Madonna, I use that KitchenAid grinder for sausage regularly and like it, although my counters are so tall that I have to have a stool to reach up high enough to push the meat through the grinder.

I've also found that if the meat is very cold, even partially frozen, it goes through the grinder more easily.

Grind away, girl!

I also have a new toy, I found a Schlemmertopf clay baker at the bottom of a box of storage containers I got at the local on line auction. Now I just have to figure out what I can make in it, besides roast chicken.

Annie

I also have the KitchenAid grinder and use it fairly often. I bought it originally to make ground beef, but I stopped making that when Kevin moved in with me, as he will not eat it. I use it now mostly to grind cooked chicken or turkey to make salads, and I will sometimes add some pickled vegetables to the grinder, although it grinds them almost to mush. I usually use a mini food processor for mincing the vegetables that go into chicken/turkey or egg salad.

The most recent gadget I bought is a small ice cream type scoop that is sold as a scoop for cookie dough. I bought it to make ravioli, but I have yet to do that. I might use it for cookies at some point, but I make ravioli more often, and I thought this scoop would make it a bit easier to get the filling to the pasta.

My friend pooh-poohed these but found one reduced and couldn't resist. I love it! Has done as good a job squeezing out all the juice as my old favorite twisting type.

My mother gave me a cast iron meat grinder (aka food grinder) when we had our first child (now 44) to use for making baby food, and it's been making ground meat ever since. Remember.... these were a common kitchen tool before we got blenders and food processors. That tough cut of cooked beef was ground into sandwich meat, and bulk "torpedoes" of bologna were ground for "ham" salad sandwiches for the masses. The grinders were also used to grind fresh and dried bread crumbs and making minced meat, and sooooo many other things. I like to make my own ground turkey (using thighs or breasts) so I can leave the skin off. The skin is where much of the bacteria is located on poultry - so removing it is a good thing. When making ground beef you can now choose the size of the "grind". If it's going into chili I like a coarse grind. Annie is spot on about partially-frozen meat - one of the best tips. Another tip is to run a heel or slice of bread through to help clean the meat debris out of the grinder when you're done using it.

My newest gadget is a set of Rubbermaid "Fresh Works Produce Saver" with fresh vent technology. Since reading "Eating on the Wild Side" by Jo Robinson and learning how you need a small amount of air-flow for lettuce storage, this is what these storage units are designed for, and I liked that these storage units are BPA-free and come in 3 sizes. So far so good.....especially with all the fresh lettuce out of the garden right now. I was using a plastic bag poked with pin pricks suggested in the book, but I like the BPA-free containers much better.

@irisgal - The citrus squeezer also come in orange for oranges and green for limes, and Martha Stewart uses them all the time. :-)

Congrats on your find! I have the KA grinder too. Other than the height thing (and I'm not even short), it's really easy to use and clean. I seem to remember the grinder was one of the better attachments on the old Nu-Tone in the '60's, too. There are ways in which I'm sure the old cast iron crank might be more versatile, but easy is so much easier!

I got the Anova sous vide stick and will make pork tenderloin tomorrow at a perfect 135 degrees. I can't wait to try it out!

Those Rubbermaid containers look great. My local BB&B has them in stock, so I think I'll take my coupons and buy some.

I buy beef at the grocery store when it's on sale and they grind it into hamburger free, even put it in 1lb freezer packages. Don't know if you knew they'd do that? It saves a ton of time.

I haven't tried a hot air fryer or seen them in use, does sound interesting.

I've had the butcher grind for me, and have done small batches with my food processor - more tight mince though. The FP works well for clams, but for years I did those with my grandmothers food grinder - clamp onto a bread board and crank ;-)

I still have the grinder and wouldn't part with it. Were you speaking of one similar to this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/180869154478?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

Tonight was Red Robin potato wedges in the air fryer and I loved them. Now I'm trying to decide what I'll fix in it tomorrow. I bought the Farberware model and hoped it would be as good as what my friend bought even though it was $20 less than what my friend bought. It is definitely worth my purchasing it.

I do have the hand crank cast iron grinder with all the discs and will keep it. The KA grinder will be what I use, but I'll still keep the hand crank one. You never know when power will fail and you need to go back to the basics. Tomorrow will be a grinding day.

Definitely will have to look into the Rubbermaid containers. Thanks for letting us know about them, grainlady. Anything that helps keep food safe and fresh as long as possible appeals to me.

Madonna

How does the air fryer work? I have a Cool Daddy deep fryer, and I use it for making tempura, hush puppies, empanadas, etc. Will the air fryer work for those?

Last night I used a new gadget that I bought recently and had forgotten about - it is a bamboo wok spatula, and it did a great job on the stir-fry I made using leftover bean noodles (from Kevin's lunch) and some leftover rice pilaf. I added a large amount of fresh ginger plus garlic, onion, and zucchini to the mix, plus three eggs at the end, which I mixed with my Habanero chili sauce. The bamboo spatula did a great job of scraping up everything from the wok, and therefore nothing got burned or overcooked. I had read a review that said these spatulas were not necessary, but I very much disagree with that review and ignored it anyway when I bought the spatula.

Lars, from what I understand, to make something wet like hush puppies, you have to freeze the batter balls first, and coat them in a little oil.

I have a new gadget, but it's still in the box. I was given one of those multi-cooker appliances, like Johnliu was talking about. The box says it's both a slow cooker and pressure cooker. I'm not sure what to use it for. I never had any kind of pressure cooker, but I've never felt the need. I trust I'll learn from all of you when to use it. :) I keep looking at the box and thinking it would be great in an RV. But we don't have an RV. :) I know there are some that also do smoking in a pressure cooker. I could really get into that...

I bought an immersion blender for the church....was sick of toting mine when I wanted to make something that needed it. I was amazed at how many of the women helping, who have been cooking for their families for years had never seen one nor knew what it might be for!

Linda, that is amazing.

I remember when I first saw an 'immersion blender' being used. It was in a Taco Bell back in the very early '80's. An employee was using a drill with a huge long mixing bit of some kind chucked into it to mash beans for refried beans. Back when TB used pressure cookers to make beans from scratch, before the dehydrated beans they use now. Anyway, I remember thinking, 'What a great idea'. TB's 'Pintos & Cheese' was one of my favorite snacks, Taco Bell being within walking distance from where I lived then.