Sale ends Thursday, March 1
Our Housewares Department focuses on tools for food preparation, offering a collection of tools we’ve tried and we love. As you walk our aisles, you will find products from this department spread throughout the store, corresponding to the department you’re in. For example, when you’re our in our baking area, you’ll find a great assortment of whisks, measuring tools, baking pans, and more. We choose tools that are simple, well-made and functional… tools we’ve tried and that have passed the test of people who love to cook and bake!
What's New
Vermont Farm Table Kitchen Tools and more!
Around this time of year there really isn’t anything quite like a well made, functional tool that is beautiful and unique enough to give as a gift and The good folks at Vermont Farm Table sure do deliver on both fronts.
It was a no-brainier that we would carry the amazingly well constructed and well priced rolling pins and chopping blocks from VTFT. Made out of either Maple, Cherry or Walnut, these solid pieces of wood are hand crafted, durable, beautifully simple and simply beautiful. It wasn’t much of a stretch then to think that folks would also love their absolutely stunning French Paddle boards as well. But we were pretty blown away when Dustin, the man behind the tables, said he wanted to raffle off a table in our store!
Yup, you read right. On December 28th, we’ll be holding a drawing for the fantastic 36″x60″ shaker style dinner table that has taken up residence in our cheese department. This table’s gorgeous reclaimed pine top sits on a base made from locally harvested cherry and it could be yours!
A good table is the heart of the home. Stop by Customer service and sign up for your chance to revitalize your kitchen or dining room in time for the new year with a one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted piece from Vermont Farm Table.
Warm Up Part 2 – Emily Henry Flame®
Last time I wrote about baking to stave off the desire to fire up the furnace before its time, but let’s face it, there’s only so much baking you can do, even this time of year. This time around I’ll highlight some amazing cookware that begs to be used on any and all cooking surfaces.
On the stovetop, in the oven, on the grill. Cast Iron, right?
Nope. Ceramic.
Welcome Emile Henry’s Flame® line! Introduced in 2005, this is the first ceramic cookware that can be used directly on the stovetop or gas grill. Its super strong glaze allows you to use metal utensils and in the case of the Pizza and Grill Stones, cut directly on the piece. Cleanup is crazy easy because you can pop these babies in the dishwasher AND they are about 30% lighter than cast iron which means they are super easy to handle.
Don’t get me wrong, I love cast iron. No really, I love cast iron. It’s just that, if I’m being honest, there are times I don’t feel like schlepping my big enameled roaster or going through the cleanup ritual for my seasoned pieces. All that and the Emile Henry Flame® line is SO nice to look at with subtle timeless design and classic, understated yet beautiful colors…
Don’t worry cast iron, you’ll never be replaced, but you will have to share the cupboard.
The Emile Henry company has been around in one form or another since 1850 and they have always made their pottery in Marcigny, in the South of Burgundy. I don’t quite know why, but I think it’s really cool that they still obtain all of the clay that they use from the same river that is adjacent to the factory. In fact, all of their materials are naturally derived and they are devoted to having an efficient factory and responsible company which is always nice.
We chose the Flame® products because of their durability, beauty and versatility. I love starting my 10″x16″ roaster on the stovetop to get a little color on some veggies and then transferring it the the oven for some low and slow goodness. The Pizza and Grill Stones make a great gift for grillers and bakers alike. Either piece can be used in the oven or on the grill for bread, pizza or a beautifully roasted meal outdoors. You can’t go wrong.
Stay warm and be well.
de Buyer
These pans are rocking our world!
Made in France from 99% iron (more on that later), these pans come with an organic beeswax finish and are just plain sweet. These simple and beautiful cooking tools, if cared for properly, will last a lifetime. They guarantee it.
But wait! What? Why? Who?!
Sorry, I get excited when I write about cookware. I’ll begin at the beginning.
The company has been around since 1830; they started as sheet metal manufacturers and moved into cookware. They only export a small portion of their full product line to the United States, but honestly these “Mineral Pans” are where it’s at. The cost-to-quality ratio is just awesome and they are a great marriage of the best qualities of both stainless steel cookware and cast iron. Don’t you just love “best of both worlds” scenarios?
