I am sometimes a creature of habit and when it comes to my grandmother, I am a creature of  “because this is the way she did it”.  It always turned out beautifully when she did it “this way” so why mess with perfection?!?   Sorry Mimi.  This pie crust maker is beyond cool.   

And whoever in the heck invented this thing, I bow down to you.  Simplistic.  Brilliant.  Works like a charm. 

Unzip the plastic round.   Plop your chilled dough into the center.  Top with the cover.  No need to zip.  Roll to your hearts content. 

Drape over your rolling pin and put into your pie plate. 

Fold into quarters and put into your tart pan. 

Wipe clean.  Zip up and read a book. 

While it saddens me to put away my grandmother’s muslin cloth and rolling pin cover, I can’t argue with brilliance and success each and every time I have used the pie crust maker.  I apparently didn’t inherit the perfection gene from Mimi and found her method a bit sticky and messy at times and it didn’t always lead to beautiful pie crust.   This does.  It goes on my A-list.

I adore my chinois.  I am always looking for ways to use it because it is such a nifty tool and usually garners at least an ooh but, more oftentimes than not, an ooh and an ahh whenever I take it out in class.  Plus, it is just one of those words that is so much fun to say.  Shin wa.  Okay, it doesn’t look so good that way but it sure sounds fun. 

A chinois is a sort of fussy chef’s tool or at least that is what I thought about it.  Who needs a chinois when you have a strainer or a colander.  I had convinced myself that this was true.  Really I had.  And then I took culinary classes.  And then, just a few weeks ago, I tested mango pudding for an upcoming class.  Everyone needs a chinois.  Really they do.  

A fine mesh strainer is fine (hehe) for many jobs if the goal is to drain liquid from something.  But, if you want to get to the essence of something, say mangoes, you need that pestle that is nested in the chinois.  The turning of the pestle allows you to extract all of the juice and essence from a fruit in a smooth consistency perfect for turning into a pudding.  It also allows you to create a smooth, creamy tomato sauce from ordinary tomatoes, leaving behind the seeds, skin and any errant stems which may have found their way into your sauce.  Herb stems.  Forgetaboutit.  Chunks of garlic.  Forgetaboutit.  Pieces of ginger skin.  Forgetaboutit.  You get the point here.  And well yes, I will admit that a fine mesh strainer will do the job we are talking about the difference between a few turns of the pestle and about 10 minutes of constant pushing down with a spoon to the point where you loudly sigh a few times so that your significant other will come into the kitchen to take over the arduous job of forcing the nectar of the mango through the strainer.  When we did the same dish in class, we were finished with the whole pureeing process in oh, about 45 seconds. 

So, go out and purchase one of these today.  You will be the envy of your friends and of your significant other when you no longer have to loudly sigh at the injustice of the fine mesh strainer.

I recently discovered vanilla bean paste.  You might be saying ”so what” and until I started using this on a regular basis, I might have said the same thing.  But I am such the convert.  Instead of buying vanilla beans, I now just put the money toward my mortgage.   Did I mention that the savings will pay off my house much earlier than anticipated.  Even buying vanilla beans in bulk costs a king’s ransom.  Then you have to cut them in half and scrape out the insides.  I always find this a mess and because of the cost for a single bean, I feel like I should stand at my cutting board and diligently attempt to wrestle every tiny speck of vanilla bean seed goodness from the board and into the pot.  Vanilla bean paste is a concentrated paste which has millions of those precious little specks of vanilla bean and all I have to do is open the jar, measure out the paste and close the lid.  Quick.  Simple.  Clean.  Smooth.  It’s on My “A” list. 

For those of you with a stand mixer, this is THE must have gadget of the year.  I first saw it at a trade show in March and it rocks!   Buy one of these bad boys and you can throw your spatulas away!  The beater blade is flexible and actually hugs the interior of the mixing bowl as opposed to the standard hard paddle attachment which just spins around the interior of the bowl but doesn’t quite meet the edges.  It is forked at the base so that it spins over and around the raised portion of the bowl’s interior as opposed to missing it completely.  Forget the stopping and starting, the scraping and frustration of trying to get to the very bottom of the bowl.  This beater blade fully incorporates every grain of sugar and every pat of butter.  Unmixed batter: Be gone with you! 

I marvel at this each and every time I use it.  I spent Saturday making advance batches of cookies for My Grandmother’s Cookies class and we make butter mints and maple fudge in The Candy Man class this week.  It is just a gem.  Truly it is.  I know I am gushing here but a perfect batch of cookie dough is something to gush over.  As is the perfect pound cake batter, the fluffiest egg whites and the most luscious fresh whipped cream. 

Disclaimer:  I do own a retail kitchen center and sell these but I don’t endorse or sell any products I don’t have in my own kitchen.