08.17.20 The Right Stuff

Everything is better - and easier - when you have the right tools.

I've written about this before in the context of jewelry - and the same is true in the kitchen...where I am spending a whole lotta time right now!

I've had a well equipped kitchen for most of my adult life, but until a few months ago I had pretty much stopped cooking on a regular basis.  Since I've started up again, I've added a few things that have made me really happy.

I always start my day with coffee, and last fall we bought an espresso machine (to replace the tiny, manual one we got as a wedding gift going on 30 years ago)...and boy, are we glad to have it.

Part of the thinking, when we bought it (well in advance of the pandemic) is that it would pay for itself over time as I stopped getting my coffee on the go everyday.  At one cup a day for me, it was going to take a while...my husband's office had big, fancy machines, so he was making his espressos there (several times a day) during the week, and at home on the weekends...but now that we're both home 24/7 we feel like geniuses!

Since he has been working from home (for going on 5 months)...and we are going through a pound of beans a week!  Fortunately, our favorite local coffee roaster started shipping at the start of the lockdown. Now we get a big box once a month so we can stay caffeinated.

While I love my cup of hot coffee in the morning, during the summer I want cold brew in the afternoon.  Like so many grocery items, my favorite cold brew was hard to get curbside in the beginning, so I decided to investigate options to make it at home.

Photo credit: County Line Kitchen

I settled on a mason jar filter system from County Line Kitchen - and it works like a champ!  I had been drinking a pecan flavored cold brew, and discovered that HEB (the world's best grocery store - don't believe me, just ask Business Insider or Food and Wine) has a Texas Pecan coffee! I buy it ground, follow the instructions and it makes a delicious cold brew.

Unlike the espresso machine, the mason jar and filter were only $25, so the return on investment was big and fast!

Next up was a new toaster oven.  Seems like a small thing...but the previous one was clearly at the end of its life. Sometimes it would come on when you pushed the start button, other times you had to toggle the start and stop ones - and maybe it would stay on until the bagel was toasted, maybe not.

I use it a lot for baking, too.  My muffin and banana bread recipes all call for toasted nuts (I like pecans in my coffee and my baked goods - so that's what I use), and with the old toaster I had to stand watch...otherwise I would end up not with enhanced flavor - but with charred bits that needed to go straight to the compost.

After the last burned batch of pecans, it was time.

Through the wonders of the internet, I was able to read reviews, comparison shop, and have a brand new one delivered to my doorstep.  

I looked at some really expensive ones - but the previous one had been a Black and Decker...and given how long it lasted, that's what we bought again.

We are now happily toasting bagels, reheating pizza, and prepping pecans for baking once again.

Even older than the toaster, was the muffin tin I had...it dated back to college.  Over the years it made a lot of muffins and birthday cupcakes to take to school and scout events...but when I pulled it out a recently I noticed it was in really bad shape; a little dented and rusted on the underside...so I decided to look for a new one of those, too.

In my search, I landed on the Williams-Sonoma page and discovered (ON SALE) the most wonderful measuring cups and spoons - they are odd sized!  This may not seem like a big deal to you - but I was smitten and had to have them!

The cups come in 2/3, 3/4 and 1.5 cup sizes; the spoons are 2 teaspoons, 1.5 Tablespoons and 2 Tablespoons...and I use them every time I make blueberry muffins (pretty much every other week).

...and finally (just a few days before this post - so I've added it) a new hand mixer. The one I've had since college stopped turning halfway through mixing a pound cake (baked it anyway...it was a little, uh, dense).

As with the pound cake, it seems wrong to write about the muffins, and not share the recipe...as you can see, the measurements for the first 3 ingredients all utilize my new odd sized cups and spoons.

Until next time.

Blueberry Pecan Muffins 
(adapted from Allrecipes.com)

1½ cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk, or more as needed
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1 cup fresh blueberries
3/4 cup toasted pecan pieces
1/4 cup Turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.

Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and add enough milk to reach the 1-cup mark.

Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries and pecans.

Fill muffin cups add top each muffin with a sprinkle of Turbinado sugar (about a teaspoon per muffin)

Bake 20-25 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.