Gadgets

I was reading Ruhlman's recent article on favorite kitchen gadgets. Of course his might as well have said a simple caveman club to kill a pig or a cow, given his apparent purist tendencies. (I mean that in a good way, I swear.) Still, it got me thinking about all the useless gadgets I've amassed over the years, and the ones I love, too. Because some I really do adore. But if I were on a desert island (equipped with electricity, running water and a stove), which of my many gadgets would I take?

It was an easy decision. It's my Kitchenaid Immersion Blender. I really do use it for everything. I make brilliant soups with it especially, and I happen to love soups, especially when they're filled with creamy goodness, like this one. It's so much easier then hauling piping hot liquid into a blender only to have it later spray all over your kitchen and also into your eyeballs, which hurts.

I have a lot of really preposterous gadgets, as well. Like the Fry-Daddy deep fryer which I never use and which is too small to fry anything sinful and delicious, like chicken. A waste of space is what it is. And then there are the garlic presses which do not work and which require the strength of ten Mr. Universes to use. Ridiculous. I ought to throw them out this instant, but do I? Will I, ever? No. And this, from the woman who hates clutter.

I think we have gadgets because it makes us feel like chefs. We see all those fancy people on Top Chef with their fandangled gadgets and we think Wow, if I just had gadgets, I could be somebody! Yet in actuality, just as Ruhlman asserts, you don't need much. A good knife, maybe some tongs, a nice spatula and you're golden.