Posted on: Saturday, April 23, 2005
SATURDAY SCOOPS
10 kitchen essentials
Advertiser Staff and News Services
The focus of today's shopping list: the kitchen. If you're just starting out in a new apartment (or looking for a gift for someone who is — from newlyweds to recent grads), what do you really need? We asked experts to suggest basic tools no cook should be without.
1. Wooden spoons Susanna Linse, media relations manager for Seattle-based Sur La Table cookware stores, has six or seven and uses them for any dish requiring long or frequent stirring. "They feel good in the hand, and they don't get hot like metal," she explained. Also, they don't scratch non-stick surfaces. Look for spoons made from cherry, olive or boxwood. Dana Benigno, a cooking teacher and owner/creator of Chicagocooks.com, a culinary resource Web site, suggests a chef's knife and a paring knife. The chef's knife ("the one you see every TV chef using") is the basic utility knife, used for chopping vegetables and smashing garlic. Most chefs use a 10- or 8-inch knife, though cooks with smaller hands and arms may prefer a 6-inch knife.
The paring knife — about 6 inches long — is for smaller jobs, like removing stems from tomatoes or coring pears.
"Each time I use a knife, I pass it over the steel," Benigno said.
"I've melted a lot of spatulas over the years," said Susanna Linse, media relations manager for Seattle-based Sur La Table cookware stores. "With these, you'll never have that problem." They are heat-resistant to 500 degrees.
"It has flexible wires and a large, open head, so it's terrific for aerating," said pastry chef Melina Kelson-Podolsky, an instructor at Kendall College in Chicago and a caterer. Benigno recommended an 8-quart stockpot, a 4-quart saucepan, a 12-inch skillet with lid and a 10-inch saute pan with slanted sides. Benigno also put ovenproof handles on her list of requirements. "It gives you double duty if your stove-top cookware is oven-safe," she explained. Many experts prefer large wooden boards, usually made of maple, but Theo Gilbert, a professional chef and director of operations for Windy City Pasta Works in Chicago, recommended a flexible plastic cutting surface, which can be used to shift ingredients from countertop to cooking pot. "You just stick it in the food, and it quickly tells you the temperature, from 0 to 222 degrees," Linse explained.
Buy different tools to measure solid and liquid ingredients, counseled Debbie Walt, sales associate at Chef's Catalog in Highland Park, north of Chicago.
Measuring cups for solid ingredients such as flour and sugar typically come in sets of four with straight edges 1/4-, 1/3-, 1/2- and 1-cup measures. Liquid ingredients are typically measured in 2-cup or 4-cup "pitchers."
"They are so versatile," Benigno said. Insert a rack and the pan can be used for roasting; turn it upside down, and you have a cookie sheet. Benigno prefers a commercial quality, heavy-duty sheet pan that measures 13 by 18 inches.
"That's the size that fits into most home ovens," she said.
— Virginia Gerst
Each year, a new crop of young designers is unleashed on the world after paying their dues in the Department of Apparel Product Design and Merchandising at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. Before they are allowed to graduate, however, they must pass an exhaustive final exam, designing and producing a full-on fashion show.
This year's show is called "Menagerie: a collection" and features a preview of lines created by the junior class as well as senior designer lines, called Red Carpet (couture), Eye Candy (men's wear) and Fantasy (an image-versus-reality theme).
The show begins at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. Tickets, at $28, include lunch. Call 956-2244. For information, write to janmock@hawaii.edu.
Advertiser library photo 2003 Tonight's feature film is "Raising Helen," starring Kate Hudson as a young professional who suddenly is forced to take care of her sister's three children. Tomorrow's film is "50 First Dates," starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. The comedy, filmed on O'ahu, finds Sandler wooing Barrymore, who has short-term memory loss, over and over.
Events begin at 4 p.m., and the movies start after the sun goes down, about 7 p.m. Free. 923-1094.
