Cooking Tools That Rock: All-Clad Measuring Cups and Spoons and Spoons

My lovely, lovely sister gave me another gift card to Williams Sonoma recently, and I went on a very fun shopping spree! I spent over an hour in the store, and *still* forgot that I wanted to get a hand torch for brulee. Oh well. I'm sure there will be a next time.

One of the amazing items I picked up was a new set of measuring cups. I've been married for over 10 years, and don't do massive amounts of cooking, but have still managed to break no less than THREE measuring cup sets. My first set was cheap plastic. I graduated to stainless steel cups after that, and STILL broke two different sets. Usually I break off the handles. I've also managed to stab holes in the cups with knives...how, I'm not quite sure!

A few months ago, when my sister gave me another gift card, I splurged on a set of All-Clad stainless steel measuring spoons. They're absolutely fantastic. They are a very high-quality stainless steel, very solid and a good weight. The set I have is round and very deep, and all of them, EVEN THE TABLESPOON, all fit into standard size spice jars!

When I went back to Williams-Sonoma this time, I decided that I was going to just spend the money on the All-Clad measuring cups as well, since I was so happy with the spoons, and had just broken the handles off two more cheap measuring cups. I've been using them for a couple of months now, and am very happy with them! They have riveted handles that I doubt I will be able to break off, are a wonderful weight that feel great in your hand, are very stable on the counter top, and clean up nicely. I look forward to cooking and baking so that I can use them!

(I will admit that I also have a collapsible silicone set that another sister purchased for me, but I think they're harder to clean, and are not as stable on the counter...so they usually stay in the drawer.)

Actually, while drooling over the store, I realized that I could buy a box with both a set of the measuring cups and another set of measuring spoons, for just $9 more than the set of cups alone. The set of cups is $30, and the spoons are $16, but a set of both is $39.00. Because I am lazy efficient, and don't want to have to pause to wash out measuring spoons during a cooking and baking marathon, I decided to just go ahead and purchase the set. So now I have one set of the measuring cups, and two sets of the spoons. Bliss!

Actually, the specific measuring spoons are actually exclusive to Williams-Sonoma. The spoons I purchased look like this:


The spoons on Amazon are more round:



Because of the fitting-into-spice-jars feature, I'd much prefer the style at Williams-Sonoma.

And the measuring cups...they're so pretty!


All-Clad also makes an "odd-size" set of measuring cups with 1 1/2 tablespoons and 2 tablespoons, and then a 2/3, 3/4 and 1 1/2 cups. I suppose that some people would be interested in these sizes; I'd probably just get them confused with my other measuring devices, so I don't think I'll be splurging on them any time soon.

Please, do yourself a favor: If you are going to buy measuring cups or spoons, get quality! These are fantastic. My rating: 5 stars

Review: The World at Table JEWISH FOOD

I frequently preview cookbooks at the library before purchasing them. I only have so much space on my bookshelves and need to be selective. I picked up a great find at the library this week, and this one is a keeper! (Of course I'll return it to the library. Sheesh. But it will be on my Kaboodle wish list. )

Matthew Goodman's Jewish Food: The World at Table, published by HarperCollins provides one of the more comprehensive overviews of Jewish cooking throughout the world. Yeah, we all love Yemenite, Moroccan, American and Hungarian cooking. That's nothing new. But Matthew Goodman goes beyond the usual international Jewish cookbook and intersperses details about additional Jewish communities (many of which no longer exist). For example, he provides details about how Jews ended up in Bombay and Calcutta, India, and then provides select recipes from their community. As one of my sisters just married a young man from the community that formerly lived in Bombay and Calcutta (his father, aunt and other relatives were born there), it was a pleasure to see the Narla Chi Kadi (Bombay Coconut and Green Mango Soup) , Aloo Makala (Calcutta Deep-Fried Potatoes) and Kombdi Cha Kanji (Bombay Curried Chicken). I'll be making that last one for the Friday night Shabbos meal on this upcoming Sukkos holiday weekend. I just don't have any tamarind paste, so I guess I'll have to do without.

In addition to the usual countries (Spain, Yemen and Morocco for example), there are also essays about Alsace, Salonika, Ionnina (I'll bet you never heard of that one - it's in Greece), Bukhara, Rome, and Baghdad.

Matthew also wrote essays on various dishes and explained where they came from, and how there are prepared in different communities. For example, there is an essay about Borekas (did you know that they're originally from Turkey?), and details about Herring, Chicken Soup, Rice, Poultry, Cabbage and others. In the section about Chicken Soup, he explains how chicken soup, considered by many to be associated with Ashkenaz cooking, actually started in other Middle Eastern countries. Iraqi Jews eat chicken soup with rice, in Greece they blend their soup with Egg and lemon (it's called Avgolemeno), and is also popular in Turkey, Italy and Yemen. He then provides a European chicken soup recipe (Goldene Yoich), a recipe from Calcutta called Marag, and Shorba Bi Djaj (the aforementioned Iraqi soup), along with recipes for kreplach and Matzo Balls.

All in all, this is an excellent overview of international Jewish cooking, with a good balance of recipes and background materials. It is not a thorough overview of any particular community's cuisine, but it does provide a wide selection of recipes for every kosher food type. I look forward to referring to this cookbook during my upcoming cooking for the holiday.