Foodie Friday: Some of my favorite Non Edible things…

So, as I expected after my big bake-a-thon last week, I didn’t cook much this week. I did make some lavender shortbread cookies for mom, as well as another batch of salted caramel.  But since I didn’t take any photos of anything I did manage to make this week, I thought I would share some of my favorite tools of the trade.

First up just about everything from King Arthur Flour Company I find to be pretty darn cool.  It is a wonderful American company that produces all kinds of tools and products to help a home baker out.  I have to be very careful when I read the new catalogs that come in the mail, or I will find myself

My number #1 KA product:  All Purpose Flour & Bread Flour

Some would say they can’t tell a difference between KA flour and their staple, but I can totally tell.  KA flour has a slightly off white color, and is lighter in texture.  But it’s not only the quality of flour that causes me to pay the extra for it, but also the company behind it and what they stand for. But moving on… another item I purchased from KA was a dough rising bucket

One of my best purchases… I LOVE IT.  No more messing with bowls and plastic wrap.  I just spray this with non stick spray and throw my dough in it and place it in a sunny spot.  The plastic lid creates a nice seal that allows the air inside to get nice and warm to encourage a good rise, and the measurements on the side make determining when the dough has “doubled” much easier.

Another similar product I bought from them is my flour container.

I looked and looked in stores for a plastic container that could hold 10lbs of flour but never found one I liked.  So I went with trusty KA and never looked back.

And to help out with the lighter breads or thicker cookie batters I bought this spiffy whisk

I bet most of you have never seen one of these.  It’s called a Dough Whisk, and I have used it for everything from the Cheese Bread you have seen to oatmeal PB cookies.  It works well for the smaller batches of dough that are too small for my mixer to grab hold of.  So I usually will start with the whisk then move to kneading by hand.

Speaking of mixers, this one started it all.

Where most have a KitchenAid I grew up with a Bosch and it served my mother fantastically for 25+ years. Through numerous batches of bread, pizza dough, cookies you name it this mixer can do it.  I would like to have a couple more attachments but the power it has can’t be beat.  It lacks a little in the small batch handling capabilities but that just forces me to get my hands dirty and put some muscle of my own into it, and I’m okay with that.

Another favorite gadget is the Calphalon Silicon Spatula set  I picked up at Bed Bath & Beyond

They look something like that.  I bought a set of two, a small and a large.  I allowed myself this splurge after breaking 2 regular wooden handled ones.  If I can help it I won’t go back. The tops of these are removable to make sure you can clean all the cookie dough off, and they have not broken yet.  Try as I might they are holding on strong. A very practical splurge IMO.

So there you have it, some of my favorite kitchen things.  There are many others, and will continue to be when I have more places to put them 😉  I tried to link to some of these products but WordPress was being glitchy about it again.  Let me know if you have any questions about any of this, I am more than happy to share what little I know.

I don’t know how much I will be baking after these caramels as I seriously need to start an operation slim down before summer is fully here.  If someone would like to be on call to stop by and take away some of the things I bake do let me know.  Until then I think I should stick to sewing and crafts

Have a wonderful weekend

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