CdL, Oh brother...don't get me started!

Since I can no longer cook & DH has taken over MY kitchen he's been replacing stuff faster than I can keep track. I noticed he was using a new large slotted spoon a few weeks back & asked about the old spoon. He just shrugged. I said, "DH, that was your MOTHER'S spoon. It was SPECIAL!"

:(

/tricia (who also has/had a kitchen full of 30+ year old kitchen gadgets)

I remembered your post about the garlic mincer (3-4 months ago?) & finally ordered it - it arrived at my office today so I haven't tried it yet. I've wanted some type of new garlic smasher for at least a year but hadn't found one that really thrilled me until I saw the Joseph Joseph model.

Hey CdL! I use a potato ricer, the large one from Williams Sonoma. My mashed potatoes are a hit at the Thanksgiving Dinner table so I had to upgrade to keep the mystic going. I did buy a masher for the mashed whole roasted potatoes--I don't remember what that recipe is called.

We're still using an old one I got when I got married the first time in 1968. We had picked up a second one in 2002 when we had a vacation house rental in the Poconos and it was black plastic. Apparently my husband hated the black one and constantly complained about it. So I just took it and threw it away which totally startled him..like it only cost maybe a buck or two. Now he is happy using the old one again. Don't ask why he used the other one at all because there is no understanding that man!
Joann

My most recent upgrade was for a new stick blender, and I got the Kitchenaid one that has attachments for use as a mini-food processor, which I also needed to replace. The previous hand blender was only about 2-3 years old (I had thought I had upgraded to a cordless stick blender, but that turned out to be a downgrade), but at least 15 years for the mini food processor. I don't use the mini food processor attachment as much as I did the old one (I tend to forget about it and had gotten used to using a knife instead), but I use the stick blender a lot more, and it works better than the earlier Braun model that I had for maybe 20 years. I now tend to use it in place of a regular blender when possible because it is easier to clean, even though I upgraded my blender recently as well. We got a new toaster oven about a year ago, but that was for aesthetic reasons and perhaps not the best idea, but it does look better.

Lars

Here is a link that might be useful: Hand blender

I hate lumps in my mashed potatoes so like Cathy, I use a ricer.

Ann

My last upgrade was a Christmas gift...one of those Beater Blades for my Kitchen Aid. What a difference it makes for creaming butter & sugar. Wish I had gotten one a long time ago.

Actually, I had been waiting for someone to come up with a metal one rather than the plastic ones. Just got tired of waiting & put it on my Christmas list. Now wouldn't you know that KA has finally brought out their version. And it's metal.

Dang it.

Anyway, for anyone who has been more patient or needs to replace a broken plastic one, here it is:

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Aid Flex Edge Beater

Oh Tricia! I don't think I could handle someone throwing out stuff no matter how long I've had it! Clearly, he has no sentimental attachment to your kitchen tools.

Antiquesilver, I hope you love the garlic mincer as much as I do. I love it every time I use it, which is quite a lot. It's so much easier to clean now, which is part of the ''deal'' for me.

Cathy and Ann, I use a food mill for ricing my potatoes for mashed, so it's just a larger version of the same thing. The handle that cranks around is easier on me than squeezing two handles together, and I like to do all the spuds at once. I agree with you about using a ricer for a complete lump-free texture. I do like to use a hand-masher for things like beans sometimes.

Joann, sometimes it's good to try new things even if we find them to be completely inadequate. I suppose it makes us appreciate the old tried and true!

Lars, you will love your Kitchenaid stick blender. That's the one I have; I've even taken it with me on vacations. You'd be surprised how many times I used the wire whip, and it's compact enough it's no problem to pack along.

Ci lantro, my dh bought me the attachment a few years ago, not realizing my Kitchen Aid is so old that it's not the ''standard'' size. (Bless him; he was trying.) That is definitely a good upgrade!

I bought a 1970's Cuisinart CFP-5, then upgraded to a 1980's Cuisinart DLC-7, then upgraded to a 1980's Magic Mill DLX. I am keeping all of them, and for awhile kept them all out on the counter, until SWMBO had a hissy fit. It appears my counter clutter was crowding out her counter clutter.

