It certainly has been a meme rich month so far. Sam over at Becks & Posh came up with a fantastic topic, asking all fellow food bloggers to participate in answering the question: “Choose your favorite ‘money no object’ splurge kitchen gadget…“. So here we go…

Spend 300 bucks? Hmm, I’m more than happy to help ;) Those are in fact the best presents. You get to choose what you really want and both parties are happy campers as opposed to getting something into which went a lot of thought but you neither really need nor necessarily wanted either…been there, got that, so many times.

Back to the topic and speaking for myself, I’d first pick a device or tool that would make my kitchen-life easier, while adding a fun factor. Knives. Ok ok, I can hear everyone go like “noooo, not another knife post…” – Aaaaanyway, I’m definitely a knife person and can’t walk past (good-looking, expensive looking that is) knives. Bad knives – for me – ruin the entire cooking experience, sharp, well balanced and nicely shaped knives, however, turn even the most tedious prep part into a more enjoyable one. I would almost go as far as claiming, that one really good knife is much more worth than a plethora of so-so knives invented for zillion purposes. The ones in the picture are WMF knives, which we decided to go with because of their handling and their solid metal construction with little chance to wearout. Most if not all stores should allow you to test their knives, what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for another.

However, one word of caution, never ever use your sharp knives while still being jet lagged. Bad things can happen and in my case caused me two stitches in my left index finger and a ambulatory experience, I really cannot recommend at all. Trying to numb a finger tip is a painful and challenging undertaking, which also explains why the doctor wasn’t too keen on providing local anesthesia. It’s basically as painful as the stitching procedure…

Did I hear someone say scars are sexy?

Since N. and I couldn’t settle on just the knives, I also included her fave kitchen thingy, which is our panini grill. We’ve been using it heavily and heavenly producing delicious panini of all sorts. I have to admit, I’ve been abusing it a few times for grilling vegetables – what can I say, it works like a charm. ;))

To do our KitchenAid proper justice, I would have to add that it is definitely in the top ranks of our hall of fame, but since we featured her on a different post, she is not competing. By the way, Sam, your orange one is beautiful!!

As for the $25 gadget, we just recently bought a very well functioning wine preservation gadget, that, in case we don’t finish a bottle, prevents the wine from further aerating. I’m not sure it completely brings to process to a halt, but more than another day our bottles don’t last anyway ;) By the way, this thoughtful gift came with a drip-stop ring, that just as much turned out to be super useful, especially when having your dinner on a nicely set table (with white table cloth).
O.