These pans are sleek and relatively agile like stainless steel but they are heavier. The upside to their extra heft is that they retain heat like cast iron but because they are stamped and not cast, they are much thinner (2mm-3mm depending on the size of the pan) and thus way less clunky than cast iron.
de Buyer calls the line Mineral Pans because they are made of 99% pure iron (a mineral) which means that they get seasoned like cast iron. Any cast iron veteran will tell you that the beautiful patina that a good seasoning will garner is unmatched in it’s non-stick properties.
Another cool feature is that unlike most pre-seasoned cast iron that is protected from oxidation (rust) during transit and storage by a petroleum-based lubricant that really should be burned off before use, de Buyer uses an organic beeswax coating on the Mineral line that can be left on and in fact aids in the seasoning process. How thoughtful of them!
We stock 8, 10 and 12 inch pans in the traditional “Lyonnaise” style fry pan as well as a 9.5 inch “country pan” that has higher sides almost like a wok, but with a wider base. Any of these little wonders would make a great addition to your home collection or a glorious gift for the gastronomically inclined in your life.
Hurom Slow Juicer Demo
On your mark. Get Set! Slow.
Bad puns aside, if you are inclined to juice I would highly recommend swinging by our Hurom Slow Juicer Demo on Wednesday November 16th starting at noon at our Demo Center.
This little bad boy is the latest and greatest in the juicing world and it’s getting a lot of attention. It is so named because its motor runs at a decidedly less-than-brisk 80rpm. The slow motor speed eliminates the oxidation and separation that often occur with traditional juicers and preserves enzymes and nutrients that are harmed by the friction generated by faster motors. The juice is delicious, absolutely fresh and loaded with the good stuff!
The name is somewhat of a misnomer because the Hurom actually extracts juice more rapidly than many other juicers (nothing like being mislead by a kitchen appliance, right?). The pulp it expels is very dry and the yield is impressive. When we initially fired it up, just a couple tomatoes made more juice than 3 of us could drink comfortably before the next sample was ready. All this and the Hurom’s relatively small counter-top footprint have put us in major juicing mode! We love the tasty juices we’re creating with our Hurom.
Come see (and taste) for yourself Wednesday November 16th from noon to 2:30 PM at our Demo Center.
Warm Up Part 1 – USA Pan
Each year when Autumn approaches I find myself inventing a deadline before which I refuse to turn the heat on in my house. Until that date I insist on bundling and huddling no matter how cold it gets, whatever it takes, as long as I don’t break the trust I have earned over the years with my furnace.
This is a totally arbitrary practice that disregards comfort entirely. Yet still, I do it every year.
More and more however, I find myself trying to cheat my own self-imposed system. I find ways of “heating” the house without heating the house. Cooking is certainly the most delicious way to do this.
It’s funny because for most of the summer I avoid cooking inside; the thought of turning on the oven or boiling water and the resulting increase in heat and humidity is so repulsive that I simply don’t do it, and now I find myself thing “what could I bake?” My next thought is usually “nothing.” While I love to cook, I’m not much of a baker. Apart from being somewhat daunted by the chemistry of it all, I don’t really have the gear and as a result my stuff always sticks to the pan and about half of what I make is edible (for the longest time, my sole sheet pan was that enameled thing with the ridges that comes with your oven, not ideal for cookies).
While a healthy dose of practice is about all that will solve my fear of mixing and measuring, I’ve found a solution for my inadequate baking vessels, hello there USA Pan. USA Pan is the domestic line from American Pan Company, a long-time manufacturer of commercial bakeware. These pans are truly rockin’.
I will admit, I never saw myself getting fired up about cookie sheets and loaf pans, yet here I stand. Here’s what’s cool about them:
Awesome materials
In addition to being manufactured in the United States, these pans are made of 65% recycled steel which offers superior heat transfer, corrosion resistance and durability.
