Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Autumn Leaves for the Pie

Everyone knows about my weakness for expensive cake pans and the burgeoning obsession with other fancy stuff at Williams Sonoma. I seriously could not work there. I'd never take a paycheck home. In fact, I'd owe them money at the end of the week.

For years I've been cooking with their recipes but I draw the line at buying a $10 jar of Pecan Pumpkin Butter to make their pumpkin pie. It does sound terrific though.

My next move is to remove my name from their e-mail list because now I'm being bombarded with e-mails promising Danish temptations, specifically something called an "Ebelskiver Pan". I'm sure you've seen these before. It looks like a iron frypan for golf balls.

Here's a video on how to make them.

Ebelskiver Madness

They sound terrific too. The problem is I'd probably make a batch or two and never use the pan again.

Did I mention William Sonoma's Fancy Leaf Pie Crust Cutters? They're used to cut leaf shapes to decorate your pie crust. At $17 they're out of my budget but imagine my surprise when I found a set made by Wilton for under $4.

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They don't automatically score the dough with vein lines, but hey.....what else have I got to do with my time?

All this talk of kitchen items has me thinking of the small-kitchen-appliances-of-the-year from days gone by. You know, these are lined up in the aisles of the discount store, enticing people to buy as a gift for mom. Yeah, as if mom wants a small kitchen appliance for Christmas. ONLY IF.....I specifically ask for it.

One that comes to mind is that Tater Twister. I was working in retail and our store manager accidently order 600 of them. The home office wouldn't take them back and three years later he was trying to dump them off as door prizes at our Christmas party. How about the quesadilla maker? You know, a south of the border version of the grilled sandwich maker from a couple years previous.

I'm afraid to tell you what lurks in my small kitchen appliance half-closet. Yes, I commanded half of the laundry room coat closet to house kitchen appliances!!

How about you? Have you got any of those crazy appliances-of-the-year?

14 comments:

Vee said...

So that thing really is for ebelskivers, which is just an interesting enough word to make me want to taste them. Have you ever?

There are a lot of stores where I can't work. L.L. Bean is one. I've lose out working there every single year that I've tried. It's ridiculous! I declined "the opportunity" this year.

As for whacky appliances...I do have a sandwich griller that works pretty well. I haul it out and take it on vacations when we're staying in motels, but can't afford three squares a day. :D

Have a happy day, Suzanne!

Vee said...

I've LOST out working there...

The old proofreading skills haven't kicked in yet.

Significant Snail said...

Love Williams-Sonoma...and that pecan pumpkin butter is sooooo tempting. I've used the leaf molds to cut lunch meat and cheese for open face finger sandwiches when it was my daughter's turn to bring a snack to school.

Anonymous said...

I have a mini muffin maker. It is just like one of those electric donut makers,but has little wells for the muffin mix and the lid has domed spots so the muffins can rise. It makes only 6 of the little things at a time. My daughter loves it, I personally think it is a waste of space and I'm glad I never paid full price for it. I found it at the thrift store for $1.91.

Lena . . . said...

Ever heard of an "egg-stractor"? I doubt that it was ever considered the "small appliance of the year" but it was one of those "as seen on TV" thingies. I've always had trouble peeling hard boiled eggs, and the guy on TV made this look so easy (as usual). So I fell for it, ordered it and suceeded in making egg mush every time I used it. Still have it sitting around here somewhere. I think I'll give it to someone I dislike (snicker).

Chris said...

My "tried once, didn't work" gadget is the plunger-style hardboiled egg peeler! The dog got an egg & shell breakfast...

I had Ebleskivers when we visited Amish country. They were delish, but I'd rather have a biscuit!

J'Ollie Primitives said...

let's see, there was the Pampered Chef baking stone...the Pampered Chef unidentifiable gadget...let's just say my mom was not safe at sales parties.
My only claim to shame at the moment is a virgin waffle maker. It may still be in the box.

Unknown said...

I have a waffle maker and a toasted sandwich mamker, that gets used on rare occassions .. like about twice a year, maybe.

I also have this box cutter things, that is supposed to cut up onions, chip potatoes and all that sort of stuff. More of a pain in the butt than anything else.

I've seen something resembling those Ebelskiver pans in op shops. They're usually in cast iron. Next one I see, I'm going to grab, now that I know what they're for!!

Mary said...

my 2 "turkeys" in the closet were a donut baker and an egg cooker.

Not sure why I got them and wonder who has them now. At least the egg cooker was at a garage sale.

Sabina said...

Thanks for the tip on pie cutters Suzanne!!

I'm really not big on gadgets in the kitchen -- I like to keep it simple, but they seem to find their way to my house anyhow. The lastest one was the George Foreman Sandwich Maker -- which made "one" really great sandwich.

Unknown said...

OK I SHOULD know what ebelskivers are..but i am clueless...

Thanks for stopping by & showing some bloggy love on my big SITS day!

life in red shoes said...

I am having a much easier time saying NO to new gadgets, no where to out them in this house. I used to buy all the newest contraptions, remember the one that would cook 1 hamburger patty? Just 1 in a series that collected dust. I have a friend whose family makes ebelskivers every New Years Eve, they call them Olie Bolies.

KatKit13 said...

No weird appliances here - just weird cake pans. LOL

And psst, after the holidays, that pumpkin pecan butter is half price. The ONLY way to shop at W-S. (big cheesy grin)

Daughter of the Midwest said...

More of a do-it-yourself appliance, but yes, an ice shaver. The other is a George Foreman Grill---the earlier version, that is a pain in the beehind to clean properly.