Microplane Elite Zester

Every year I host a traditional Slovak feast, and there’s one dish that requires a lot of grated potato. A lot. I used to find it crippling—until I discovered the Microplane, that is. It makes grating a dream, and it’s quickly become the top tool in my kitchen—not just for potatoes, but for grating ginger, garlic, citrus rind, cheese, chocolate (and I’m sure a lot of other things I’m forgetting right now). (It turns out it was a Canadian woman who’s credited for bringing the traditional woodworking tool into the kitchen—she grabbed her husband’s Microplane to grate an orange, and the rest is history.) They’ve just launched a new Elite Zester that will soon be in my baking rotation: it includes a transparent cover that doubles as a measurement tool for when I’m zesting limes and oranges for my favourite cream-cheese icing recipe. And nothing says spring (it’s coming, right?) like confetti-coloured icing atop a coconut cake.

Elite Zester, $19.95, available in Vancouver and Calgary at London Drugs, londondrugs.com

Le Creuset Dutch Oven

I’ve developed a new Sunday afternoon ritual, perfect for the extra-chilly winter we’ve had this year: I test out a new, warming recipe that will get me through dinner that night, and a few lunches that week. (Yesterday’s recipe was a particularly yummy one from Vij’s Relax, Honey cookbook: mung beans in coconut curry.) I’ve noticed, however, that the trusty Dutch oven a friend gave me (about, oh, a dozen years ago or so) has started to show its wear, and the handles are threatening to give way at an inopportune moment (like say, when the pot is full of hot curry). So I’ve got my eyes on the gold standard of Dutch ovens, a new Le Creuset, in my favourite Colour of the Year, Radiant Orchid (or Cassis, if you’re talking in Le Creuset-speak.) They’re perfect for stove top to oven to table, and with a container this pretty, I know whatever I make will be perfect.

Le Creuset Dutch Oven, from $170, available in Vancouver and Calgary at Williams-Sonoma  williams-sonoma.com

Portmeirion Christmas Wish Footed Cake Plate

This year, I’m participating in not one, but two cookie exchanges—which means this past weekend was spent creating tiny macaroons filled with lime curd (drop me a line if you’d like the recipe!). Of course, it also means my freezer will soon be filled with cookies for the two annual parties I host—one before December 25, and another in time for Slovak Christmas on January 6. A friend of mine got me into using cake stands for serving cookies, after she brought me a pretty pale green one for my 40th birthday this year (they’re perfect for layering your tabletop—cheese and fruit on platters below, cookies on top). For the festive season, this holiday-themed version from Portmeiron would make a perfect centerpiece.

PORTMEIRION Christmas Wish Footed Cake Plate, $60, available at the Bay, thebay.com.

Skull Cake Pans

There is an undeniable truth I’ve come to accept about myself: I make terrible Halloween costumes. I like to think I have great ideas (a hurricane, a resident of the Capitol from The Hunger Games) but the execution fails miserably (the former looked like a potato, the latter, a little trampy). But I’m excellent at Halloween-themed baking, so for a theme-day get together with friends, I’m pulling out these wicked skull pans from Williams-Sonoma. Dusted with black sanding sugar (thanks, Gourmet Warehouse!), the finished cake will make an excellently ghoulish centerpiece for the table.

Skull Cake Pans, $44.80, Vancouver and Calgary at Williams-Sonoma, williams-sonoma.com.

 

Saft Rabarber Rhubarb Cordial

When I was a kid, my mom used to make a sweet rhubarb stew for dessert. Essentially, it’s rhubarb pie filling cooked on a stove top with plenty of sugar and cinnamon, the resulting concoction poured warm over vanilla ice cream (or stolen by the spoonful from the pot itself.) It’s pure comfort food.

Which is why Ikea’s seasonal rhubarb concentrate is a nostalgic reminder of summer for me: a little bitter, a little sweet, and perfect mixed with soda water or something stronger. I plan to have plenty of it on hand come July long weekend.

Saft Rabarber rhubarb cordial, $3.99, available at Ikea, ikea.ca.

