I forgot to share with you about a couple of restaurants I visited this fall.  I have to admit that we only went to one of them because we hear it mentioned frequently in comedy sketches on one of our local radio stations.  It’s called Three Dollar Dewey’s, and you can find it in Portland Maine, right on Commercial Street.

Yes, there really are a couple of $3 beers that you can buy and drink there, and overall the menu (and beer list) is hearty, tasty, and low brow.  You’ll have a great time there, as long as you go with the right attitude.  It’s about the beer and the bar food!

In stark contrast, I went to a vegetarian restaurant with some friends out in Northampton Massachusetts a couple of weeks ago. It was a gorgeous Saturday, probably the last really fine one we’ll have in New England for months (!), and we went out to stroll around, eat good food, and buy stuff.

Close to the Smith College campus, Bela is located on Masonic Street in Northampton.  They don’t have a website or even a business card, but here is a site where you can find a map.  I ordered a luncheon special called tempeh with collards and black bean basil chili.  It came served with brown rice and was labled extra hot and spicy.  It was definitely hot, but not to the point where your taste buds were burned and you couldn’t taste anymore.  Delicious lunch, nice relaxed small town atmosphere.

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Is the kitchen the new living room?  That’s what Amana is betting on!

It makes sense to me.  Where do all your guests end up when you’ve got a party going on?  Don’t they all wander into the kitchen?

Now with the Amana Quick Tap entertainment refrigerator, your guests can wander in and help themselves: the refrigerator boasts a beverage reservoir that conveniently holds and dispenses up to three liters of cold beverages, such as mixed drinks and juice. Easily removable for cleaning and refilling, the reservoir is connected through the refrigerator door to a self-service dispenser, providing guests with easy access to their favorite party drinks.

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Here’s a chance to use your little hand-crank ice cream maker.  Ice cream isn’t just for summertime, you know!

This is one of the most unlikely flavors I think I’ve ever heard of for ice cream, but the result is an amazingly tasty mix. It’s subtle, but creamy and delicious. Substitute other tea flavors if you’d like.

Earl Grey Ice Cream

1 c heavy cream
1/2 c vanilla soy milk (or 1/2 c milk plus t vanilla)
1/4 c sugar
3 tea bags

Place the milk in a microwavable cup and heat for about a minute. Add the tea bags and let it steep for about 5 minutes. Press all the liquid out of the tea bags and discard them.

Mix with all the other ingredients. Refrigerate for a couple of hours. Pour into small ice cream maker and process. Recipe can be doubled.

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Darren of RestyleYourKitchen, kitchen fitters in the UK, likes to write about kitchen gadgets almost as much as he likes to write about kitchen remodeling and installation.  He’s got a couple of great lists that I think you’ll enjoy.  The first one I found was 20 Utterly Pointless Kitchen Appliances.  In this post, Darren takes shots at chocolate fountains, soda streams, electric knives, bread makers, and single serve coffee makers.  And much more of course!  My personal least favorites on his list are the mushroom brush and the turkey baster, both of which I’ve owned in the past, neither of which I ever plan to own again.

Since I was poking about his site, I ended up finding another list which has even more humor potential than the first (even though I thought that one was quite funny): 37 Kitchen Gadgets That Every Geek Should Own.  OK, here’s the thing: a couple of the gadgets that made this list were also on the Utterly Pointless list, so now I’m confused…  DH and I are definitely geeks (well, he truly is, and I’m geeky about certain things so I guess that counts), so what should we do?  Succumb to geekdom or forget about the worthless little tools?

I mean, what about the PizzaPro?  I’m torn.

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I’ve seen lots of these vases around where the water pressure holds the plastic bag shape open for your flowers, but this one is different.  It can be shaped and “frozen” in place, then “unfrozen” and collapsed back down for storage.

Collapsible Vases are heat and cold activated plastic.  Fill it with hot water to mold it into the shape you want, then dump it out and refill with cold water to allow it to keep its shape.  When you’re ready to put it away, hit it with hot water again and you can smooth it down flat for easy storage.   11 x 6 inches in blue or green.  One is about $7, and they go down in price if you buy 3 or more.