Utensils - spatulas, spoons, whisks and the like - are surprisingly hard to upgrade. You get used to the curve and feel of your old spatula, and then a new one - even the identical model - feels too straight and too springy. Your favorite old wooden spoon has been worn to fit the curve of your favorite pot so perfectly that when it finally breaks you have a mini-rant and then a little funeral. The new wooden spoon is too clean, too smooth, too sharp-edged. It is awkward and charmless. You beat it against the lip of the pot rather harder and longer than necessary to merely dislodge food bits. Are you trying to accelerate the new spoon's aging, or is this acting out the residual grief over old faithful's passing?

Yes, this sentimentality over everyday material objects is silly. SWMBO has none of it. She'll sweep through the utensil crock like an assassin, disappearing the old and loyal, replacing with the young and plastic. Sometimes, sadly gazing at where Wooden Spoon With The Scorched Tip used to stand, you think - when will it be my turn?

Claire.... that is great you found a masher you love.

Lars, I envy you with that Kitchen Aid immersion blender... I have the same one, but mine did not come with the accessories, and I wanted them. When I needed one, I looked on QVC because they had the one with the accessories you mention, but they were out of stock at the time and didn't know if/when they would be getting more back. That was before I bought my big Breville blender, so I needed something... I went to Target and got it, and while it's a great hand blender, I wish I had the whip and mini processor as well. I had to keep my old hand blender just for the whip attachments (it was the plastic blade shaft that broke and created my need for the Kitchen Aid). Now I see that Breville has made an immersion blender that just looks AMAZING.... I swear, that company does everything better... and of course after I already got other stuff they come out with new and improved!!

I haven't been buying much kitchen stuff lately... my kitchen is busting at the seams with stuff.... I'm going to have to start keeping kitchen "stuff" under the bathroom sink or something! Just to keep on topic though, I do have an "upgrading" story even though it's not too recent (I've had my toaster oven a year now)...

I remember how long I went without a toaster oven before buying one, and how much it has improved my life! When I wanted to toast bread, I had to turn the gas oven on and stick the bread down in the broiler drawer... then keep pulling the drawer open with my pinky toe to check how done it was and then flip it and repeat the process. It was super tedious and I burned it EVERY TIME.... I didn't get a toaster oven because I thought I didn't have space for it. After ruining a lot of bread, I decided that if I put the never used vacuum sealer in a drawer, and got a small toaster oven it would be fine.... so I bought the Hamilton Beach toast station and it has been bliss ever since. I love that it can be used like a regular toaster or an oven, but the oven part is small... hence the reason it doesn't take up too much counter space!

I guess the "big blender" was an upgrade too.... I tried to get by for so long with just an immersion blender, but really the immersion blender is just good for soups. It splashes everything else so badly and sucks down to the bottom of the mixing vessel (apparently the new Breville doesn't do that)... My excuse for not getting a big blender was the same as the one for the toaster oven.... I didn't have the counter space.... but all I had to do was move the stand mixer and I "found" room! Sooo much better for making smoothies.

Isn't it funny how we make excuses to ourselves about why we should stick with something that doesn't work well, and then when we finally break down and replace it, we are sooooo glad?!

Here is a link that might be useful: Playing with the Breville Blender....

Johnliu, your post gave me a grin. It sounds like your upgrades have put you in a position to make anything you'd like. I hear you about finding utensils being hard to upgrade. Once we get used to something, there are Reasons for liking what we do! The visual of the wooden spoon with the scorched tip also made me smile...I don't mind feeling sentimental about certain useful things.

Bobby, It truly is amazing to have appliances that really work for us, isn't it? I'm still kicking myself a little bit for cooking on an antique Magic Chef gas range for so many decades. My food got much better when I had an oven I could set digitally. I guess what it lacked in temperature precision allowed me to heat my farmhouse kitchen during the winter months, all things being relative!