Williams Sonoma: The stuff that dreams are made of

I've been in a Williams Sonoma store once. In my former life, a boss gave me a gift card for Secretary's Adminstrative Professionals Day. It wasn's a huge store, but I wondered around for over an hour, trying to decide how to spend my money. My gift card ($25? $30?) wasn't going to take me far, but I was determined to let it take me somewhere.

This is where it took me:

It's a small food processor, and it's perferct. I've been using it for 5(?) years now and I love it. Since I rarely cook for more than 4 people, I rarely need anything bigger.

But I still dream of Williams Sonoma.

Now, The Clean Plate Club is having a giveaway: a $50 gift certificate to Williams Sonoma. Since I need something else to dream about and scheme about, I'm entering this post in the contest. Who know? Maybe I'll be able to buy something even cooler - like this, these, or a whole collection of these.

Rambling Thoughts on Silicone Bakeware

A few weeks ago, when I was preparing The Original Redhead's Birthday Dinner Extraordinaire, I got the chance to use silicone bakeware for the first time. I have a silicone pastry brush that I adore - it's so much easier to clean and use than my old bristle one (no clumps!). And I love silicone spatulas.

The bakeware, though, I was not as impressed with for one reason: I seemed to burn things.

I made the birthday cake, a vegetarian version of the chicken tetrazinni (which I guess would just be tetrazzini?), and a pan of dressing. While they were all edible - okay, they were all yummy - they all got very crispy on the bottom. The rest of it was seemed to cook at the rate of what I would expect from my regular bakeware.

Now, it is very possible that I might have been distracted from all the in-depth conversations of world peace and Other Weighty Matters such as which wine bottle should be opened next. But I'm a little hesitant to use silicone again, at least when I'm trying to impress other people with my mad cooking skillz.

Anyone have an opinion?

Shiny Happy Toys, or How Amazon Stole My Budget

Last week, Amazon was a having four-for-three sale. They might still be having it, for that matter, but I'm afraid to go look. I'm afraid because in one moment of weakness, I ordered 2 new cookie sheets, a new muffin pan and a gratin dish that is the prettiest shade of blue EVER - which I'm afraid to actually put food in it, because then I will have to wash it and that might destroy the pretty blueness.

Have a mentioned my need for therapy lately? Donations gladly accepted.

Anyway, thanks to Amazon's Awesome-ness, here is what I got free with the above items:

• A micro plane grater (Yes, I caved and did the Amazon blow-out the day after I grated the oranges without one of these. My bank account can blame my oranges for having a smaller balance).
• A subscription to my choice of Bon Apetit or Gourmet. I'm leaning towards Bon Apetit, but I haven't made my final decision - anyone out there with an opinion, informed or otherwise -tell me what you think.
• Free shipping on everything!

So, see…I got so much free stuff that it totally outweighs the money that I spent. In fact, I think I saved more money than I spent! It's like everything was free!

I also think I'm channelling my godmother. God bless her for getting her hands on me while I was young.

I'm off to grate some clementines. Before I cave and go back to Amazon and notice the 70% off sale they have going on in the Kitchen.& Home section.

Shiny and New

I got a new toy yesterday!:



Look! Do you see the ice maker? An Ice Maker! I have finally entered the 21st century, my friends.

We put the old one in the garage. I am drooling over the fact that between the two, I have more than twice as much freezer room now. The stocks I will save! The meat I will buy on sale and freeze! The meals I can make ahead of time!

And oh, my goodness - the amount of ice I will now have for my beloved mango rum!