Saturday, January 15, 2011

Weekend Cooking...A Shiny New Toy Tool!

My grandfather was a tinkerer. By the time I came along he was quite old and had some physical limitations, but still he liked nothing better than to get out his tool boxes and fool around with something, often his shortwave radio. He would have the thing in pieces, tubes all over the place, and wee caite would sit there for hours, "assisting" him. Which pretty much meant handing him a specific screwdriver or wire cutter.

Now, I don't have a shortwave radio, but I did learn one thing from him.
Always buy the best tool you can afford.
Cheap tools are junk, will not last and can make the job harder.
A good tool will pay you back by lasting and can make you job easier.
In fact it can make it a pleasure.
A fine tool is a fine thing.

And I think this is most certainly true when it comes to kitchen tools. I don't want junky tools, manual or electric. I love my fine KitchenAid Mixer and it is a pleasure to use. A good knife, newly sharpened, is a pleasure to use. I have been known to spend hours online studying the pluses and minuses of various garlic presses before making a decision.

Which is in part why I am so excited about the swell gift I got for Christmas.
It is the Cuisinart Elite Collection 16 cup food Processor.

Isn't it pretty?
The base is solid cast metal, so it is quite heavy.
It comes with two discs and three blades and all neatly fit in a nice storage box, safe and sound. I say safe because based on all the warnings in BIG CAPITAL LETTERS, they are very sharp.
It has three interlocking bowls, small, medium and large, that only took me 1/2 hour to figure out how to fit together and use.

Now, I wish I could post a recipe that I made with my new processor. But I have not gotten that far yet. I had to read the instructions of how to unpack it, which had 13 steps. 13 steps.
And while I read through the instruction book there is also an instructional DVD that I have not watched yet and I am afraid to turn it on before I do. This thing looks very serious. Shiny and pretty and serious. I need a head of cabbage to shred, some pie dough to take for a spin.

Good tools are a wonderful thing.
And they are even more fun when you get them as a gift!



This is my contribution this to this week's Weekend Cooking.
"Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend."
Be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.


19 comments:

  1. I had to laugh because it took me a while to figure out how to put my Cuisinart together.

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  2. I hate these things because I'm afraid to wash them and kill myself on the blades. I am definitely the type to do that!

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  3. Fancy.....but for someone like me, it would be a dust catcher...LOL

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  4. Now that is one serious food processor! Enjoy your new toy, uh, I mean tool.

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  5. I bought my Cusinart food processor in ummmm, the late 80s. It's going strong and I don't think I could live without it. I was raised the same as you -- better to wait until you can afford it and buy the best.

    Enjoy!! You'll love it.

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  6. 16 cut capacity?! That is a honkin' big food processor :)

    I have mixed feelings about food processors: there are times that I love the efficiency of them, and there are times that I think it takes up too much room in my kitchen. I think I need to play around with it some more so that I feel comfortable using it more often.

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  7. ..it does have the two smaller bowls too...lol

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  8. I think I have food processor envy!

    You can find my WC HERE

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  9. Enjoy your new toy! I've heard these are wonderful. :)

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  10. Oooh, I LOVE kitchen tools! Definitely the Cuisinart is one of my favorites, right in front of the Kitchenaid Mixer, my immersion blender, and my griddler! Oh, and the crock pot!

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  11. 13 steps to unpack and an intructional DVD? OMG, I'd never dare to touch that thing. It does look impressive.

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  12. I've had my Cuisinart for over 20 years and it's still going, although there's this little bit that keeps coming out so I know it's not going to last another 20. Great to see the newer model that I can get myself one of these days...

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  13. I definitely have food processor envy. For Christmas I bought myself a Kitchen Aid Stand mixer. Still in the box, but not for long. it will help with all the baking I do. The food processor is next on my list.

    As for the baked beans. I have not tried the dry mustard. Have added that to Mac and Cheese, Will make a note for next time and try it instead of the pumpkin pie spice. Thanks.

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  14. I hope you gave a huge smooch to whoever gave you such a fantastic gift. You hit the mother lode when you got this thing. I'm looking forward to hearing about what you make in it and how it works.

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  15. Kitchen tools...the bigger, the shinier, the better. I LOVE my Cuisinart food processor and use it to chop every possible ingredient in every possible recipe! ENJOY!

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  16. You are bound to have so much fun with this pretty kitchen too :) I know I can't live without mine anymore (and the hand blender, mixer, etc :S)! Enjoy :D

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  17. I love this post -the connection with your grandfather was so wonderful. I love my Kitchen Aid food processor. I don't use any of the attachments - just the blade. I am a big believer in spending money to get something that will last.

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  18. Oh, I am so jealous. And you're right- good tools make ALL the difference!

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  19. You can all come over and use it whenever you want! :-)

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