It seems like some of the greatest finds are discovered through word-of-mouth. Whether it’s a great new gadget, a secret ingredient or a tried-and-true recipe, the all-time faves are way too good to keep to ourselves. So we share them with friends — and hope they’ll do the same.
In the spirit of Julie Andrews, I thought it would be fun to start offering a weekly fix of some of my favorite things. We’re talking kitchen gadgets, décor items, magazines, podcasts — whatever I’m digging that you might dig, too.
And I’m kicking off week No. 1 with a recent purchase that has revolutionized my cookie-baking routine. OK, maybe not revolutionized, but it’s a pretty nifty little gizmo. I’ve been pining for a cookie scooper for years but just couldn’t bring myself to buy something that was basically a spherical version of a regular old spoon. Let me tell you, pals: I didn’t know what I was missing.
Check out those dough balls! Have you ever seen anything so beautifully uniform in all your born days? When it comes to cookies, it’s definitely what’s on the inside that counts, but if you’re looking for presentation points, this guy’s got your back. On my first time out of the gate, I had perfectly round dough balls that baked evenly and looked mighty cute at our family get-together. Yes, three-dozen cookies later, and the cookie scooper is officially my new favorite thing. What’s yours?
XO,
Katrina
Wonder what cookie I was scooping for the photos? They’re ginger spice. Check out the recipe here.
As I was trying to think what my favorite gadget was…the first thing that came to mind was a little brown, square, scraper that I got years ago from Pampered Chef. It can get off any type of stuck food on just about any type of surface. I guess I appreciate a good clean up after I cook!
I definitely appreciate a good clean-up, too! Any gadget that makes cleaning faster and easier sounds like a winner to me.
What timing! Only minutes before reading your blog today, I typed your Ginger Spice Cookie recipe on a card for my recipe box. Having been a fortunate taster of those wonderful cookies, I was ready to make a batch for my own eating pleasure (yum!). I shall definitely use my cookie scooper with the hope that I, too, shall have lovely, uniform, delicious cookies. And, just a little thing I do with my scooper is lightly spray it with cooking spray so the cookies pop out of there with ease. I’ve always wondered if the spray would change/harm the cookies in any way, so I would be interested to know what you or others think about doing that. I’ll let you know if my cookies turn out as tasty and pretty as yours!
Your cooking spray trick sounds pretty nifty; I was having a little trouble with the cookie dough sticking to the scooper. In general, I try not to use more cooking spray than I absolutely have to just because even the canola oil type has traces of strange things in it (though I definitely still use it on occasion). It’s hard to know when and how much to use things like that. I suppose the old-school butter-and-flour version is probably safer in the long run. Hope your cookies turned out pretty and delicious!
My latest gadget find is the Pampered Chef Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer!! I got it so that my kinder kids could prep their own apples for homemade apple sauce, but it is also so handy-dandy for pies and apple crumbles! You just pop on the apple, turn the handle, and everything is done for you!!
Ooo! This sounds like the handiest gizmo ever! I think I need to jump on this Pampered Chef train; lots of people rave about their products. I still do apples the old-fashioned way (which takes FOREVER!) and hadn’t bought a corer/slicer because I’d still end up doing a bunch of peeling. But a peeler/corer/slicer?!?! That’s amazing!! There’s something for my Christmas list for sure! Thanks for the tip, Deby! 🙂
P.S. If you look it up on Ebay you can get it for a steal!!! Just make sure you get the stand for it as well!!
Ebay is a great idea. Let the scouting begin!