Category Archives: Equipment

My Christmas list is full of food items, so it’s no surprise that I got quite a few food gifts. These included:
-A 11-cup Cuisinart Food Processor. I’ve wanted one for a long, long time (a decade even), so I was quite happy to get it. Of course, I knew it was coming – I’d asked Mike to not get it given our financial situation, but he said he’d done all the research and was committed to buying it. Well, I can’t really complain. As soon as I have the house clean and ready – and all the dishes done – I’m going to use it. Come to think of it, my friend Paz is having us over to her house for a cooking lesson at the end of the week. I may just make some stuffed kibbeh to bring anyway.
–Balsamic Vinegar. It was the 12-year-old kind and I can’t believe just how wonderful it is. Beautiful, delicious, with the strongest imaginable flavor. I can only imagine what older and more expensive vinegar can taste like. But this, really, is good enough for me. Now I need to figure out how I will consume it, other than in drops directly from the bottle.
–Metal measuring cups and spoons. Last year, when I went to Argentina, I saw my aunts cups and measuring spoons and almost started crying. I could remember perfectly using them and having my grandma use them so many years in the past. Just by looking at them, I could think of my granny. So I wanted to have my own measuring cups and spoons that one day I could give to my children and to my grandchildren. So, of course, I wanted the quality stuff. I must have wanted it really hard, because I got three sets of them. One from my mother, another from Mike, and another from my friends Regina and Boris. I couldn’t be happier, though clearly I can’t keep them all. I’ll probably return the one Mike got me and get something else at Sur la Table instead. So much to chose from 🙂
–Food storage containers. The Sharper Image version of Tupperware. My mother swears by them. I’m somewhat suspicious of the drawings on the cover (which have grapes going rancid after a week in the fridge in the “other” containers – which definitely does not happen to me), and I’m not sure if I need them, but I probably can put them to use. I should actually transfer the leftovers to them.
-Cookies and candies from our friends Aamani, Victoria and Carla and Astrid.
That’s all I can remember now.

I saw these little bowls in the window of a Japanese restaurant on East 14th and I fell in love with them. Fortunately they were for sale ($17 for the set). They are made in Japan and they’re sooo cute. Now I need to figure out what to serve on them. I figure I’ll debut them at my salon in a couple of weeks. I’m planning to serve just wine and cheese, what can I put in the bowls? Some olives? Some almonds? They’re pretty small, bear in mind.

I just bought a new ice cream maker, a Cuisinart ICE-20 on sale at Amazon for $50. It had gotten mixed reviews, many people were complaining that the ice cream didn’t really get too thick and was more like soft-serve. But most of them liked it and the complaints seemed generalized to all ice cream makers.
It arrived last night and I quickly put the bowl in the freezer and couldn’t wait to make ice cream. I made some today following the most simple recipe from its manual, and so far so good. The ice cream (cookies n’cream) was soft but firmer than I expected it to be. It’s now firming up in the fridge. It tasted very much like Dreyer’s. I bet Mika will be happy to have some when she gets home.
I’m already re-freezing the bowl to make some more tomorrow, I’m thinking of strawberry sorbet!