Before I do anything else, I need to announce the winner of the 2Peas GG Digest post.
Christina Collins - I can’t wait to see the rest of your sneak peek! Looks lovely. The inspiration layout is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing! The two peas digest is so much fun!
Christina, email me! I have a nice little gift for you!
Whenever I go out of town, I always look forward to eating at the local restaurants and experiencing new and sometimes old favorites. Vegas has to be one of my favorite restaurant cities. Fix, crepes at Paris, Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, House of Blues Gospel Brunch, and my very favorite Social House. Social House used to be at Treasure Island, but when we were in Vegas two years ago, it was gone. I was sad that I couldn’t share that experience with Tom…however, as we were walking through Aria later that trip, we saw a sign in an empty space that indicated that Social House was coming soon. So this time, we ventured back and found it. Not nearly the experience that it was on the terrace at TI, the sushi was very good, and we happened to get there during happy hour, so it was affordable too. All this to say, as much as I enjoy a good restaurant, I am always ready to be home, eating my own food again.
Before we left, I made sure to use as much of what we had on hand as possible. So we came home to no food. Since I was scheduled pretty tight right when we got home, I didn’t make it to the grocery store until yesterday. It was a restocking trip…$200 later, I came home with a trunk full of food. That’s a lot of food for two people! I probably overbought produce. It all looked so good! It’s just good to be home and eating in again.
Today’s *b* list is in honor of eating in.
*b* list of kitchen essentials
- apple sectioner. at our house, this makes all the difference in whether we eat our apple or pear a day or not. Can’t live without this.
- microplane grater. So handy for so many things…and this is key: easy to clean! I use it for zesting citrus, garnishing with chocolate, for a fine grating hard cheese, and a little sprinkle of fresh nutmeg. I know I’ve used it much more than I expected when I bought it.
- coffee press. I have the Bonjour brand and LOVE it
I may enjoy my coffee a little too much. - Le Creuset dutch oven. I am sold big time. I was so skeptical about whether I would actually use my first one. From stovetop to oven and back again, they have definitely lived up to the hype…in my humble opinion. So perfect for roasts, soups, stews, sauces, baked pastas, and more. These pots are investment pieces that you will have forever and then pass down to the next generation. I used birthday and Christmas money and gift cards for the large oval pot that I have had for two years now. Recently, I was at Sur La Table and they had the smaller round marked down, so I snatched it right up.
- GE dual fuel range. I’ve written about how much I love this stove many, many times, so I’ll just add it to the list. KILLER range…thank you Kelly.
- Good knives. I’m a believer that you only need a couple of good knives, rather than a lot of not so good ones. I have this knife that I use all the time…every single day. I also have a Cutco knife that I like a lot. I have a serrated bread knife (that I bought from a supplier when I worked at Carey Cottage) and a tiny paring knife from William Sonoma. I really need to invest in decent steak knives, because the ones we have are cheap and don’t work all that well. That’s it. Tom typically sharpens them by hand with a grinding stone, however, on Sunday when Kirby, Amber and the kids were here, he brought his new sharpener. He is really into smoking meats…and does some amazing stuff. I am not even that big of a meat eater, but I have to say that I would not turn down an invite for dinner at their house : )Anyway, he works at Schaefer’s and he asked the chef what she would recommend for a sharpener. The brand she suggested is a Chefmate and it works great!
- Here are a few other gadgets that I “need”: garlic press, olive oil spritzer, pepper grinder, stainless wire whisk, batter bowls in all sizes, egg slicer, collander, ice tea maker, salad spinner (we eat salad daily), and I think I NEED a citrus press.
I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few essentials, but these are definitely some of my must-haves. I’m not a huge gadget person, so if I have a gadget, it has to be used a lot to stay. My kitchen doesn’t have a ton of storage, so I try to keep it pared down as much as possible.
Switching gears, I can not believe how fast David’s first six months have gone! He is soooo big!
He is sooo sweet!
I had to post this three generation photo. Of course I did.
He’s a super happy little dude.
Speaking of dude.
This was right before he grabbed Kirby’s eye! He’s sweet, but all boy at the same time.
God bless your day!
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