My New Best Friend
I confess: I am a kitchen gadget junkie.
Even without a permanent kitchen of my own, I have managed to collect quite an eclectic assortment of cuisine-related tools for someone who just turned 25. In fact, I was the first person I knew to have silicone cookware when it came out: Orka gloves, spatulas, brushes, madeleine pans, etc...
Silpats? Last count was 5.
Bundt cake pans with different designs? 3
Herb mill? Check.
Rotary cheese grater? Check.
Ricer? Check.
Cake decorating tools? A whole toolbox full.
Strawberry huller? Check.
Cookie press? 2
Nutmeg grater? Check, even though I don't have any whole nutmeg.
Ice cream sandwich maker? Check.
Large chef's knives? 3
Vegetable peelers? 3 (regular, Y-shaped, and serrated)
Mandolin? Check.
...and this is just what comes to mind. I'm sure there's more under my bed or in the closet back home. I'd always convince myself that I couldn't live without a gadget and that I would find a place for it somewhere.
In fact, only a week before coming to Paris, I bought the grand-daddy of them all: a 700-watt Kitchenaid 12-cup food processor. Lest you think I'm totally crazy, I bought it with gift cards I'd accumulated or worked toward at Sur La Table over the past two years. I also took advantage of their assistant discount, making my out-of-pocket cost less than $50. It was a now-or-never kind of thing, but I didn't need much persuading.
Fast forward to my apartment here. The kitchen is tiny and has equipment from the 1930's. There's no counter space, and the only appliances are a gas stove (with only 2 working burners) and a toaster. No microwave, no coffee pot, no tea kettle, nothing. When my roommate showed me how to turn on the oven, she had to find matches. A big poof of fire came out when she lit it, and I'm sure she singed some of her arm hairs off.
Initially, I decided that this kitchen would be adequate. The microwave I could live without. In fact, I feel like your quality of life, at least what you eat, is better if you don't rely on one. Hot water or coffee pot? Well, I don't make coffee at home and you can always boil water in a pot. Blender or food processor? A luxury but certainly not an everyday necessity. Rice cooker? Chinatown had some cheap ones, but I think cooking rice properly on the stove is a basic technique that everyone has to learn anyway. Maybe this whole back-to-the-basics thing would detox me from my junkie ways.
Then I realized that I couldn't reheat things properly at home, and the kitchen suddenly became downright frustrating. How would I reheat puff pastry or even a quiche? I experimented with double boilers and offsetting pans to get lower heat sources, but gave up after awhile.
The lack (or fear) of an oven was driving me crazy. At home, my toaster oven was a great alternative to the regular one. You could warm up virtually any leftovers properly without overcooking or drying the food out, and you could cook frozen foods in small portions when feeling lazy. Plus, it was the only way to reheat breads and pastries. To not have a toaster oven was killing me.
Until tonight. I found a guy through the classifieds and raced over to his studio after class. Left with a toaster oven in one hand, a printer in the other hand (don't ask me how I got suckered into that). Lugged my purchases through rush hour Metro traffic and built up some arm muscles on the way home.
My roommate wasn't too happy to see the toaster oven- she asked me where it would go and why the regular oven wasn't good enough. Normally I'm a very agreeable roommate, but in this case, I put my foot down. The toaster oven was staying and I'd find a place for it. No singed arm hairs for me.
My mind is racing with what I'll put in it for its inauguration. Go to Picard (the frozen Trader Joe's of Paris) for something frozen? A mini casserole of some kind? Bake some peaches and make dessert? Roast some potatoes? Suggestions gladly taken.
The possibilities are endless. It's the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
Bon appétit!
Hi!
I love reading your entry. I will be starting LCB Term 2 in 2008 and I was wondering how you found your housing! I'm having a difficult time locating an apt in Paris! Let me know, please! :O)
Posted by: Sarah | October 25, 2007 at 05:05 PM
I feel the same way about reheating foods. I'm constantly having leftovers whether it's from a dinner party or a meal out. A toaster oven is the best way to do this. A microwave makes everything all mushy and also completely changes what the food is supposed to taste like. Glad I'm not the only crazy one out there!
Posted by: Jamie | July 23, 2008 at 01:05 PM