Hey, moms and mothers-to-be, here's a chance to learn more about everything from nursing to nannies. And it's all free.
Makana Mother & Baby maternity boutique is celebrating the opening of its store in the Kahala Atrium (4819 Kilauea Ave., near the YWCA) today by inviting special guests to provide information for pregnant and postpartum moms. Here's a roster:
• 10 a.m.: Barbara Essman, childbirth educator, massage therapist and infant-massage instructor. • 11 a.m.: The Cole Academy, provider of early-childhood education for keiki from 6 weeks to 5 years. • Noon: Aloha Nannies, a full-service agency, and WeePlay & Learn, an interactive play experience for parents and keiki. • 1 p.m.: PATCH Hawai'i childcare resources and Hawai'i Mother's Milk, an agency assisting nursing mothers through education and support. 2 p.m.: MothersCare for Tomorrow's Children, prenatal care and education for pregnant women.
3 p.m.: Kari Wheeling, certified doula (birthing coach), and Hawai'i Mothers Healthy Babies, a public education program.
• 4 p.m.: Baby Boot Camp, a fitness program for moms and their babies. Bring a stroller and wear athletic shoes for this one. Each customer attending the opening will receive a gift, as well as free bread samples from the nearby Great Harvest Bakery.
Call 734-2323 or visit www.makanamotherandbaby.com.
Advertiser library photo • May 4, 2003 That means much picnicking, much thundering of hooves and much camaraderie at the Moku-le'ia Polo Field tomorrow, opening day. There's a tribute to the late Martin Denny, master of exotica, too.
Gates open at 11 a.m. for picnicking, game time is 2 p.m. Admission is $7 general, free for kids. 637-8401.
• J. Forest Ocean Bennett, sculptor, 68-003 La'au Pa'ina Place, Mokule'ia. • R. Jeff Lee and Carol Lee, ceramics, 68-474 Crozier Drive, Mokule'ia. • M. Goodwill, painter/sculptor, 68-234 Au St., Mokule'ia • Jerome Heck, ceramics, 59-586 Akanoho Place, Pupukea. • Bill Braden, painter/sculptor, 59-079 Pukea Road, Sunset Beach. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and tomorrow.
You can download a map at www.hawaiinorthshoreartists.com.
In a step away from the limelight, she moved to Colorado, where she was startled at the effects the high-altitude environment had on women's complexions. She decided to make skin care her new career and created a line of botanical products called Astara Conscious Skin Care.
Griffin appears from noon to 5 p.m. today and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow at Sephora Ala Moana. She will offer tips on skin care in Hawai'i's hard-on-skin environment, as well as practical tips on using natural raw ingredients for an inexpensive at-home facial and spa experience.
An Astara aesthetician will join Griffin to offer free mini-facials.
2. Knives
3. Sharpening steel
4. Silicone spatula
5. Balloon whisk
6. Cookware
7. Cutting board
8. Instant-read thermometer
9. Measuring cups and spoons
10. Jellyroll pan
Chicago Tribune
New UH designers show their stuff
'Raising Helen' gets big-screen show at Waikiki's Sunset on the Beach
Sunset on the Beach returns to Waikiki this weekend with all the attractions attendees have come to expect — food booths, entertainment and movies on that 30-foot screen at Queen's Surf Beach.
Kate Hudson and Abigail Breslin star in "Raising Helen," about who steps in when disaster strikes a family.
New moms and future moms, this is for you
Sport of princes and picnickers
It's polo season in Mokule'ia.
The Mokule'ia polo season opens tomorrow with chukkers, chow and a salute to Martin Denny.
North Shore artists invite you to tour their studios this weekend
Ever wonder what it's like to be a working artist? Find out this weekend as several North Shore artists open their studio doors for free tours:
Skin care with Sunny at Sephora
Sunny Griffin was the country's highest-paid model in 1966 and went on to become the health and beauty correspondent for ABC's "Good Morning America" before starring opposite Dustin Hoffman in "John and Mary."
