Howdy sweet friends-o-mine!! Thanks for stopping by for this month’s Where Bloggers Live 07.2023: My Favorite Kitchen Gadget. This month finds us sharing one (or 3) kitchen gadgets we can’t live without. I am sharing my veggie chopper-upper, my egg cooker-upper and my beloved crockpot. Check them out!!
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Where Bloggers Live
Before we get underway, allow me to share where from where the ideas come for this colorful series. Each month our fearless leader Bettye comes up with a prompt for the gang to respond to. This has been one of my favorite series in which to participate and I hope to continue to join these fun-loving ladies for more thoughtful posts in the months to come.
If you missed last month’s post, you might check it out. We took a peek our collections and collectibles. You know, those precious treasures we have picked up along life’s journey. I shared my ❤️(he)art❤️ collections.
In May, we shared a peek into our medicine cabinets. When PC and I had our house built, we realized that medicine cabinets were MIA – missing in action. Or maybe MFB – missing from blueprints. Wherever would we store all of our DRUGS?? Find out here. Then in April, we shared a day in my life, weekend edition. Before that, our favorite website. BTW, mine is PINTEREST…are we friends on Pinterest yet? I just love it!!
Where Bloggers Live 07.2023
I know you will find this hard to believe, but for a hot minute I had the prompt for this post and next week’s Let’s Talk About… post mixed up. Crazy me. Was thinking today’s post was going to be about travel. And since I have not traveled anywhere in quite a while, I had no idea what I was going to write. Alas, it’s not about travel but about a favorite kitchen gadget. That I can do. And now I have a week to travel somewhere and write a post about it for this month’s Let’s Talk About. Whew!!
My Favorite Kitchen Gadgets
Ever the Type A personality, I couldn’t limit my post to just 1 kitchen gadget. Nope. I am here to share 3…count ’em, 3 handy dandy kitchen gadgets. Let’s not waste another moment and jump right in here. Just know you are going to want to order some of these little cuties for your kitchen, too.
The Vegetable Chopper-upper
This device has not only saved me a lot of time but has probably saved me from losing several fingers. I am about as dangerous with a knife as I am with a car. But my BFF Sharon knew the peril my fingers were facing and came to the rescue when she gifted me my first vegetable chopper-upper. Since then I have gifted one to both daughters and I am proud to report that we are all 3 still in possession of our choppers and all of our fingers, as well.
The chopper-upper I have is no longer available. But it looks like it has been replaced by this new and improved model. For $10 more than the original model cost, this newfangled beauty doesn’t stop at just chopping. It comes with 4 interchangeable blades and can “effortlessly julienne, chop and slice vegetables…(the) built-in chop lid lets you cut foods directly into the 1.2 liter collection tray without the mess of a knife and cutting board. Storage container lets you hold prepared vegetables in the Fullstar Vegetable Cutter until you are ready to begin cooking.” [source]
Look how quick and easy it is to use. Sure, I might not pull it out to cut a slice of cheese. But it is a whiz for chopping vegetables for soup, stir-fry, salads. For demonstration purposes - doesn’t that sound fancy?? - I am chopping up a wedge of gruyere cheese for a lunchtime salad.
Those little metal grid blades are sharp. So, the chopper comes with a comb to use to clean the blades and detachable plastic lid.
I haven’t tried washing my chopper in the dishwasher, but this new model specifically says it is dishwasher safe on the top shelf. This gadget is truly genius. The chopper is $29.99 but comes with a $5 off coupon on Amazon. If you are interested in purchasing, please consider using my affiliate link to do so. Click here!!
The Egg Cooker-upper
PC and I both like to eat boiled eggs on salads or with salt and pepper for snacks. But when I would boil them in a pan of water, I could never be sure the eggs were completely hard boiled. And this girl does not do runny yolks. No, ma’am. My friend Priscilla introduced me to the Dash Rapid Egg Cooker and my life was forever changed.
The Dash has a 6-egg capacity, allowing top chefs like me to “cook up to 6 eggs in soft, medium, or hard-boiled firmness, while saving time and water. Eggs come out consistently perfect with shell easy to peel, and clean-up is snap…This is the PERFECT appliance…(for preparing) hard boiled eggs, soft boiled eggs, poached eggs, scrambled eggs, individual omelets, and all within minutes of the push start button - it couldn’t be easier.” [source]
Wish they had had this adorable red model when I bought mine. Almost all of my small kitchen appliances are red. Strangely enough though, my 3 favorite gadgets aren’t!
Here’s how quick it is to use. First step, prick the end of each egg with the provided device.
