I love kitchen gadgets and things designed to make food prep and cooking easier. I gathered many fine products in my younger years and have shared the good ones on this blog. Still, after all these years I can manage to find some new toys to play with. A kitchen store is good; a restaurant supply store is even better!
I feel like a kid in a candy store when I'm allowed in the professional restaurant supply place. I'm not scamming - it's open to the public. I always try to find items the pros use, whether it be window cleaning tools, beauty supplies, or cooking gear. On this visit I drooled over the fancy coffee makers, the industrial toasters, the restaurant fridges and stoves, and the humongous buffet salad bowls. I resisted those things that were $1,000s of dollars or too big to get through the front door, but did come home with a few new items.
The first were some professional bakery cookie sheets. These bad boys are as big as my oven racks and I can get a whole batch of cookies baked at once. They are lovely and heavy, have a great edge on them, clean up like a breeze, and the cookies glide right off. I had a little trouble fitting them into the sink but was able to wash them without too much water all over me.
Next, I picked up a busboy bin to help clear dishes off the table in one pass. With everyone home for the summer, and thoughts of Christmas holiday meals for 20, I get tired of the back and forth trip to the dining room table. With this large pro series Rubbermaid bin I can pile the dirty dishes in and transport them to the kitchen. I can store it under the sink when it's just hubby and me at the dinner table.
Lastly, I threw in a box of food-grade disposable gloves. I already use disposable gloves but they are from the hardware store and I was never sure if they were acceptable for touching food or not. I always just washed them first. These ones are for restaurant food handling so I know they are safe. I don't like touching raw meat (e.g. when mixing meatloaf) so these gloves make the task much more agreeable.
I always believe you should have the right tool for the job so finding an outlet for professional quality tools is just smart. Often, they are less expensive and better quality than you would find at a big box store and are designed properly to speed up the task at hand and get the job done right.
I just watched your you tube on the grace quilting frame. I purchased a used one, in very good condition. My problem was getting one of the domestic machines to work with it, so I purchased a Brother 1500. My frame had a stitch regulator attached, of course not the right one for my machine. I finally have all the correct parts installed for my machine and will be taking my maiden voyage this coming weekend. Thanks for the video I feel a lot more comfortable using it now. Mary
Posted by: Mary Blanton | July 24, 2014 at 11:28 PM