High-Tech Oven

I’ve just come back from a whirlwind tour of GE Monogram’s gorgeous showroom in the Architects and Designers building in New York City (a one-stop shop of nearly every grand design brand—I was a kid in a candy store). And I’ve now got a new piece to add to my dream kitchen wish list: GE’s Monogram Advantium oven, a four-in-one built-in that’s as Futurama as it gets. I witnessed it bake a perfect piece of salmon in four minutes and a juicy rack of lamb in 14—all through pre-programmed “recipes” that balance a percentage of power from its four cooking elements: a convection fan, a halogen light overhead, a ceramic heater underneath and a microwave. Now, if I can just convince Marcus Samuelsson to share his Fried Yard Bird recipe from his Harlem-based Red Rooster, I’ll have left NYC totally happy.

GE Monogram Advantium oven, $3,749, available in West Vancouver at Y Franks, edmondsappliances.ca/yfranks.htm and Calgary at Castle Appliances, castleappliance.com.

Le Creuset in Quince

I’m gearing up for a ski weekend at Mt Baker, and by gearing up, I mean planning our menu. (Truth be told, we get almost as much excitement about the great meals we’ll eat as we do about an epic powder day). I’m keeping it relatively simple for the first night, with a go-to bouillabaisse recipe from one of my favourite James Barber cookbooks, One Pot Wonders. (We featured his simple but tasty fishcakes from the same book in the magazine a few years ago). Recipe down, now I just need the perfect pot to cook it in—and wouldn’t you know it, Le Creuset has just launched a new colour. A dutch oven in Quince, a warm yellow that’s a perfectly sunny shade for a winter weekend, will host the bouillabaisse on top the stove, and stay warm in the oven for those Nexus-less friends stuck at the border. Le Creuset Signature Oval Dutch Oven, from $408.28 at Williams-Sonoma, williams-sonoma.ca

Beautiful Baguette Pan

This past weekend I became the lucky recipient of a friend-of-a-friend’s 100-year-old sourdough starter. (He likes to share it around in case he kills the batch he’s got. Who wants to be the one that ended a 100-year-old tradition?) I celebrated by immediately booking a brunch date with friends for next weekend, since I’ve now got the perfect excuse to make sourdough cinnamon buns.

But on my to-master list is perfectly crispy sourdough baguette. I don’t have a steam oven, so it’l take a bit of old-fashioned labour on my end (I hear a spritz bottle works fine too), with a bit of a cheat from these excellent pans from Williams-Sonoma. The perforated surface allows air to circulate around the dough, while the curved sides allow for even heat. I’ll be launching a boulangerie in no time.

On-Trend Owl Accessories

I have to admit, I’ve been won over by the ubiquitous owls this season. They’re on throw pillows, linens, even paperweights, like this sweet cast-iron number by Saikai. Perhaps even more suited to this season? A Wise Ol’ Cannister from Anthropologie, perfect for goodies I’ll reap from this weekend’s cookie exchange. Wise Ol’ Cannister, $128. Anthropologie, Vancouver, 604-734-2529; Calgary, 403- 252-7411, anthropologie.com; Mimizuku cast iron owl paperweight by Saikai. $73, Provide, 604-632-0095, providehome.com

Swoon-Worthy Rolling Pin

I’ve just survived a 21-day challenge on the Paleo diet (no sugar, no grains, no booze, no fun). And though I’m planning on trying to stick with a lot of the principles leading up to the holiday season, I’m going to take a much-needed break this weekend with some pre-holiday baking (a test run at the Slovak poppyseed loaf, makovnik). Of course, one can never have enough baking supplies, and I’m swooning for this Baylunn Rolling pin by Tahir Mahmood with pretty pink and blue tips for the American centre-rolling style (is it déclassé to say I prefer it?), or green and blue for the solid, European-style centre. It’ll be a weekend of sweet old-country food paired with high-style design. Baylunn Rolling pin, $65, available in Vancouver and online at Homewerx, homewerx.ca