Today at Williams-Sonoma
Or, rather, how I lazed around on my Labor Day. On the way to the movies at the art cinema, I had a few minutes to kill so I wondered down to Williams Sonoma. All summer I've been dying for an ice cream and sorbet maker and had decided against one more kitchen appliance. But there it was today -- at Williams Sonoma, the 1.5 qt small Cuisineart with a bonus extra work bowl -- all for $60. I'm so good -- I walked away and bought a new pasta fork (the wooden kind) and an egg timer instead. I may think I need the ice cream maker but I *really* needed the new egg timer. (The egg timer is the boil in the pot kind that changes color when your eggs are soft, medium, or hard boiled. I always undercook my hard boiled eggs resulting in soft to medium boiled eggs which kind of gross me out.
I was drawn to the sea salt "sampler" with small tins of their black, red, pink and flake finishing salts. I'm tempted to have a salt tasting the next time I have people over so we can all get a great handle on the real textures of these finishing salts. But I already have so many kinds including my favorite chardonney oak barrel smoked sea salt. I'm starting to border on more salt than I'll ever use.
What else did I see? W/S is finally carrying Riedel stemware and accessories like decanters in addition to their own lines. And you can now get a mix for pretty much everything that you're supposed to learning how to cook in the first place. They have lots of ridiculous dipping oils with some pretty bizarre additions (like pumpkin seed and blue cheese), and a million pseudo-ethnic simmer sauces and curries. And it's fall -- if you need autumnal towels, table linens or dishes, it's the place to be.
7 comments:
Braingirl,
I can vouch for the Cuisinart ice cream maker. We got one for our wedding. Well worth the investment and an appliance, that, if you're like me, you'll get more use out of then the toaster.
Begone toast in the morning and say hello to ice cream at night.
The other thing is, once you get into the ice crem making jetstream, you'll notice all sorts of fabulous recipes. My fave to still to make is the Guinness beer ice cream
It has the potential to change your life and for that reason $60 is a mere pittance, as is the space on your counter.
Jeff
www.goodgrape.com
Oooooh! You're not making this easy!
I had the Guiness Ice Cream at H2O Sushi last week and almost died it was so rich and good. I didn't even know they had I.C. there. I found out that the owner Nicole sells it at the Broad Ripple Farmer's Market on Saturday if you need an early fix. MMMMMMM, Ice Cream for breakfast.
Is the pumpkins seed oil you saw just some oil with seeds in it or is it real Styrian (Austria) Pumpkin Seed Oil? That is a wonderful oil to make a very simple salad dressing. It is pretty expensive, but a little goes a long way.
Oh, yes! Nicole has the *best* ice cream -- basalmic, bay leaf, and I haven't had the guiness but will try it.
I'll look for her at the Sat. a.m. farmer's market.
Oh: And the pumpkin seed oil. No, I think you can find that at Saraga, BTW. This was olive oil "dipping oil" with the whole bottom third of the bottle full of crap -- pumkin seeds, other seeds, random dried herbs, etc.
Infused oils can be so lovely and delicate -- and don't have to cost $24 a bottle. And for dipping! Use really great olive oil -- and add your own crap to it!
I found that Nicole has great gluten free treats for all those Celiac's out there. She makes a granola bar that I bought 12 of last week. I have not tried the Ice Cream but will this weekend though. I know her booth is only at the BRFM. Oh yea, the cookies she makes are devine.
L'Explorateur is now a member of Dining for Miles. You can now earn frequent flier miles there. Woohoo! And remember Discover Card users, you can sign up now for their Oct-Dec cash back promotion and you get 5% cash back whenever you eat out (includes bars!). Sorry this sounded like an ad, but I love passing on great deals.
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