Thursday, June 24, 2010

5 Things I'd Like to Spend Too Much Money On for My Kitchen...

I have a running list of kitchen things I want. Badly. But they are really really really not in the budget these days...but they remain short-listed for the day I get to celebrate a big check or new writing gig...hey. A girl can dream.

And so, in no particular order, 5 Things I Want for the Kitchen (yes, more than clothes, shoes or a car) (and in case you care):

1. New 6-quart professional KitchenAid. I use my 4-quart tilt-head Kitchenaid to DEATH. And by death, I am very close to the actual truth. These days when I use it to knead dough or paddle a particularly heavy batter, the motor really starts to strain. whirrrWHIRRRwhirrrrWHIRRR. And kneading dough? Practically walks the mixer off the counter. The bigger mixer has a raise/lower bowl, a bigger motor...I am tempted to give this away to a friend so I can justify a new purchase. (About $500)

2. New glasses. Slowly, over the years, we've broken all our matching glasses. What's up with that? You know how you start married life with GREAT STUFF? All those gifts, so appreciated? I think there needs to be another shower...how about a 25-years-of-marriage-you-need-new-stuff-shower? Truth is I really love the French-style marmalade-jar glasses I find that are incredibly inexpensive and I SHOULD just go out and replace them. But I LUST after things like these "Goto Venetian Wine Glasses" I just found on Uncommon Goods--I clicked on them, ready to buy because I just LOVE them. GAK. 6 glasses for $300. I still can't cross that bridge, but these would SO be on the 25-year shower registry (oh, yes, since I'm dreaming of a shower, I get to say I will register for gifts!

3. New food processor. The one I have is 25 years old and I use it more than I ever thought I would. Recently, I decided it should stay on the counter, that is how much I use it (although it's going back in the cupboard. I live in a very small-kitchened apartment...place is big, but I think they don't think apartment dwellers cook that much..)..Now Cuisinart has come out with a lust-worthy model that...frankly, I just want. (For the record, the bowl part of my processor is chipped and broken and to make it work I have to use a knife to depress the little doohickey that turns the thing on--that piece broke years ago..) It would have to be this one (hey, they have one that's $800, so at $300, this is a bargain): Cuisinart Elite Collection 14-cup Processor. Did I say the one I use is 25 years old? Oh, I did. Well, I forgot. Because it is. 25 years old, I mean.

4. All-Clad cookware. I cooked for years with cheap stuff...stuff I bought when I moved into my first apartment. Then I discovered TJ Maxx sells All-Clad pots and pans--minor seconds, I would say. I found a stock pot there for a ridiculously low price, bought it and have been a convert ever since...Now I regularly check the shelves at the discount stores (Marshall's included--aren't they owned by the same company now??)...there are a few that I'd like to add now...I wouldn't buy a set because I am picky about the shapes and sizes of the pots in my cupboards, but here are a few I would like: a saute pan (straight sides) with lid, a saucier (sloped sides so when I whisk, nothing gets stuck in the edges) and a variety of saucepans...maybe even all of them.

5. A really good (READ: GAS!!!!!!!) cooktop and convection oven. Like this range top from Wolf. And this double oven from Wolf. Sigh. Did I ever tell you how we lived in a house with a big but awful kitchen for 9 years, finally remodeled it ...and moved two years later? I still mourn that. Yes, of course, I put a 5-burner gas-cooktop and a convection oven into that kitchen. And have never had gas again. Once, when we thought we were moving to Minnesota (long story), there was this kind of shabby house in an okay neighborhood WITH AN AGA COOKER (as they call them at Aga).  I totally almost made us buy that house for the stove alone...I could SEE myself in that kitchen. We didn't buy it. We didn't move to Minnesota. We moved to Florida, where we couldn't even afford a dirty, torn-up, 3-bedroom hovel (okay, so if we still lived there we could actually afford a pretty nice and big house...too bad the job isn't there any more!) and became renters. Then we moved to NC where  we are renters...and now I think I am gun-shy about BUYING. But really. Renting is FINE. But couldn't we maybe RENT A HOUSE OR APARTMENT WITH A GAS STOVE. Just sayin.

7 comments:

Cheryl Fuller said...

Not that I would want to tempt you or anything, but Amazon has that Cuisenart food processor for $176.

Babette said...

Ha. Yes, I went right over and checked it out, Cheryl...and am seriously considering it..

Babette said...

Drat--not quite the same one, Cheryl--I want this one: http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-FP-14DC-Collection-14-Cup-Processor/dp/B002I5DMU0/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1277406377&sr=8-5

It has the 14 cup bowl PLUS an 11 c. and 4 1/2 c. bowl that fit inside.
But still a better price: $249...Hey, I'll take $50 where I can get it!

Celia@Fig Jam and Lime Cordial said...

1,2 and 3, I am with you all the way, Barb! Thankfully I have decent cookware which I wouldn't change, and a 90cm Smeg free-standing oven/cooktop named Bobby that I'm completely besotted with. :)

Anonymous said...

I need a new Cuis too - mine is 21 yrs old. I would love to have an induction burner. And I wish I had space to add a second dishwasher. I would also love to buy the biggest fridge on the frigging planet so maybe for once I could get it all to fit and be able to see it all.

Babette said...

Celia, I have MOSTLY decent cookware, just not enough of it (you know...that specially sloped saucier...I just NEED that)...and hey, if you are naming your oven/cooktop then you are really in love...Lucky woman.

Marthaandme:Ooh, nice call on the fridge..agreed...forgot to mention that when I re-did that kitchen I got a full size fridge AND a full-size freezer--put them together and they looked like a double-wide pro built-in pair...WHAT a lot of room.

Sigh. Those were the days. My kitchen life has gone downhill from there...

Frugal Kiwi said...

Ever since seeing a gorgeous red kettle in a "organize your kitchen" post over at Wasabimon.com, I've been lusting after a red kettle. Specifically, this German $300 one http://shopping.yahooxtra.co.nz/silit-whistling-kettle-energy-red.aspx?prod=96428 Of course, the chances of me spending $300 on a tea kettle is approaching zero. But it would look SO GOOD on the induction cooktop on the new island that isn't even yet built. SO GOOD, I tell you!