sara's kitchen faves - numero cinco

it's summer time...

and with summer comes...

ICE-CREAM!!

so, my one of my kitchen faves and staples is:

{image}

the ice-cream scoop

this is no ordinary scoop, it's a ZEROLL scoop, you know, the kind used by professional ice-cream scoopers.

go ahead, next time you order ice-cream at a little ice-cream shop, check to see what they're using.

i GUARANTEE you will see they have the same scoop.

it rocks. well, actually it scoops and it's easy to use.
i love it. i use it. a lot.
we don't have to go into detail how often i exercise my zeroll scoop.
especially now that it's summer i'm pregnant.
for those of you who know me, i LOVVVVVEEEEEE ice-cream.
for those of you who don't know me, now you know, i LOOOOVVVVVEEEEE ice-cream.
kinda like a fat kid loves cake.
but maybe a little more.

so a professional ice-cream scoop was is a necessity for me.

and maybe one of these days, i'll get invest one of these:

{image}

it's a gelato paddle, for those italian gelato lovers (i'm part of the club)...

and i'm sure it'll come in handy scooping ice-cream too...

but i already have an ice-cream scoop, so i can use this for gelato, when i'm in italy, or dreaming of italy.

one summer, i travelled to italy with some girlfriends

and we consumed gelato on a daily basis

and sometimes more than once

yum!

the end.

sara's kitchen's faves - numero cuatro

so... i haven't posted in a while about my kitchen faves, so i thought it was about time to post one.

{image courtesy of cuisinart}

caleb and i received a FABULOUS blue dutch oven from a friend as wedding gift. it's made by cuisinart and i use it alllll the time. (it's similar to the one in the link, but a prettier blue)

a few PROS
- it's blue (my fave color - if you haven't already figured that out)
- it's like a crock pot without a plug... plop it on the stove, put in some ingredients, turn the stove on, and let simmer, voila... a few hours later, dinner...
- it makes the best chili
- it makes the best spaghetti sauce
- it can be put in the oven
- it can be put in the fridge
- and many many many more...

i could go on... but i won't, i'll spare you.

disclaimer: the dutch oven doesn't MAKE the chili or spaghetti sauce, it has SOMETHING to do w/the chef, BUT i don't think my chili or spaghetti sauce would be nearly as delish without this dutch oven.

caleb decided to cook for me one day. i was gone and came home to a messy kitchen (ugh) but all smelled delicious (he was redeemed). i sat down to a delightful meal (i wish i had pictures). it was a green salad, spaghetti and homemade spaghetti sauce.
now this was my man's FIRST attempt at spaghetti sauce, and he used the dutch oven... mind you, he didn't even know what a dutch oven was... i swear his spaghetti sauce was possibly, maybe, probably... better than mine... i know, it almost hurts to say it. my hubster is a good cook when he wants to be, which i benefit from. he enjoys experimenting in the kitchen... which is ok too when it turns out as delicious as that dinner was.
anyway, i asked him WHERE he found the recipe... he googled it and in reading the recipe, he realized it called for a dutch oven. he thought, where can i find a dutch oven? so he googled "dutch oven" and realized, SARA HAS ONE!!! and put ol' blue cuisy to use :)
which i was extremely thankful for

sara's kitchen's faves - numero tres

Here's another kitchen favorite!

Caleb and I registered for a waffle maker at Williams & Sonoma. We didn't receive the one we registered for; we were given an even better waffle-maker from my aunt Susan. (thanks Susan)
It is also a VillaWare and it produces delicious waffles with large squares to be filled with syrup, raspberries, strawberries, whipped cream... I could go on!!

VillaWare has been around for 100 years so I definitely feel as though they're qualified to make waffle-makers.

Anyway, Caleb and I routinely enjoy the waffle-maker; I WOULDN'T want to live without it! It makes Saturday brunch and Sunday morning snow days more delightful. Some weekends Caleb will make me breakfast - always waffles.

This past weekend, Saturday morning I woke up and said "Caleb, do you want waffles for breakfast? It's been a while."

Mind you, the last time we had waffles was probably the end of November.

Caleb obliged and I set about to make the batter. (oh do I have a great waffle recipe?!)

We sat down to waffles with maple syrup and orange juice for brunch. We discussed our weekend plans and we probably discussed something philosophical - such happens on a lazy Saturday morning eating waffles with nothing to do the rest of the day...

Well, Sunday morning rolls around; SNOW day! We woke up to this...

...and still snowing. Church was canceled, I was thrilled. Don't get me wrong, I love church, but some days it's nice to NOT go per a certain snow storm. I mean, no one wants to risk their life driving to church, right?

We got busy... no, get your mind out of the gutter... we set about making waffles, again. Twice in one weekend, two times in two days. Delish!

So you can enjoy homemade waffles - none of that box mix... here's a recipe I will leave with you. (this can also be used to make pancakes - just use a frying pan instead of a waffle iron)

Sara's Waffle Recipe (developed from my mom's fabulous recipe)

2 cups milk

2 cups flour

2 eggs

2 tablespoons oil (preferably olive oil, but any can be used)

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2-1 teaspoon salt

some sugar (I usually use sugar in the raw - 2-4 tablespoons)

some cinnamon (a teaspoon?)

some vanilla (a teaspoon)

(Optional: raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, syrup, whipped cream)

In a medium sized bowl mix the dry ingredients. While stirring, slowly add the milk to the mixture. Add the eggs, oil and vanilla; mix till the batter is smooth.

Heat your waffle iron, spray w/oil to avoid stickage. Spoon batter into the waffle iron, let waffle iron do the rest.

Pull waffle out of waffle iron, put on a plate and serve with syrup, raspberries, etc. ENJOY!

sara's kitchen's faves - numero dos

back to the kitchen faves...

numero 2...
yes, it's a DISHWASHER!! it may be small, it may not look too powerful, but it does the job!!


this was a gift from caleb's youth group when he left his position as youth pastor... they gave him a surfboard... and me a dishwasher! needless to say, i was psyched.


prior to inheriting this lovely machine caleb did the dishes... just not every day...
since he started full time with his master's program, he doesn't have time to do the dishes, and i'm not really willing to do them (i hate doing dishes, i'll take laundry over dishes any day).


well, this little dishwasher sits on our counter where our drying rack used to sit. it works real hard so we don't have to. sure, we still have to wash the pots, pans, cutting boards and other miscellaneous items by hand, but we pop dirty silverware, plates, bowls, coffee pan, coffee mugs, glasses, etc into this small contraction, hit the start button and an hour later we have clean dishes! can't be beat since we have a small kitchen.
if you hate doing the dishes, this is a wonderful invention to have in the kitchen, no matter the size.



and that wraps up sara's kitchen faves numero dos :)

sara's kitchen faves - numero uno

recently i've been inspired to cook a little more... maybe it's the christmas season and all the good eats, maybe it's because i want to ensure my husband's well fed, and maybe it's just because i enjoy dabbling in the kitchen...



along w/that... i feel the need to share my favorite kitchen tools, you know, the ones that help the cookin' process along...

so without further adieu, numero 1...

this fabulous knife was on our wedding registry at Williams & Sonoma, however i'm sure it can be found at many other stores. it was an engagement present from caleb's cousin kyle. i've recently discovered he enjoys cooking up concoctions in his kitchen... i understand (and appreciate) why he chose to give us this fabulous knife!



let me tell you, it is marvelous in the kitchen... chopping, mincing, slicing, dicing... you get the picture... definitely worth the christmas list for those kitchen fanatics...