Some of my Favorite Things (3)

There's one cooking appliance in my house the whole family actually uses. It's The Griddler by Cusinart. Even my husband uses this, probably even more than he uses the toaster! It's handy and is actually a permanent fixture on my counter. It can be used as a grill, griddle or panini press.

When I orgiinally got it, I wanted to used as a panini press. I even bought cookbooks for panini and everything. It's now mostly used to grill meat. Burgers are my husband's favorite. It cooks them fast because you can cook both sides at the same time. I have used it for pancakes and french toast - 8 slices at one time! It's great for chicken breasts. I marinate them in a bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, garlic and oregano and in less than 15 minutes you can grill up great chicken no matter what the weather!

It comes with two different grilling plates, one flat and the other with raised ridges to give a nice grill line look to the food. It opens up flat - to give you lots of cooking surface. It has a no stick finish and washes up in the dishwasher! What more can you ask for!

Some of my Favorite Things (2)

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One of the most often used cooking pots in my house is my "Le Crueuset" pot. The Le Crueset company calls it a "French Oven". It comes in a variety of colors, mine is blue. My girls refer to it as the 'big blue pot". It weighs more than any turkey I've ever made, but it is the greatest pot around. I use it regularly on the stovetop for soups and sauces. It's also great as a casserole dish or a roaster.

I like it as a roaster because you can braise the meat in it, then put it in the oven directly. If you make gravy, you can take it out of the oven and put it back on the stovetop and all the little bits from the braising are still there, making your gravy especially flavorful. One less pot to clean at the end of the evening - just what I like!

If you shop at Winner's or Home Sense, you can sometimes find them at great prices. I bought mine at Canadian Tire. I got an incredible deal on it a few years back and I'm now sorry I didn't buy two! They are a little costly, but the amount of use you get from it will make the investment worthwhile. This is definitely a pot that will last a lifetime. Not only that, every time you use it, it's like a weight training work out!

Some of My Favorite Things

Part One

I figure if Oprah does it, so can I! One of my favorite things in my kitchen right now is my Keurig Coffee Brewer. If you have never heard of this, I'll explain it to you.
It brews a single cup of coffee in about 90 seconds. The coffee comes in a K-Cup, which actually looks like an extra large creamer. You place the K-Cup in the machine, it heats the water to 192F in about 45 seconds, then it forces the hot water through the K-Cup and out into your cup.

There all kinds of coffees and teas available. I like regular coffee, like Sumatra or Moka Java. But if you like flavored coffees, they have those too. There is different varieties of tea available, as well as hot chocolate.

My girls bought the brewer for me this past Christmas. I think they wanted me to have it because I drove them crazy obsessing about it. It is one of the few kitchen appliances that my husband uses regularly.