Completely Frivolous Kitchen Gadgets That I Completely Covet

There are a couple kitchen stores in town that I love browsing. If I'm in the area and don't have anywhere to go I'm very happy just strolling the aisles, checking out the interesting things that I'd really love to have but that would never fit in my cupboards.

I suppose it's a good thing that I have limited cabinet space because if I didn't I'm such a sucker for all sorts of kitchen gadgets I'd be like the James Bond of the kitchen with a gadget for each occasion and every possible kitchen emergency.

Here are a few of my most recent covets.

1. European Drinking Chocolate Machine
Retails for--are you sitting down??--$1,169. Who says the economy isn't on its feet and kicking?

But get a load of the description: "Designed for mixing and dispensing espresso-like shots of drinking chocolate" and oh how lovely it looks. I can just imagine it sitting on my counter and then I can imagine myself putting my little cup under the spout and a rich velvety river of chocolate flowing. Wait--make that my giant MUG under the spout and a rich velvety blah blah blah . . .

Apparently they justify the price by claiming it does a couple other things such as dispensing "cream sauces, drawn butter for seafood, cheese sauces or gravy" because darn it if I didn't always wish I could get me a big ol' mug o' gravy in the morning. What a pick-me-up.

Maybe at a buffet? I hope?

2. A Stainless Steel Whipped Cream Dispenser
"What's wrong with the plain old Reddi Whip containers?" you ask. Nothing at all my fine friend except these look 50,000 times cooler!

Look at the sleek design, the luscious curving handle, it all just speaks of total aerosolic power.

Is aerosolic a word? At any rate, you can put your whipping cream into the canister, squeeze the trigger and have whipped cream in seconds. I think it must come with some kind of an air tank or way to pressurize the cream--though for $79.00 you'd think they could at least include something as simple as the extra air, right?

Looking this sexy do you think anyone would dare sneak a squirt in their mouths when no one's looking? Never mind, dumb question.

3. Nordicware Aluminum Bug Pan
Why does it appeal to me to picture myself making chocolate cake shaped like a dragonfly? I don't even like dragonflies but this pan (price: $31.95) is really too adorable.

I even like the way they've shaped the whole thing like a leaf--how cute is that?

Of course if I bought this pan I'd use it once or twice before my kids were too old to appreciate the finer things: like ladybug-shaped jello cubes and blueberry muffin bumblebees.

Darn it all but it's cute. And they even make one for little tiny castles. Now tell me you're not getting all mushy too.

4. La Cloche Bread Pan
Now this may be a little silly but I've been dying to try it out to see if it really makes a difference in how good homemade bread tastes.

It's stone wear and supposedly you soak it in water and let it heat up with your oven before using it to bake in but it's supposed to mimic the effects of a brick oven.

Do you think it works? For $44.99 it seems a little pricey to gamble with but it's so very very tempting. I had a pizza stone and while it worked alright it was always pretty tricky to get that pizza onto the stone without dumping my pizza all over the bottom of my oven. Not pretty.

5. Aluminum French Bread Pan
No this seems like more of my style. A long loaf pan for making baguettes. And you know if I had this pan it'd be all baguettes all the time around here. Nothing but baguettes in the morning, baguettes in the evening.

For at least a day or two before I decided it was tiring. Though at $6.49 it's certainly a better investment than the brick oven dome thingy. I don't think I have a cabinet that would comfortably fit this pan in even if I did break down and buy it.

6. Blue Silicone Butter Mold
Did you know that for all this time you've been suffering with butter that comes in cubes??

Well the pain is over because you can get this gorgeous little tray and shape your butter into beautiful seashells. Good for a party I'd imagine.

And while I'm making fun there's this side of me that really, really wants one. It's only $8 but I'm kind of wondering if the cost would even begin to cover the mockery I would have to endure around here if I served a meal where the butter was placed out in pretty little seashells. I can just see the guys' faces now.

So for now I remain butter mold-less. And I wait.

7. Iced Tea and Lemonade Dispenser
Tell me this wouldn't be fun to have--you'd be your very own 7-11! I don't do iced tea but I can picture one of these on the counter filled with raspberry lemonade and me strolling by for a glass whenever the whim would hit. Probably about every 13 minutes.

I wonder if you can get the kind that plug in and throw up the punch in a spray all over the inside of the container like a real convenience store thing? That would probably elevate me to World's Coolest Mom. I suppose one of those would cost more than the $38.99 this one does.

