Gear Hunting: Kitchen Carts

My kitchen and me, we have a complicated relationship. It's like that significant other you think you can help change for the better: you can add and subtract elements but the essence of a thing (or person) stays the same. So to keep a relationship going, you assess and make peace with what's possible. Change what you can and all that. The cabinets in my ’50s era kitchen have a weird layout that create dark corners where you can't see or fit anything into. On the honey-do list is tearing it all down and starting fresh. Until then, I've been eyeing kitchen carts for a quick way to add storage space and an additional prep surface. I'm about to welcome a stand mixer into the family and it needs a permanent spot to hang out and remind me to make multiple batches of treats.

Below are a few of the options I came across:

Classic
This can be a solution for when you don't have the budget to remodel or need more flexibility in your kitchen layout.


Source: Crate and Barrel


For Small Spaces
You can get creative with a smaller model. It can be a temporary island during prep or a serving cart for parties, and when you're done it can be tucked away in a corner.


Source: Ikea



Industrial
If seeing all those pro kitchens on your favorite food TV shows has you yearning for stainless steel, this cart's for you.


Source: Wisteria


DIY
If you can't find exactly what you need, why not make your own?

Holiday Baking 2011

Every year I think I'm going to bust out with a cookie baking marathon; once I even bought the gift containers but still I punk out. Maybe it's because I only have a few cookie types in my repertoire. Well, 2012 is the year I may fix that. (What's your favorite cookie recipe? Tell me all about it in the comments.)

I got a jumpstart on broadening my cookie horizons with these vegan chocolate chip chai cookies (all of you who familiar with my eating habits are gasping right now, thinking, girl, are you all right?). 




Rest assured; they're really tasty. A co-worker brought a batch as her backup for our department's annual bakeoff, and IMHO she should have entered these instead of benching them. The cardamom and other spices give off a bewitching fragrance, and how can you go wrong with chocolate?

My own entry: mincemeat tarts. 



I had a lot of fun making the brandied fruit and nut filling, especially since a food processor made it quick work. What took a lot of time was cutting out the dough for the tart shells and the star topping, so that got me thinking about turnovers... which got me obsessing about puff pastry. Why not use even larger pieces of buttery flaky dough as a vehicle for mincemeat? You plop a dollop on a square, fold over and go. 



So even though I didn't get to that cookie marathon, I managed to pick up a few new baking skills and recipes. 

Hope you had a Merry Christmas! What did you make this year?