Place each egg into the cooker with the pricked side up. Add water according to how well boiled you prefer your egg using the provided measuring container.
Seal the top, push the button to begin heating the water in the cooker. The cooker will ding when the eggs are finished, and the unit will shut off automatically.
When my eggs were finished today, I turned my vegetable chopper-upper into an egg chopper-upper to add to my salad for lunch.
Voilà!! Lunch is served.
If you are not familiar with Skinnygirl salad dressings, please consider giving them a try. They are available in 8 different varieties. And are zero Weight Watcher points for a 2-tablespoon serving. Delish!!
You can have an egg cooker-upper delivered straight to your doorstep by purchasing with my affiliate link, here.
My Crockpot
This is my all-time favorite kitchen gadget. If the house was on fire and PC and the kitties were safe, the next things I would try to save would be my scrapbooks and my crockpot. I love it.
You probably have a beloved crockpot, too, so I don’t need to sing this appliance’s praises to you. No doubt you already know how wonderful a crockpot can be. Neither of my girls use theirs like I do mine but I am working on that. Above I mentioned the Where Bloggers Live post I wrote about my Pinterest boards. I have created a special section on my Cooking, Cuisine and Calories board dedicated solely to crockpot recipes. Check it out, here. Many of the recipes I have shared with you on my blog have been crockpot recipes. My Salisbury steak, a son-in-law fave. And my pulled-pork chili, a PC favorite. My mouth is watering.
The only way my veggie chopper, egg cooker and crockpot could be better would be if they were RED!! I wouldn’t have to hide them away in the cabinets then.
Your Turn
Do you have a favorite go-to kitchen gadget? Have you used a veggie chopper-upper or an egg cooker-upper before? Or do you prefer the old-fashioned method of chopping and boiling…risking life and limb in doing so. Do you have and use your crockpot regularly? If so, what’s your favorite crockpot recipe? I haven’t done a recipe swap and blog hop post in a long time. Maybe I should think about putting one together soon with favorite summer veggie-chopping, egg-boiling, crockpot-cooking recipes.
Hope you will join me in stopping by to discover the kitchen gadgets that make my Where Bloggers Live girlfriends’ smile. Shall we all pop in on their blogs together?
Bettye at Fashion Schlub
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Em at Dust and Doghair
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Sally at Within a World of My Own
Leslie at Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After
There’s 1 last gadget I have to share real quick. The corn cob holders. I use mine in a number of ways. One favorite is as a tiny screwdriver. But in the video below you will see how I used them to cut corn off the cob for my daughters when they wore braces. I truly did this for years until it occurred to me (or perhaps someone pointed out) that it would be easier to cut the corn off without the bottom holder attached to the cob.
HAHAHA! Sad but true.
PC and I are enjoying his Friday off with a massage and lunch out in celebration of our 15th wedding anniversary. Looking forward to a delightful, stress-free day. What are you up to today and this weekend? Wherever life takes you, I hope there is some fun and relaxation built in.
Thank you for spending a few minutes here with me.
Hugs and kisses,
This is an interesting one, Leslie. And I particularly note the egg cooker. I haven’t seen these on sale in the UK although I expect someone will tell me different! I too like my eggs hard boiled but only eat eggs at home as everyone, I mean everyone, in the UK serves eggs runny (apart that is in salads), so that’s hotels, restaurants and even friends if you’re staying with them. Can’t tell you how many times I say, no, hard-boiled please! And I don’t have a chopper upper or a crockpot. But I do a lot of cooking and use a plain old casserole and a rather blunt knife!
Huge congratulations on your 15 years together. Today we celebrate meeting each other (at a party) 50 years ago. Our 50th wedding anniversary is next year.
Really interesting post, Leslie - take care 🙂
Well look at both of us including an egg cooker in our favorite appliances post.
I remember when my egg cooker went on the Fritz and I couldn’t imagine living without it. My husband searched high and low for one because this of course was before Amazon. And now you can find them anywhere.
You crack me up with that comment about your as dangerous with a knife. We have a chopper but it doesn’t get used much!!
Maybe because I have a great sous chef!
Xoxo
Jodie
So funny, Jodie also mentioned the egg cooker. Never heard of such a thing at all! It looks very unhappy to me to be honest. I just need a pan,lol. Happy weekend Leslie!
Oh Leslie, I love your favorites and love that most of them are red. My kitchen is also “decorated” in red. Brightens it up some. Doesn’t make me love to cook, but is more cheerful when I go into the kitchen.
