I Resemble That Remark

Go ahead, call me “practical.” I resemble that remark.


Jas might have gotten a clue that I was practical way back when we were dating: When I found out he was planning to give me a ring for Christmas (not an engagement ring…just a pretty everyday ring), I asked him to return it and buy me a breadmaker instead. (Still have it, btw)

But catch on he did. And several years ago when he surprised me with this timer for Christmas…

…the kiddos thought we were crazy.  I had never seen the likes of this timer before, but once I got it figured out, WOW, was I excited and thankful!  It can time four separate things AT ONCE!  This timer gets used here at our house (for cooking and non-cooking functions) more times every. single. day. than I can count on both hands! **Love** it.  I usually have to ask the kids where it is because they've hauled it off somewhere to use it.



So I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that when asked for my Christmas wish list this year, I respond with ideas like cookware, kitchen tools...everything AND the kitchen sink.  No, really...a kitchen sink.


Jas and I started out our newly-married life with a brand spanking new set of non-stick pots and pans.  Now knowing how toxic that stuff is makes me cringe at the memory.  So several years ago (as we started learning) we chucked all of it and started replacing with stainless steel pieces.  Love them, still have them, but I've been wanting to add some cast-iron pieces.  The idea of cast-iron when I was younger and just learning to cook totally intimidated me:  you have to take special care of it (turned out to be no big deal), and you have to use lots of FAT to season it and cook with (back then, I thought fat was the enemy...but praise the Lord, now I know fat is not bad for us like "they" say, and I EMBRACE fat!)

Love my new 10 1/4 skillet - thank you, Linda!  This sucker has been used like everyday since Christmas!

And in our family-pick-a-name gift exchange, I received this reversible griddle I'd been wanting:  

So cool!

I had been going back-and-forth in my head about whether I wanted a processor or not. (I’ve literally been debating this with myself for years now. I sometimes can take a while to make decisions.) I have lived this long just fine without one, so “no”, I don’t need one. But…would it make me more efficient in the kitchen (which would be greatly appreciated)? Friends that have one, reported “yes”, it would be a big help in the kitchen.

Well, apparently I was wondering out loud about this one day a month or two ago (I didn’t remember, but Jas certainly did!) and Jas surprised me with this 14-cup hummer:

Makinga triple batch of Beef and Lentil soup on Monday was a BREEZE!

After I got over being scared of it (I'm such a weanie), I began using it…and I’m impressed! Right now we all still crowd around and fight over who gets to insert the food into the chute. Yeah, that will probably wear off, but for now it’s fun!  I'm very impressed with the multi-faceted safety features this machine has, so I don't worry about the children helping me.  After a very little bit of prep, I shove things in - whiz, whiz - DONE!  Love it!

And then, to top it all off, Jas and I - being the romantic love-birds that we are - bought each other a new kitchen sink for Christmas:  

I thought about taking everything out of the sink for this picture,
but HA - it is never totally empty and that would have felt like lying!

The kitchen sink that was here in the new house drove Jas and I batty.  The setup wasn't good (read: like we'd been used to for the past 10 years), the size of the bowls wasn't even and the smaller one was way TOO small...and to top it off: the faucet was so shot that it would just turn itself off unless you had it on FULL BLAST!)


So, after fussing about it for months - and going back and forth over whether we really, truly needed a new one (we don't like to part with money)...we took ourselves to Lowe's and bought this beauty.

There **is**  a drying rack under there beneath all the Vitamix parts
 and cutting board and funnel, and glass bowls, and....

We love the new sink.  The kids love it.  Noah says it is very "modern"...which he means as a compliment.  My mom noticed it the other day and said, "Good!  I'd been hoping you'd get a new one!"