You Spin Me Right Round...

I love kitchen gadgets.  It’s almost a little obsessive and ridiculous.  In fact, one of my favorite things to do when I was on tour was visiting kitchen stores.  Williams- Sonoma, Kitchen Collection, even Bed Bath & Beyond!  Why did I do this on tour, you ask?  Because I couldn't take things home with me!

I mean, let’s be realistic; you only need so many gadgets.  And unless you have a massive kitchen and unlimited storage space, you really need to weed through the options.  Avocado slicer? Nice idea, but I call that a knife.  An egg cracker? Really? A waffle iron, cupcake maker, donut hole maker, and French toast stick maker… where are you going to store these things?  Other than the waffle iron everything else can be done with items you may already have around your home.  However, there are a couple items that might not be on your everyday essential item list that you really should consider.

Enter the salad spinner.  This may actually be my favorite gadget (and yes, I do own one).  Plus, BONUS,  it multi-tasks as a storage container!  What’s a salad spinner?  What does it do?  Magic.  Magic is what it is and what it does.

In actuality, a salad spinner is exactly that.  A bowl.  That spins salad.  Generally a basket fits inside a smaller bowl and as the basket portion is spun, water is removed using centrifugal force (yeah million dollar phrase!) from the now cleaned and washed greens.  That’s right, no spreading romaine all over your kitchen on paper towels to dry.  And for the thrifty side of you, no more needing to buy pre-washed because cleaning greens is so inconvenient.

Not only that, but you can store your greens inside the bowl once they've been spun.  Dump the water, dry the bowl, and you now have a dry storage space that will help you keep your greens crisper longer.  Less wiltage = less waste.  Always a good thing.  Plus, BONUS! If you have a clear spinner (like I do) you'll see the beautiful crisp greens staring at you every time you open the fridge, and how could you not want to add a little of that to your next meal? 

So if you are asking, “Are you telling me this is something that can allow me to buy less expensive and is easy to use?”  The answer is a resounding yes.  Yes, I know.  Your prayers have been answered.

Moral of the story, if you don’t have a salad spinner, you’re missing out.  Go and get one, you can thank me later.