Image: Lee Valley Tools

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Have you ever dreamed of living off the grid?  Even if the answer is no, this Dual Speed Hand-Crank Mixer still might hold some appeal.   Tough enough to stand up to heavy duty use in an Amish kitchen, this mixer has two speeds and a splash guard.  It was actually designed by an Amish craftsman, so no surprise that it’s built to last.  Comes with a 4 quart bowl, twin beaters, and a dough hook.

Image: Lehman’s

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Jon said that the only cooking gadget he wants for Christmas this year is a replacement for his Panasonic mochi maker!  Since my DH Mike returned from Japan with several boxes of mochi in tow, I can relate to this desire.  Unfortunately, Panasonic doesn’t seem to be making these makers anymore.  But Tiger is riding to the rescue: the Tiger SMJ-A18U Rice Cake Mochi Maker has a 10 cup capacity, a non-stick inner pot for easy removal, and is widely available.  In fact, it’s so widely available that there are deals to be had!

One thing you want to be careful of is the shipping charge.  Some of the sites with lower prices have higher charges, as you can see on this comparison site.

In case you’ve never had mochi, it is a Japanese rice cake, made of pounded rice so that it’s got a glutinous texture.  Doesn’t sound particularly appealing, but it’s really quite delicious.

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1. The foodloop, or twine, to tie the turkey’s legs together.  4 for $10

   

2. Turkey Lacers to keep the skin flaps tight over the stuffing if you still do stuffing the traditional way.  8 for $3

   

3. Or a Stuffing Cage, which I prefer, and will hold up to two boxes of stuffing mix!  Of course, then it should really be called “dressing” instead of stuffing, but you are stuffing it into the cage…oh, never mind!  $10

   

4. Roasting pan with a rack.  I like using an open one and putting foil around it to get my turkey started, but you may prefer to buy a covered roaster.  All-Clad roaster with rack $200 (pricey, but not a single bad review!)

   

5. Meat Thermometer, to make sure you get your bird up to temp.  It doesn’t have to be one of these funky digital ones, but doesn’t this look nice?   $23

   

6. Oven Mitts like these non-slip silicon beauties!  $11

   

7. Turkey Lifters, which you might not need if you have a small turkey, but believe me, these are essential with my 25 pounders!  $12

   

8. Cutting Board, which almost everyone already has, but how about getting one of these non-slip easy to wash ones?  $15

   

9. Carving Knife and Meat Fork set to finish off your bird perfectly!  You can make these as elaborate as you choose, even electric, but I like the plain old plain old.  $60 set

   

10. Whisk, maybe even a non-stick silicone coated one like this, for making perfect gravy.  $12.50

    

You’ll notice that I left out the Baster, long considered an essential tool.  I don’t use one (”Bastin’ is wastin’ “)  and no one else I know does either, but you can argue with me in the comments if you’d like    I thought it also might be nice to have a Fat Separator ($16), but I don’t have one and have managed to make wicked good gravy so far without one.  If you can think of other essential turkey tools you use that I missed, leave a comment!

Here are the 2 bonus serving items I don’t think you can really get by without:

1. A Turkey Platter.  No, it doesn’t have to have a turkey on it, but it is fun.  Any large platter will do.  $27

   

2. Gravy Boat and Ladle.  Yes, you need the ladle too.  Icky pools of dripped turkey gravy in the saucer or on the table…enough said   $5.50

   

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Working on your mise en place?  Look no further than these cute little Stainless Steel Prep Bowls to hold your ingredients.  To some people, prep bowls seem like a needless item, but those who use them swear that they’d never go back.  They do add time to the front end of your preparation, but they allow you to soar through your recipes once you start with no mis-steps and no hesitations.  For certain recipes, it can be really important that there are no pauses while ingredients are measured out.

Anyway, if you’re looking for some prep bowls, these are available, 8 for about $11.  They are also the right size for serving condiments.

Image: Lee Valley Tools

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Here’s a potential gift for your favorite gadgeteer: a kit to make his or her very own Pepper Mill and Salt Shaker!  If your gadgeteer doesn’t happen to care about kitchen gadgets (oh the horror of it all!), but does like to while away free time in the wood shop, you might be able to score the results!

You can get the instructional dvd alone for about $28.50, or you can get it combined with all the materials needed for $59.  Extra wood blanks and metal mechanisms are also available.

Image: Lee Valley Tools

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