

 

Pamela, over at Posie's Place has created her first blogging event for Favorite Kitchen Gadgets and will be posting a round-up of everyone's faves right after September 10th.  Love her idea for this event. We all have our favorite tools, gadgets, and appliances that we can't live without. It will be fun to see what "things" we've all become attached to over the years.

This is a great chance for me to drool and give a great big hug and plug to Black and Decker for creating the mini food processor, or food chopper as they call it:

I love this little beauty.  Technically an appliance, rather than a gadget, but I don't care. It's my favorite thing in the kitchen.  It's my favorite wedding gift I received that is still working 15 years later (!).  It's the gift I automatically gift to every bride I receive wedding invitations for, etc. I cannot sing it's praises loudly enough. I like my big regular food processor but it's a pain to drag out and clean up, especially for small jobs like a bit of carrot, to chop an onion, or a handful of nuts, or whatever I need to be fast and uniformly minced.  This does the trick and you can put the blade and the 1 1/2 cup bowl in the dishwasher.  How's that for easy?  You can also buy it at any general merchandise store and it's under $30.00.  That all adds up to "gotta have one" in my book.