It must be by some prescient force of Russian magic that Sergei Maliutin and Vasiliy Zvezdochkin created Russian nesting dolls. How else would they have been able to know that over 100 years later, the toy would be discovered to be an actual tool? Whether you call them nesting dolls or matrioshka, matryoshka, babushka dolls, or stacking dolls, the fact remains: they accurately act as measuring cups.
Okay, so well, you need the M-Cups from Fred & Friends
Lately I’ve had potatoes on the brain. A recent trip to Barney Greengrass led to some delicious latkes (which always has a ripple effect), while in San Francisco I just discovered a recipe book that called for potato pancakes to be made with Swiss and cream cheese. Sacrilege? Maybe. But delicious too. The amazing potato goes well in so many recipes; you can’t really go wrong. So in honor of this potato obsession, today I find it necessary to show off a potato-related kitchen gadget. Since we are talking about the Old Country (take your pick), it seemed appropriate for a Retrosink post. Hence we have the Mouli Parsmint “Creation Moulin-Lecumes†grater.
Continue reading Retrosink: Potato pancakes with an old-timey grater
If only all kitchen tools were this easy to use. You look at it and you know what it is used for: anything it wants. The Homo Sapiens Caveman Kitchen Tool is a throwback to the earliest days of cooking. While I doubt too many cavemen were concerned with grating garlic or ginger (as this sandstone tool is capable of), the simple effectiveness of a heavy object as a useful cooking implement cannot be denied (nor will it).
Useful for tenderizing meat or grinding herbs into a paste, the tool also features a flat edge for sharpening knives. Unlike the cooking tools of the far past, this one has one additional benefit that eluded our caveman ancestors: it is dishwasher safe.
It looks like a pasta tree, but since pasta doesn’t grow on trees, it must be something else. Oh. It’s a rack. For drying pasta. Eh, still looks like a pasta tree to me. But if you insist, we can call it by its real name: Wooden Pasta Drying Rack. It also looks like an old telephone pole, but a Pasta Telephone Pole would just be ridiculous now, wouldn’t it? TGIF.
Sure, you could do as the old saying suggests and make lemonade, but why stop there? Lemon wedges are totally the way to go. Besides being convenient and versatile, they have the added benefit of being a delicious ingredient in many an adult beverage. Save the lemonade for the kiddies, and give life a kick right back in the pucker.
Easily slice and divide lemons and other citrus fruit into uniform slices with the Citrus Wedger from Williams-Sonoma. Accommodating fruits up to 2.75-inches in diameter, the kitchen gadget creates six wedges with one simple motion. No matter how many lemons you may have hanging around, a handy device such as this makes prepping them that much easier.
UPDATE 6/30/12: The link from Williams-Sonoma no longer works, so check out the Norpro Lemon Lime Slicer
Trying to catch a zombie? You’ll need some bait. That is unless you wish to put your own braaaaaains at risk. While Brain Salt and Pepper Shakers might not contain all the smarty goodness that zombies crave, the discerning zombie will surely seek out a way to season their victim’s braaaaaains. When not attracting zombies, the two hemispheres hold together via a magnet and supply your dining table with good ol’ salt and pepper. Meanwhile, when you want to take a break from your zombie hunting, check out this Crawling Zombie Torso Gelatin Mold after the jump.
