I love kitchen gadgets. I can spend a lot of time in kitchen gadget stores, looking at all of the tools that promise to make me a better cook. Unfortunately, I often buy kitchen gadgets, too, even though since Covid, I don’t cook all that much.

At one time, when I was cooking several times a week, I searched for the perfect garlic press. I bought several different variations of this tool—only to find that the old-fashioned garlic press still did the best job. So now I have at least three garlic presses that take up space in my kitchen utensil drawer.

One of my other treasures is a tool that is meant for pulling hot oven racks out without burning yourself. It’s shaped like a Devil’s head and has a handle. Now ask me how many times I’ve used it! I never think of it until after I’ve burned my hand removing something from the oven!

Another recent acquisition is a pretty, red, folding funnel. The feature that sold me on this funnel is the fact that it folds! How handy! Now it won’t take up more space than it deserves in my already crowded utensil drawer. Whew!

The truth is that I could probably throw away 90% of the kitchen gadgets that I own and never miss them. After all, toasting an English muffin doesn’t call for many gadgets. Actually, I even have the correct gadgets for when I do toast an English muffin. I bought them many years ago on a trip to Maine. We stopped at a store, the Maine State Prison Showroom in Thomaston, that was run by the State Penal System where the merchandise was made by inmates. Inmates even worked in the store, although I’m sure there was an ample law-enforcement presence, too. One of the gadgets is a small fork with tines that works well for splitting an English muffin and the other one is a wooden tong that is invaluable when removing toasted bread from the toaster.

When my friend Susan and I go to Vero Beach, one of our favorite things to do is to shop—at least it’s her favorite thing to do. I enjoy it because we shop at upscale boutiques. One of my favorite stops is ( you guessed it) a store called Consider the Cook, I always manage to find something to buy. Sometimes it’s fancy napkins,  fancy soaps or a special slotted spoon for poaching eggs. In fact, that’s the store where I bought all of my garlic presses!

This fascination with kitchen equipment stores goes way back to when I was young and single and would go for weekends with friends to Toronto. We loved to go to Eaton’s Department store where they had a wonderful kitchen gadget section. I don’t remember what I bought—but that was the beginning of my kitchen store addiction. 

So, if you ever need a ladle, slotted spoon, garlic press, folding funnel, or spatula, you know who to call!