I could copy you on several of your favorites. I couldn’t live without my crock pot, though I rarely use it these days as #1 son & DIL “feed me”. I also have the little egg cooker (mine is yellow). It’s a cute accessory, I just don’t use it. I’m not familiar with the fancy slicer It looks easy to use, but it does not look easy to clean.
Thanks for sharing, Iris
Ha!! Lately nothing could make me love to cook, either. Not even red!!
The egg cooker is a gem. I could never get my eggs perfectly hardboiled and now I can!! It is easy to clean. In fact, I had not really cleaned it more than wiping it down until I get ready to take pictures of it. Decided to give it a little elbow grease as there was hard water stains on the heating plate.
The chopper is a dream but can be a little hard to clean. I usually get all of my chopping out of the way, then soak it for a bit. I use the comb gadget to pull out any leftover food and sometimes give it a good whack on the side of the sink. Ha!!
Yes! I Love my crock pot too; in fact I have 3- one small, one medium, and one large.
OOoooo, grand idea to have several sizes. With just the two of us here most of the time, my large one is kind of overkill!!
Glad to see the Crock Pot getting some love in your post! I’m a true fan too. There are so many great recipes for slow cooker meals out there. Love that you and Iris are both into the red appliances!
I really like that chopper and that egg cooker! I would like to get each of them, but I just feel like I have enough “stuff” in my kitchen. I may cave, though…we’ll see! Of course, I have a crock pot, too. I really don’t use it very often, though. I’ve been canning salsa this week, so I’ve been using my food processor a lot to make the salsa. I guess I would have to say that this past couple of weeks my food processor has been my favorite kitchen gadget. Can it be called a gadget, or is it more of an appliance? IDK. Enjoyed your post. Will have to check out some of those others that linked up to it, as well.
I have never had a food processor. Closest thing to it would be my blender, I guess. I curse it at time because it gets stuck trying to chop stuff and I have to ungob all the stuff stuck around the blades. I bet your salsa is tasty!!
The chopper has been the best gift. My BFF is an A-number one shopper and finds the best presents.
I don’t really have a favorite kitchen gadget because I really don’t like to cook! But, I do like all of my Pampered Chef items. I had never heard of an egg cooker (Jodie has one, too). I have always just boiled them on top of the stove! This was a fun glimpse inside everyone’s kitchen!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
When I first heard about the egg cooker, I thought it sounded like a bit of an extravagance. Even though it was very affordable…but I had always just boiled them on the stove, too. However, one day they might be hardboiled and the next day they would be soft-boiled. I could never consistently get a hardboiled egg. Now I can!!
Wow, you and Jodi with the egg cookers! So interesting.
I used to have a really charming set of bakelite corn holders that had been my mother’s…when I lost them, I gave up eating corn for like 4 years!
I’ve never used a crock-pot. What am I missing??
Oh, Bettye, you need to get a small crockpot and take it with you to Korea. It makes life so much easier. You are going to be so busy exploring, and embracing your new life. You won’t want to spend time cooking. And there are so many wonderful recipes for crockpot cooking. My first one was manual and didn’t shut off or switch to warming when it had completed its cooking time. But the one I have now switches to ‘warm’ once the food is prepared. I absolutely love it for soups, which are my favorite thing.
Knowing what a super cook you are, I was really looking forward to your post, Leslie! Your street corn recipe is a core memory for me and I find your cooking posts to be very inspirational. Good stuff, basic ingredients, always appealing…Oh, and YUM!
SO…any of the gadgets you recommend I know you use regularly and believe in. My daughter loves her chopper, too. And since we do a lot of chopping, I think I need to add one of these to the shopping list, I have a mandolin slicer and it’s great for some things, but yours seems like Boom, done. I like boom, done.
The egg cooker seems popular among our tribe. I have to go back and see if it’s an easy clean. The lazy girl in me (my primary quality) needs to verify if overall this is easier than just boiling.
I did guess your crockpot would be numero uno! You make me want to use mine more. Actually, you make me want to cook more overall.
I find mucho inspo here. 😘
Awww, I love your sweet heart. Thank you so much. Please, please get a chopper. Before I was given mine, I would truly avoid recipes with lots of chopped veggies because I knew chopping with a knife was hazardous to my health and well-being. But now I chop with great abandon. Chopping is FUN!! My egg cooker is simple to clean. Actually, I just kind of rinse it. Before this post I decided to splurge and scrub it a little bit but it really doesn’t get dirty. We just have hard water so there was a bit of scale on the heating element.
Thank you for the compliments on my cooking and recipe posts. I think I will see who might want to do a recipe exchange. Maybe a crockpot recipe exchange link up.
