Show your team spirit with this sandwich press that presses the team logo onto waffles or bread. Choose from Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees.

Get Organized In Your Kitchen

You’re busy…I’m busy. Who has the “real” time to spend all day in the kitchen? I love to cook for my family and love knowing they are getting a wholesome meal but I do like to have time for other things. I try and make it easy on myself by making my kitchen easy for me to use. I’ve re-created my kitchen counters, cupboards and pantry a few times until I found the best way for the kitchen to work for me. These simple tricks, help me get in and out of the kitchen fast. You can too by using these simple shortcuts to a well organized kitchen.

Keep It Simple!!

• Pots and Pans: If you can, hang your skillets and saucepans on the wall or hanging hooks within easy reach. If you can’t hang the lids, put them in a drawer or stand them in a wire dish strainer in an under-the-counter cupboard.
• Appliances: Leave often-used appliances like a blender, food processor, mixer or kitchen timer on the counter. Store those less frequently used appliances out of sight but always within easy reach.
• Kitchen Utensils: I use a decorative jar near the stove  to hold my wooden spoons, and a kitchen tool turn about to hold my spatulas, whisks, ladel, tongs, and long-handled cooking spoons. Makes it much easier when you need those utensils quickly.
• Shopping List: Always have a shopping list nearby in the kitchen so you can add those grocery items you need. After you use the last of an item, jot it down on the shopping list so you don’t forget you need it. The refrigerator is a great place to attach a magnetic shopping list.
• Pot Holders: Hang them some place next to stove and the microwave. When you need them, you need them fast!
• Pantry Items: Keep your pantry stocked with plenty of staples. I find it easier to group similar items together, rotating the older ones to the front so I can easily see what I have on hand.

Take Inventory!

Take a look at your cupboards and kitchen drawers. Are there pots and pans, utensils, and other appliances that never get used? Get rid of them! I know it’s hard to do believe me but you’ll be happy you did. Keep only items that will help you save time and energy in the kitchen. Save up for quality appliances. Here are a few of my favorite kitchen helpers!

I use my kitchen scissors to snip fresh herbs, chop tomatoes in a can and trim the skin and fat from chicken or meat. They even cut the chicken bone perfectly!

Use your microwave oven to thaw frozen foods quickly and take shortcuts for easy jobs like softening or melting butter.

I absolutely love my garlic press! It’s a great handy tool for more than just garlic. You can even squeeze through a piece of onion through it when you only need a little grated onion.

Those are just a few of my shortcuts to keeping my kitchen organized. What kitchen shortcuts do you use and love?

 Since organizing the pantry, my kitchen for the most part has stayed clean. I’ve been able to manage dishes, cleaning, putting things away and waking up to a organized clean kitchen. I’ve basically given my pantry a ”spring cleaning” which has made my kitchen much easier to work in. Every once in a while, it’s good to change things up a bit, so I’m trying a few new things.  

My kitchen pantry cabinets are high and I have one log cabinet which now stores my kitchen broom, canned goods, extra stock on juices and I now organize the pantry in categories. I have a section for canned goods, pasta sauces, teas, condiments and sauces, a baking section, spices and a space for extra items. I’ll invest in something to display the spices a little better when I find the right organizer for them.

A few years ago, the hubby brought me home a small butcher block cart which allows me to store my most used cooking utensils, knives and stoneware. I went through my lower cabinets that store pots and pans, storage containers, mixing bowls and prep bowls and gave them a cleaning.

If you want your pantry and cabinets organized, it’s a great idea and go through and pull out everything you don’t use. Items that you don’t use often should be moved to a higher shelf. Items that you use frequently should be moved to the lower shelf for easy access.  If lids are missing on your storage containers, toss them. They are just taking up space. Invest in the snap locks lid storage containers. I find these to be very useful when storing foods and I can stack them neatly on the shelf with the lids snapped on so they never get lost.

