As Colleen Heather – sister to Kathleen Bridget, Terrance Patrick, Deborah Jan (so named in honor of the beloved Jewish doctor who did a house call in the middle of the night to save my mother from having a miscarriage and went on to deliver all the rest of her children), Kelly Kay, Timothy Shawn, Brian Fitzgerald (like many babies of Celtic descent born around the time of assassination named to honor a dear departed president) and Erin Courtney – lets just say I know a little somethin’ somethin’ about St. Patrick’s day, heartbreaking ballads, Irish soda bread and colcannon. What I didn’t know (and maybe you didn’t either) was that A Trio Jewelry can create a unique, custom-designed piece of jewelry, featuring gold or sterling silver four-leaf clovers to mark the day of smiling Irish eyes for you or just about anyone ya loves. Me dear departed mum would have loved one. 215 N. Water St., 414-431-7112, atriojewelry.com.
Something you might not have known about me is that for as long as I can remember, I’ve loved things that work exactly how they’re supposed to. As a kid I even made a list of those I especially liked, which included spatulas, Phillips screwdrivers and Reynolds wrap among other things. Although I no longer keep a list, I continue to make note of such things, and this week I’d like to alert you to a couple of kitchen tools that do exactly what they’re perfectly designed to do.
First there’s the Progressive Lettuce Keeper I recently purchased. As I love fashioning fresh salads, you’ll find my fridge always filled with lettuces of all types along with cucumbers, radishes, cherry tomatoes, carrots, sunflower sprouts and other organic veggies tucked away in those Debbie Meyer Green Bags they sell at Outpost Natural Foods. And while the bags pretty much do exactly what they say they will – keep things fresh longer – they don’t make it onto my list because for some reason they often fail to keep lettuce fresh. Someone suggested washing and wrapping the lettuce in linen dishtowels before bagging it, but even that didn’t help. So since I hated the waste and expense of tossing out wilted organic lettuce, I went on a hunt for a lettuce keeper that really worked. Enter this one from Rubbermaid which features an oval design that works for all types of lettuce (as well as other veggies and fruits), doubles as a colander (making washing lettuce before storing it a cinch), has an adjustable vent to regulate air circulation and most importantly, a shallow water reservoir at its base to keep lettuce fresh and crisp for weeks at a time. I swear I’m in love. If I still kept a list of stuff that does exactly what it should this baby would definitely be on it. Find out more at progressiveintl.com.
So would the Kyocera Adjustable Mandolin slicer. But first, a bit of back-story… as a foodie who loves every aspect of cooking from food prep to dining, I’ve been searching for a simple, easy-to-use slicer for a long time. A few years ago I went overboard and purchased a professional stainless steel French mandolin with so many blades, knobs and dials it was so hard to use I couldn’t wait to give it away even though I’d spent nearly $200 on it. What did I replace it with? An inexpensive mandolin Martha Stewart sold in her K-Mart line (say what you will about the woman, but her products are just as efficient as she is). While it worked well (better actually then the French thing), with use, its blade eventually got too dull. So, as I’m prone to do, I read all the reviews on mandolins I could find and given what I was looking for, the winner was the Kyocera. Quite literally, as it was awarded ‘Best Buy’ in a comparison of kitchen slicers by Cook’s Illustrated magazine. I bought it and am happy to say I couldn’t be happier with it. So easy to use, all it takes is a turn of dial to adjust its ceramic blade (which stays sharper longer than metal) to quickly and easily slice fruits and vegetables to .5mm, 1.3mm, 2mm or 3mm thickness. Plus, it fits securely over bowls and is easy to store. Sound good? Buy it on sale ($22.45) now through March 20 at chefsresource.com where 5 percent of all sales of Japanese knives will be donated to the Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami fund.
