a.forte's blog of Spain Hill Farm: apron

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Kitchen Gadgets That Make Cooking Effortless

Are you a whiz in the kitchen or a wizard with frozen meals?

Today I'm sharing some of my favorite kitchen gadgets that can help any level of cook.

My first and all time favorite is the KitchenAid mixer. I know a lot of brides-to-be are adding these to their wedding registry and what a smart choice it is!

KitchenAid has been in the appliance business for many, many years. It's no surprise either. The KitchenAid mixer is a very versatile appliance. It can be used for a number of things from mixing, kneading, grinding wheat to juicing oranges and slicing vegetables. This is a workhorse in the kitchen. Bed, Bath, and Beyond is a retailer of KitchenAid products.

Along with preparing that dish in your KitchenAid, you're going to need some quality utensils. My dad always taught me to buy the best you can afford. Why? Because using quality tools for any job makes the job much easier. I highly recommend purchasing quality bamboo or wooden spoons and spatulas. World Market carries a nice variety of wooden utensils.

kitchen gadgets that make cooking effortless

Along with quality utensils, you're going to need quality ingredients. We use extra virgin olive oil in our home like crazy! The quality of your ingredients will affect the overall taste of your dish. The Epicurean Olive Oil Company carries just that...quality olive oils, vinegars, and seasonings. I guarantee you'll taste a difference in your dishes!

Finally, but not lastly, my final gadget for the kitchen. Well, it isn't really a gadget but something I highly recommend and really wish (please oh please) would make a huge comeback...the apron! I love aprons and I use aprons. Vintage ones. New ones. Plain ones. Pretty ones. One of my current favorites came from Kirklands and has my initial on it. It doesn't directly make cooking effortless but it definitely makes clean up effortless!

I'm so glad you stopped by! God bless!

Angie

Thursday, November 6, 2014

A Gift FROM The Hostess

This year we're hosting my husband's family for Thanksgiving. During my pre-turkey day planning, I've been thinking through the flow of the day. We always have lots of fun as there are usually 25-30 of us. From the preparing of food, eating (of course!), shooting skeet, playing games, and just sitting around talking, the plans for all of these activities are coming together. One thing I thought would be nice this year is a gift to give those sweet guests that always help with the clean up.

So, when Royal Design Studio offered a chance to promote their Fall and Thanksgiving line of stencils, I jumped at the chance. The gift I'm giving my clean up helpers this year is an apron and gloves, so a stencil was the perfect way to beautify them.

I chose the Petal Play Floral Damask Fall Stencil from Royal Design Studio, a basic plain apron from the craft store, and aqua/white rubber gloves from Home Depot for this project.

Using the stencil is very simple...even one of this size. Royal Design's stencils come with registration marks, making it easy to repeat the pattern seamlessly. I used acrylic craft paint in Robin's Egg Blue for the apron and Krylon's Ocean Breeze spray paint for the rubber gloves. NOTE: The spray paint will peel if the rubber if stretched tightly but the top of most gloves are plenty big and do not need to stretch in order to put on. Since I brushed on the acrylic paint, there was no need to tape off exposed areas. I did however use Frog Tape when spraying the cuff of the gloves. Clean up of Royal Design Studio stencils was easy for both methods as well!

So here they are finished! (Modeled by my youngest!)

Of course, I can't just hand my helpers the apron and gloves. They need cute packaging. Mason jars...always great for s-o-o-o many uses.

I laid the apron flat and then folded it up into a rectangle, making sure the string are tucked inside the fold. Next, I laid the gloves on the rectangle of the apron and rolled everything up together.