These pans are hefty. Not heavy, but undeniably solid. You know when you pick something up and you just get that feeling in your gut? That from-the-reptilian brain “this is the real deal” sense. Yeah, I got that with these pans
The non-stick coating on these pans is actually a proprietary silicone coating that is glassy in appearance, slippery to the touch and provides truly superior food release.
I baked cookies on my cookie sheet and did not grease the pan at all, when I took the cookies out of the oven they almost slid off of the sheet!
Crazy cool design
The surface of these pans is corrugated, so it has a rib-like feel to it. This serves to promote airflow beneath your soon-to-be-baked deliciousness which makes cooking times and temperatures more efficient. This design also helps in the release of the food from the pan since there is less actual food/pan contact.
Think about a corrugated metal roof and how snow flies off it. Almost the same idea here.
Needless to say, I’m sold on these. Plus, with the ease they add to frequent baking, I’ve been able to keep my furnace off for a few more days.
Stop by and check them out for yourself, we’ve got loaf pans, cookie sheets and cake pans to peruse. Also, for those in the anti-gluten camp, they make a high-sided loaf pan that is just perfect for baking loaves of gluten free bread (Margaret, our gluten-free-goddess baker says so!).
Stay cozy!
Brew Kits!
Do you love craft-brewed beer?
Have you ever wanted to sit back with some friends and bask in the glow of personal achievement and absolute glory that comes when you’re enjoying a beer YOU brewed?
Do you fear the monetary and spacial commitment that accompanies a standard 5-gallon homebrew setup?
If you or somebody you love (or are otherwise obligated to give a gift to) experiences these rhetorical conundrums, fear not! We’re here to help! Allow me to introduce the Brooklyn Brew Shop’s Beer Making Kit. This little guy comes with all the gear and ingredients you’ll need to brew 1 gallon of homemade beer. And not just one kind of beer either; we are currently featuring 3 selections from the BBS’s fantastic array of recipes.
Contained in one small box you’ll find a 1 gallon glass fermenting jug, a 3-piece chambered airlock, screw-top stopper, a laboratory thermometer, 4 feet of clear plastic tubing, tube clamp, a racking cane and the malted barley and hops you need to create your very own tasty adult beverage. Neat idea, huh?
Normally, home-brewers (like myself) brew 5 gallons of beer at a time which is great because that’s a lot of beer! Not so great because when you combine the cost of the equipment and storage space needed to keep your gear and your brew, it can be a pretty serious commitment.
Enter the Brooklyn Brew Shop Brew Kit. As their name suggests, these folks are from King’s County, New York where space is limited and kitchens especially are teeny tiny, so they decided to keep it small and create a kit perfect for space -savvy brewers. You utilize the same simple techniques you would to brew a larger batch of beer (they say “if you can make oatmeal, you can brew beer.” It’s almost that simple) but because your batch is diminutive you save on space and cash. Me likey.
As someone who just has to try before I buy, I had them send me one. Stay tuned for part two of my brew kit extravaganza in which I chronicle the brew process (complete with pictures!).
If you just can’t wait for another post, stop by. We love answering questions and currently have kits for Everyday IPA, Chocolate Maple Porter and Bourbon Dubbel. Yum.
And remember, you can’t buy what you can brew.
Cheers.
Mobbs is here!
Ever grab your reusable water bottle, take a big drink and had it taste like pond water? Don’t feel bad, it’s happened to us too. All it takes is leaving your water bottle unused at the office over the weekend or alone in your workout bag and bam, bacteria city. Gross.
As health conscious hydrators our options from that point on can be pretty limited. Soap and scrubbing will get the bottle clean but not cleansed, dishwashers can’t always reach the nooks and crannies and chlorine bleach is a big no no. What to do?
Well, thanks to the good folks from Clean Ethics, that particular dilemma can be put to rest. Meet Mobbs, it’s a non-toxic and biodegradable tablet that works wonders on reusable water bottles and hydration bladders alike. Mobbs is also pretty darn good at tackling tea and coffee stains too. Just pop a tablet into your bottle with warm water and let the effervescent magic begin!
For more information about what could be living inside your water bottle, why chlorine bleach is bad and who makes Mobbs check out www.themobbs.com