My next task will be:

• Going through dishes, cups and stemware and getting rid of the ones that don’t match. This will open up space to where it doesn’t look cluttered.
• I also got a head start on cleaning the refrigerator getting ready for the upcoming grocery shopping trip.

Have any tips on keeping the pantry organized? Please feel free to share in the comment section below.

Happy Friday Everyone! Today’s Kitchen Tip Friday’s post is from Michael Samsel, co-founder of Stylish Home. Michael shares his tips for selecting the best cutlery for your kitchen and one of my favorite kitchen tools–The Chef’s Knife. Every kitchen must have good quality knives.

Enjoy today’s post!

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When you love to shop for kitchen gadgets, there’s no better mission than selecting new kitchen knives. Oh, the money you can spend, the attention – the trophy nature of the whole thing. But can’t the inexpensive “Chef’s Knife” found on sale, online do just the same thing… for a fraction of the price? Well, let’s discuss just that.

A Knife for Every Budget

The price variation from the most expensive of chef knives to a more common economical one is truly astounding. Take for example the Zwilling J.A. Henckels Damascus Chef Knife. With a suggested retail price of $1,400 and sale priced at $999, I didn’t think I need look much further to know this is the “best of class” comparable. The J.A. Henckels International Forged 8” Synergy Chef Knife, on the other hand, can be found on sale for $31. While there are cheaper knives, you would think the Henckels brand would be judicious in determining minimum quality… thus our point of reference. The difference here is 3,200%! This very expensive knife costs 32 times that of the same brand’s more modest version. If you were buying a car, this would definitely be the Ferrari – and even then, their top-of-the-line model.

Damascus Steel

But first, what on earth is a Damascus chef knife? Well, it so happens Damascus steel is the secret sauce of knife blades going back to the middle ages. It was alleged to be the strongest, sharpest, most shatterproof, and most resilient blade known to man – the stuff of legend. And they are still trying to discern what processes and minerals were combined to make it. The actual method is said to be lost, but a process called crucible forging is said to mimic it and this is what Henckels Damascus Knife is all about. And, I will take them at their word that this is a truly great knife.

Like the Damascus knife, the Synergy knife is a “full tang” knife meaning it is entirely constructed from a single piece of steel all the way through the handle. Looking at the full range of stainless steel qualities, it is not generally preferred because its softer versions while offering more overall strength will not hold an edge. And the harder versions will better hold an edge but can be weak overall and prone to shattering or chipping.

Tried and True High Carbon Steel

A high carbon steel blade is the most commonly used blade type by professionals as it holds an edge and is strong.  A good one will be in the $100 price range.  But unlike the mystery of Damascus steel, don’t look for them to cut gun barrels in two, or split a hair!

For Value, Buy a Set

Often times your best value comes in the form of a knife set.  Your cost per knife can go down significantly, and if you direct your attention to the chef knife, taking cues from this discussion, the chances are the entire set will be of suitable and comparable quality.

Michael Samsel is a writer on the subjects of home design and green home practices.  A co-founder of StylishHome.com, its “good design” mission emphasizes individual design personality, the eclectic and hand-made, and a commitment to green home pursuits.

I was reading an article in the Food & Wine magazine that stated most chefs you ask find the melon baller to be one of the usless cooking gadgets they have in their kitchens and that you’re likely to hear more than a few unkind words about the humble melon baller. Ok, so maybe it’s not so versatile as a chef’s knife. But I’d like to give recognition to what I agree to and love the melon baller for.

• Stripping seeds from cucumbers and zucchini.
• Making tiny, elegant scoops of ice cream or sherbert.
• Neatly coring halved apples and pears.
• Scooping out the seeds from cherry tomatoes in order to stuff them.
• Scooping out halved raw russett potatoes for stuffing.
• Scooping out capers from jars.

Personally, I don’t think I have a kitchen gadget in my kitchen that I find useless. I’m always learning a new trick or two on ways to use my kitchen tools and gadgets.

How about you? Do you have a kitchen gadget you find you don’t use as often as you’d like? If so, what are they?