8. Electric Donut Maker
Answering the question: What do you get when you cross George Foreman with Dunkin Donuts? An electronic donut maker that makes "six delectable rings in under three minutes." Hmmm . . . I'm very tempted because I could eat six deletable rings in under three minutes and this sounds like the machine to keep pace with my appetite but I'm suspicious that they taste like real donuts. They're probably way to healthy to taste good.

As I recall my mother had one of these gadgets when I was a kid. Seems like she got it for Christmas the same year as I got a long-playing record of Disney's The Rescuers and The Jungle Book because I vaguely recall eating tiny muffins shaped like donuts while listening to those stories over and over again.

I'd really like to try this and see if they're good but it's $39.99 to find out. Anyone else with mouths-on experience for this?

9. 4-Tiered Mini Cake Pan
You see here at the right a cake pan made to produce the cutest, the most brilliant, the tiniest little mini wedding cakes.

Forget the obvious question about why I'd need a bunch of miniature wedding cakes in my life this really this isn't about need is it? Yes it's $29.99 (gasp) of pure consumerism and it makes no apologies.

And before you condemn me for wanting a pan that makes mini wedding cakes let me just mention that dessert's at my place.

10. A Chef's Blow Torch
This one really does serve a purpose--really. You may think a blow torch is rather out of place in a kitchen but I'm determined that one day I actually will get one of these beauties.

You see if you love creme brulee you'll know that you really can't get that burnt sugar shell on top by merely broiling the custards. Oh the recipes will try to claim that you can but they're just leading you on because you cannot get the same even thickness and perfectly sweet-yet-caramelized topping with a regular old oven.

You need a butane blow torch like this one listed at $34.43--and really, that's a pretty good price because I've seen them for much more. Maybe it's the butane that's expensive. You know, the torch is $15 but the butane to make the flame is another $70? Maybe that's what their game is.

I suppose if I think about it $34.43 is a lot cheaper than going over to Southside Bistro for their raspberry creme brulees twenty times a year. I'd be saving money by buying this. Yea.

11. An Electric Tortilla Maker
Sure you can buy your tortillas at the grocery store, sure you can roll them by hand but that's how the silly people who don't have electric tortilla makers do it.

I have torn feelings over this--I've been itching to try to make my own tortillas. I buy the take-and-bake ones they have at Costco and love them but what if I could take it up a notch and make my own? Would they be even that much better?

But then I came across this $79.99 little showstopper and had to laugh. I mean isn't the tortilla kind of the embodiment of earthy, basic, humble food? It doesn't get any more down to earth than tortillas folks and then the good people at Saachi appliances find a way to take that staff of life and turn it into a kitchen status symbol that so tempts me. It seems too ironic.

I doubt I'll get one of these--where on earth would I put it anyway? Unless I decided to open up some competition for the local Taco Bell people, then it would make sense, but nonetheless I find myself desiring it.

12. Mini Tagines
I've been wanting a tagine for quite a while and I'm pretty sure I'll eventually break down and splurge for one. Or maybe I'll ask for it for my birthday or Christmas though if I do I'm pretty much guaranteed to get it--for some reason anytime I ask for a gift item that in any way contributes to the food consumption around here it seems to appear like magic under the tree but I'm not sure I want to use up a birthday wish like that. It has to be some-thing to make me use up a birthday wish on it.

Anyway, I've wanted a tagine which is used for baking Moroccan-style dishes but they're terribly expensive here and will run upwards of $70.

Then I saw the minis. Tiny little itty bitty tagines that are so small I'm not sure that they're big enough for a full serving, they're better for roasting a head of garlic if you ask me, but darn it they're so cute who cares? Who cares that they're running $20 a piece here in town (i.e. $120 for a set of six to feed this crew) I want them, I love them, I need them. That is all I have to say.

13. Bread Bowl Makers
I nearly bought this pan a couple years ago I was so intrigued by the idea of being able to pour in batter or bread dough and have it come out shaped like a little bowl suitable for filling with whatever my heart desires--fruit, chili, pudding--the sky's the limit. Or actually my kids are the limit, I doubt they'd allow a bread bowl filled with cream of asparagus soup for example.

At $16.95 they're not a bad price but I keep looking at the design and thinking "I can do that without buying a fancy pan" though have I got my fanny up out of the chair and done it yet? Nope. One of these days.

14. Apple Bakers
I saw these at Christmas time a year ago and thought they looked so homey and sweet--anyone tried one before? You're supposed to put an apple on the shaft and it bakes it perfectly. At least that's the sales pitch.

You can sprinkle stuff in there while it bakes and I've read you can use them for potatoes and squash as well. I think I can smell the cinnamon-apple smell right now if I close my eyes. At under $10 on this site they're cheap enough to test drive without breaking the bank and I think I may get one some time.

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