Summer is upon us, which means soaking up the sun, eating lots and lot of ice cream and having picnics and barbecues with your friends. It also means you have access to your parents’ fully stocked kitchen of food and gadgets.
Most of these kitchen gadgets make us question the lives our parents lead while we are are away at college. Do our parents make their own pie crust filled with freshly pitted cherries? Do they make fruit salads of balled melons, hulled strawberries and sliced mangos? Most likely not, but for some reason, these weird gadgets remain in the drawers and cupboards of our parents’ kitchen.
Though we will never buy many of these random utensils, we should take advantage of them while we are at home this summer. So, here is a full list of all the completely random gadgets that your parents have in their kitchen.
1. Herb Scissors
Photo courtesy of aliexpress.com
Because chopping herbs with a knife is really hard, right? Though these scissors might be completely ridiculous, at least they look awesome; plus they are so fun to use. And you can now prepare this fried cheese sandwich in style.
2. Zester
Photo courtesy of imgbuddy.com
A zester does not look much different from a grater, but it actually zests fruits and spices, such as nutmeg, better than a grater. For fruit, it only removes the zest and leaves the white pith behind, and for spices, the zester produces a finer spice powder. Not sure how to use it? Find out here.
3. Funnel
Photo courtesy of thekitchn.com
There are very few times when a funnel is a necessary. But when it is necessary, you will be prepared, and now you can successfully make your own cold brew coffee.
4. Mango Splitter
Photo courtesy of comfortablydomestic.com
Does anyone eat mangos enough to own one of these bad boys? Probably not. But since it’s in the kitchen, why not use it to make coconut sticky rice with mango or a spinach, avocado mango smoothie.
5. Meat Thermometer
Photo courtesy of pixshark.com
Cooking meat is a challenge, but having a meat thermometer ensures safe, tasty meat. Who knows, maybe you’ll become an expert griller this summer.
6. Banana Slicer
Photo courtesy of aliimg.com
Another silly, but fun utensil. Plus, now you can easily make these banana oat pancakes.
7. Cherry Pitter
Photo courtesy of dineanddish.net
Pitting cherries is actually a lot harder than you’d think. Though there are many cherry pitting hacks, nothing can beat the ease of an actual cherry pitter. Plus, now you can make this tasty cherry berry pie.
8. Fish Spatula
Photo courtesy of williams-sonoma.com
The most importance difference between a fish spatula and a regular spatula is, of course, the slots, which allow the excess fish juices to drip away before you move it to your plate. Try using the slotted fish spatula to make pesto salmon spaghetti.
9. Avocado Slicer
Photo courtesy of wmfamericas.com
Okay, this one is kind of silly, especially because our parents don’t love avocados as much as we do. But it will make cutting avocados much easier. And then maybe you’ll want to be adventurous and make avocado ice cream.
10. Melon Baller
Photo courtesy of chefnblog.com
Everything is better scooped, right? Right. Freeze the melon balls and add them to this honeydew mojito.
11. Y-Peeler
Photo courtesy of groworganic.com
A good quality Y-peeler makes peeling fruit and vegetables so, so easy and allows you to make this delicious loaded potato soup.
12. Spiralizer
Photo courtesy of rosiegarner.com
How do you get kids to eat their veggies? Spiralize them, duh. Because this is really the only way to eat vegetables. Plus you can make this awesome zoodle dish.
13. Garlic Press
Photo courtesy of turtlemart.com
Chopping garlic is one of the worse kitchen chore. Plus it always leaves your hands smelling for days. So for all your garlicky adventures, like garlic feta braised chicken or garlic pesto pasta, use your parents’ garlic press.
14. Apple Corer and Slicer
Photo courtesy of galleryhip.com
Eating apple slices makes eating apples weirdly enjoyable. This tool comes in handy and makes apple slicing very, very simple. And you can easily make an apple, goat cheese and honey quesadilla after slicing your apple.
15. Poachpods
Photo courtesy of eatlocal365.com
Cooking poached eggs is a skill many of us have yet to master. Thankfully, these Poachpods provide a foolproof method for preparing poached eggs and ultimately making awesome eggs Benedict.
16. Kitchen Aid Mixer
Photo by Glen Murphy
This machine is a baker’s dream, but a very, very expensive dream. Luckily, own parents’ splurged, and now we can take advantage of it. The Kitchen Aid can cream butter and sugar, knead dough, whisk eggs and whip heavy cream, all at the flip of a switch. And it makes preparing these red velvet cake balls a breeze.
17. Citrus Squeezer
Photo courtesy of amazon.com
Citrus squeezers look very old school and make preparing tasty alcoholic beverages easy. They also allow you to squeeze all these tasty citrus fruits.
18. Salad Spinner
Photo courtesy of matferbourgeatusa.com
A salad spinner comes in handy when you do want to prepare awesome, crisp salads, and it’s a lot of fun to use, too.
19. Sieve
Photo courtesy of wikihow.com
All the bakers out there know that perfectly sifted flour makes for perfect French macarons.
20. Strawberry Huller
Photo courtesy of theblackpeppercorn.com
Another somewhat useless utensil, but at least you can easily hull strawberries, and then make this strawberry Nutella panini. Yes, a strawberry Nutella panini.
21. Pastry Cutter
Photo courtesy of canadianliving.com
This is your summer to get bold in the kitchen and make your own pie crust.