I would have to say my favorite is my slow cooker! I use it at least on a weekly basis!
Me, too!! High five for the slow cooker. I don’t know why my daughters haven’t really embraced using theirs.
That looks like a good chopper. I’m learning good kitchen gadgets are time-savers in the kitchen.
That chopper is amazing. Well worth the minor investment. Hope you will consider getting one. I have saved money in medical bills where I would no doubt have needed stitches after using a knife to chop things up!!
I couldn’t live without my crock pot! That chopper looks so handy! We used to have an egg cooker, and they would come out perfectly!
Jill - Doused in Pink
I love our chopper although I do find it hard to clean!
I try to soak my chopper for a bit and find that the bits of food remaining after I ‘comb’ it will soak out. And I might bang it on the side of the sink a bit, too!!
Chandra Lynn
Ohhhh, kitchen gadgets! I think I’ll try to chopper-thingy. Have you looked at vegetable spiralers? I need to get one soon and a good kitchen scale.
Why, hello!! And thank you for find me!! I thought about your poetry all evening. Would love to try my hand at writing something. It has been many years since I attempted poetry. But I am writing these days, and taking online classes and writing with a small group from church.
The chopper is life changing. And very affordable when you factor-in the potential for stitches and ER visits from improper use of a knife!! I have a spiralizer and enjoy making squash and zucchini noodles with it. In fact, need to do that very thing. It has been a while. Will show my spiralizer some love this week.
I have a scale I’ve used for years. I tried to find mine but looks like it is no longer available. However, my daughter has this one and very much likes it. https://www.weightwatchers.com/us/shop/kitchen/food-scales I use coffee filters often times to weigh things. I keep mine out on the counter, even though it isn’t red like my other appliances, to remind me to USE IT!!
Thank you again for coming by. Are your poems available in a book? Would love to have one!!
Ok, I am so going to Amazon right now and buying that vegetable chopper upper! I don’t eat a ton of hard boiled eggs, but maybe I would if they weren’t such a pain to make. So, I’ll have to keep that contraction in my mind for later! Ha, ha! I need to add your blog to my Feedly reading list, I keep forgetting to stop by here to see if you have new posts. Doing that now too!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
PC loves a boiled egg for a snack with salt and pepper. I truly love salads and use them in those. But the chopper is the best thing ever!! I have about cut my hand off chopping veggies with a knife. So thankful for the chopper.
Thanks for adding me to Feedly. I used Bloglovin’ for a long time but then realized some of my old favorite blogs weren’t showing up on it. Hard to keep up with everyone!! XO
Oh, Leslie - you make me smile. I’m chuckling at the years you spent trying to balance those corn cobs on the pointed corn holder….never thinking to remove the bottom one!! Too funny. I had two (out of three) in braces and de-cobbed many an ear of corn for them (especially one of them!) I would - hands down - say my crock pot is the best kitchen appliance ever! Whoever invented that….pure genius!! I do have a veggie chopper thingy but often forget to pull it out. Or just don’t bother. But who knew you could chop cheese on it? Or even eggs! Honestly, I usually just use it for onions. And I need that egg cooker in my life. Truly. I think I will add it to my Amazon cart just now!! Thanks for all the tips. Hope you are having a great week my friend!
Marsha
Hi Leslie, I loved your post today. I found you in the comment section of Gary A. Wilson’s Story Chat Story as I was editing them to put into a book. Your blog is beautiful, and you have such an interpersonal style of writing that is endearing. I’m so glad you know my friend, Jodie. We are having lunch together on Friday with several other bloggers in the AZ area. I’m so excited. When I read your title, I thought you might unmask some more bloggers in my area of the country.
So I have a question about your egg cooker. Do you also have an egg peeling hack? A friend of mine taught me to put them into a canning jar and shake them before peeling. That usually works, but I have some stubborn eggs in my fridge that are stopping me from being creative. Your salad looks delicious.
I am so very behind in responding to comments on my blog. Thank you for this sweet comment you left a month ago. I have enjoyed reading your blog and would like to join your Wednesday Quotes link up more often. We have had a very stressful year but I think the stress and fog are lifting. I just popped by and realized you have shared the themes for the entire year. Very helpful. I am a planner and need to plan!!
My daughter swears by the spoon method of peeling hard-boiled eggs. She has tried to teach me via Facetime but I am a bit slow on the uptake. Found this video that makes it look very easy. I will try it tomorrow. Hope it helps you, too. https://youtu.be/TmWPxDHSNWk