What's your favorite kitchen/garden gadget?

Does anyone have any handy gadgets you use in the kitchen/garden?

I use the handy gadget below.  It goes by several names (Slice-Pro, Clever Cleaver, Clever Cutter).  It's a thin, sharp knife blade on top & a small cutting board on the bottom and you use it like a pair of scissors.  It's ESPECIALLY good for slicing carrots.

BUT I also use it to chop up things for the compost pile.  It's GREAT at cutting melon rinds!

LOL Amazon.com has one for sale for $177 which I truly believe is an error.  I got mine YEARS ago at JC Penney for around $15.  If it IS that valuable, I'll be glad to sell mine for the bargain price of $150.  

I'd love to hear if anyone else has handy gadgets or if you use an everyday item in an unusual way for your kitchen or garden.



Thanks,
Kim

Our handy item really isn't a gadget at all but a multi-purpose tool. It's an old garden spade handle. It has a pointed end which is perfect for making planting holes in MM so I can drop larger seeds while standing, and then cover them up without having to bend over.

My husband turned it on its side and with a marker he marked off one foot sections to use as a guide for measuring grids on the boxes and beds. He marked one section off into inches to use as a planting guide for each grid.

It is sturdy enough that I can use it to push over-reaching vine crops back to their places, and I've used it to push Juicy Fruit gum rolls down into vole holes.

It serves as a walking stick on those days when I'm a little "weebly", and it also keeps rambunctious pups at bay.

If my husband ever needs a new spade handle, it can always return to the purpose for which it was created.

My favorite toy is my knife. It is a 10" Victorinox chef's knife and while under $30, its reviews on Cook's Illustrated compare it easily to knives costing hundreds of dollars. I loooooove it!!!

http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-47521-10-Inch-Fibrox-Handle/dp/B0000CF8YO

Second favorite is my bench blade. Third, the veggie peeler which loops over my finger so I don't have to grasp a handle.

After that, hard to say. Garden, I think my favorite so far (and best buy) was my irrigation system. I got the basic setup going for under $50. Kitchen, my lid-lifter is very handy. Basically it's a magnet on a plastic stem, used for fishing canning lids out of hot water. It came as part of a kit and cheap as it was, I'm sure I paid far more than needed, but it's so handy I have no complaints.

Love the ideas. Keep 'em coming.

Kim

I bought myself one of these last year: rolling gardening seat. I really love it. I've got bad knees so I can't really kneel on the ground. I don't really have a bad back but bending to plant does make it sore. The seat is the perfect height to sit & plant in the SFG.

This is a great garden kneeler/stool that I got a couple years ago for $18.99. I bought two and use them all the time.

http://www.amazon.com/Step-2-5A0100-Garden-Kneeler/dp/B00004W431/ref=sr_1_6?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1287674031&sr=1-6

Speaking of gadgets, does anyone know of a source for the wire cage you use to blanch large #'s of tomatoes all at once? I've seen pictures of them in the Ball Book but they don't seem to sell them.

@Megan wrote:Speaking of gadgets, does anyone know of a source for the wire cage you use to blanch large #'s of tomatoes all at once? I've seen pictures of them in the Ball Book but they don't seem to sell them.

tee-hee .... If it's metal, I can find it ...LOL

Blanching basket 1


Blanching Basket 2


Blanching Basket 3

Ah hah! Thank you. That last one was EXACTLY what I was looking for!

Hmm... but they seem to be sold out! Cry.

SWIM GOGGLES!!!!!! Yes I am shouting with joy! It is the only way I can cut onions thanks to severe eye allergies. I have tried every trick in the book for cutting onions and nothing worked. Thankfully I have three kids in swim team so there are always plenty of goggles handy!

@Megan wrote:Ah hah! Thank you. That last one was EXACTLY what I was looking for!

Hmm... but they seem to be sold out! Cry.

Too bad they are out of them. Can you make do with a basket from a deep fryer? That is what I use

GK

WOW. I could have used the rolling garden cart today. I was helping our church for a Make A Difference Day (M.A.D.D.) project. Each year we do an "Extreme Makeover" on a teachers' lounge in a school in our area.

Today I was painting and I really would have loved to "scoot" around the room on the cart instead of crawling on the floor.

@Old Hippie wrote:

@Megan wrote:Ah hah! Thank you. That last one was EXACTLY what I was looking for!

Hmm... but they seem to be sold out! Cry.

Too bad they are out of them. Can you make do with a basket from a deep fryer? That is what I use

GK

I would... if I had a deep fryer. In the past I've used a spider... guess I will be using it again. Maybe I'll splurge and buy a big one; the one I have now is only big enough for one tomato at a time.

Try 2nd hand stores or thrift stores in their household depts. It is amazing the stuff you can find in there. We have a couple of stores like that here the very often have a good collection of kitchen stuff for very cheap and you can always advertise on Freecycle if you have one in your area.

GK

I'll look, thanks GK.

Megan, I use a large flat skimming ladle to scoop out the veggies when they are done blanching.

That's what a spider is, more or less. Mine is relatively small, but they are made larger, too. I think I'll just put up with what I've got, as I don't have a lot of storage space for additional stuff. Thanks so much to everyone for ideas!

For under the cooking kettle a heat diffuser.

Whilst processing my first batch of

I sort of ended up with

Then for my second batch I got smart and used


and then I was sort of

+1

LOVED IT camprn. I only have 2 questions . . .

1. Picture #3 wasn't a proctology appointment was it? Mixing hot peppers and . . . well you know.

2. Is it a burden being that gorgeous peaceful person in the last photo?

ksroman wrote:LOVED IT camprn. I only have 2 questions . . .

1. Picture #3 wasn't a proctology appointment was it? Mixing hot peppers and . . . well you know.

My first guess was Rocky Horror Picture Show exerpt ...

I am putting the Mason Bee and bat house on my short list. http://www.etsy.com/shop/andrewsreclaimed

That bat house has a wire landing pad area. This is not recommended by most bat rehabbers. Most recommend grooves cut into the wood or plastic or fiberglass mesh/screen, not wire. The wire can cause frost injury in the cold and heat injury in the summer.

There are good boxes and plans available here:

http://www.batworld.org/bcs/bat_houses.html

Amanda Lollar is considered one of the world experts on rehabbing bats and has written a book just on rehab of bats (as well as other books - info on the website). She is also one of the nicest people I've ever met and you will NOT find a more dedicated individual anywhere. JMHO

Thanks for the good info. I will check out the link!