Missy and Her Kitchen Gadgets

The Belle, here. And I'm a total sucker for gadgets! My husband has always said I'm a marketer's dream. I fall for everything I see in ads on TV,  in magazines, live demos, you name it.

I thought I'd share two recent acquisitions and their first uses.

The first: FAIL

The second: SUCCESS

We'll start with the Mission: FAIL (Disclaimer! This is only MY experience from one use and is MY personal opinion. This product may work just fine for others!)


Okay, who else out there has fallen for the sections in a store that has the "As Seen on TV" labels? Yes, I love that aisle. In this case, I bought one of those items.

This Product that Shall Remain Nameless. (although I may have left a hint.)

I guess I should preface this by saying I seem to always have trouble getting my boiled eggs to peel easily. I've tried starting eggs in hot water and starting them in cold water. But nothing has worked.  Soooo, when I saw the above box, I thought, "Cool! I could use that and quit worrying about the peel. Look at those beautiful deviled eggs on that box!" Yes, you have just lived inside my head, lucky you. ;)

So I bought them, took them home, and then bribed my daughter to wash them for me while I was cooking one evening. I promised her egg salad, one of her favorites, for her work.

First off, there are a bunch of parts that have to be put together to form the little cups. That's okay, I figured. It would be worth the effort. Still less effort than peeling.

But then I found it difficult to crack the eggs into the little holders. Found it difficult to tighten the lids tightly. And then a couple of them leaked into the boiling water.

And I used large eggs, but the finished product came out basically a half an egg! If you were going to do deviled eggs, you'd have to cook a dozen eggs to get a dozen deviled eggs (and the box only has 6).

And then, even worse, here's the mess I had left to clean up (brought back memories of washing scores of baby bottles!). All those parts! So, in my opinion, this experiment was a failure. I plan to take them back to the store.

Next, a success story.

Chef's Envy.

Disclaimer! This is very, very sharp. You have to follow the manufacturer directions. Use at your own risk. Any recommendation I make is my personal opinion based on my experience. You can't hold me responsible for any injuries! :)

Now, back to the blog...  :) But let me back up a little...

My daughter and I headed to Belk one day to look for a swim suit. Well, nothing is more torturous for me than waiting on a fifteen year old girl to try on six gazillion bathing suits only to have her reject EVERY SINGLE ONE. So I left her to her fun and went to the housewares department.

A young man was setting up to do some sort of food demo. Yes, I should have run the other direction. I  KNEW I was in danger of making a rash purchase. But then he promised a freebie for everyone who watched, and the chance for a bonus if you stayed till the end...

Well, I was a goner.

He proceeded to demonstrate the coolest thing ever and made it look easy as pie to use and clean. And he offered a bonus of a nice pair of kitchen shears for anyone who made a purchase. (And wouldn't you know the handle had broken off my old kitchen shears?! Surely this was meant to be!) So I bought one.

The other night, I pulled it out for the first time. Washed it--simple for only a few pieces. Plus, it has a decent set of instructions to show what blade to use for each food.

I planned to do white potatoes but found I only had sweet potatoes on hand. You know how hard uncooked sweet potatoes are, but I was still able to do a good job with them using the larger julienne blade. You just have to be very careful and use the hand guard! Don't push anything through with your fingers. The last few slices at the end of the potato were a bit difficult, so I ended up throwing away one wedge rather than risk getting my hand too close (or you could slice with a knife if you didn't want to waste).

Slicing in progress

Here's a video on YouTube if you're interested in seeing how it works. (click here but come back!)

And here are my potatoes! A nice size for quick cooking.

I ended up cooking in a skillet with some oil and salt. But I think next time I'll try baking. They'd probably be good deep fried as well. I also think I'd like white or red potatoes better cooked on the stove like this, because when I eat sweet potatoes, I want butter and brown sugar! :)

So someone please tell me you're also a sucker for gadgets you see in ads!