Pat and I have purchased many devices and tools for the kitchen over the years.  Next to my workshop tools, there is nothing I like better than to find something we can use in the kitchen.

Some of them do not meet expectations, like the Star-Frit slicer that was touted to slice and dice and prepare a meal in seconds.  A failure that we used a couple of times and then stored above the cupboard in the pantry and eventually (still in original box) donated to Pat’s church bazaar where some other unfortunate bought it.  I think of the countless gadgets to sharpen knives that we eventually threw out before we found the simple device I now use.

Probably the biggest error we made was to buy a high end juicer.  We could just imagine the joy of juices from carrots, kale, cucumbers mixed with citrus fruits that would just suck the fat and evil from our bodies.  I mean it was promised in the TV ads.  But it was a bitch to clean after every use.

When I was a little kid our Uncle Ken and Aunt Grace had a few dairy cows.  He would go out to the barn and milk the cows and pour the result into this big machine in the kitchen that would separate and clean the milk.  Not like a great commercial dairy production but it had been done on the farm for 50 years.  I watched as they took apart the many layers and Aunt Grace worked forever  to clean and sterilize the screens.

That is pretty much what you need to do with a juice machine.  5 minutes to cut up the produce and produce juice, 30 minutes to clean the screens and blades.  And the juice was not that great.

Anyway I digress…

This year we were given a Soda Stream machine from the kids to make soda water.  We use it daily and sparkling water has now become a mainstay at every one of our meals.  Fortunately I have a friend that can refill the CO2 cannister for $1 which has been a godsend.

The other device I acquired was a Keurig coffee machine.  I used to love coffee and whenever I am at a restaurant or at someone’s house who offers coffee I immediately agree, but I got out of the habit once I retired because the work required to make one good cup of coffee a day was not worth the effort.  Pat does not drink coffee so this was not the special sharing time we could have.

The villa we rented in La Quinta had a Keurig machine and some leftover pods.  I realized that I could make a good single cup.  So I bought a machine when we returned and I now enjoy a good cup of coffee when I sit and read the newspaper every morning.

Not all kitchen tools and devices are useless.