Some new toys for me to play with

I really do have to stay away from the QVC channel. We were lying in bed on Wednesday night watching QVC and the Cooks Essentials electric pressure cooker came on. Now, since we bought the pressure canner last fall, I found that I used it for canning far more than I thought I would and I enjoyed using it. It's not bad at all....took me a while to get it to come up to pressure, but I think that's because of my smooth-top stove. It worked and I like it. Rick was very intrigued with the pressure cooker QVC was hawking (and particularly with some of the recipes!), but after reading quite a few negative reviews about that model, I wouldn't order it. But I've spent the last few days doing quite a bit of online research about the different models, reading reviews, and trying to figure out if I'd use this thing.

My in-laws had given me money for Christmas and I hadn't yet spent it. So....onto the pressure cooker. Rick and I took a shopping day as there were some things that needed to be replaced. New laundry basket (big enough for laundry and BooBoo and Tabby ), a floor mop,  clothes hangers, some light bulbs, shower rod, stuff like that. Off to Target we went. While we were there, we also looked at pressure cookers, but they didn't have any, not any electric ones. Checked several stores at the mall to no avail.

Got back home and did my Amazon thing. My new electric pressure cooker should be here next week. I also got a new cookbook, so that I at least have some idea of what I'm doing. I'm excited....in case you haven't noticed by now, I'm a kitchen gadget junkie! My sister and BIL were here for dinner last night and she is so not a kitchen gadget junkie; she had trouble understanding why I was so excited. But they know that it means dinners for them, too, because of my experiments so she was happy.

Rick had given me a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble for my birthday and I hadn't used that yet. So I got the last Alton Brown Good Eats book (I just love AB and have the first two books), a BBQ/grilling book because summer is right around the corner, you know, and an ebook for my Nook (Kim Harrison's new book A Perfect Blood, the most recent book in the Rachel Morgan series). Oh, and yesterday, he decided to go ahead and order Sirius XM.....my trial expired and I wasn't going to order it; but he likes it and now he'll have it when he drives the Tucson. I listen to two stations, Classic Vinyl and Classic Rewind, as they have the classic rock that I enjoy listening to very much.

So there are some new toys in the house (and the car) for me to play with. Life is good.

I didn't even know they made electric pressure cookers. I have my mom's old pressure cooker but the rocking thing on top is broke and I haven't gotten a replacement. I don't even know if you can buy a replacement for that model since it's from the 70's. Let us know if you like it! If so, that may be on my list for Christmas!

Oooo!  I love kitchen toys!  Whenever Mom and I go to the outlets near us we have to check out all the kitchen stores.  There is always something!  Even little stuff!  The nice thing is we can share!  Which reminds me...I need my medium cookie scoop back from her!

I love new toys!

It's always a mistake to take Dottie to the kitchen and cooking stores.

What's the oddest thing you've gotten there?  We bought escargot plates at one, one time....

Escargot plates?  (Sorry) No, nothing at all like that. My items are usually things like wooden spoons (I go through a lot of wooden spoons and I don't know why), knives, especially paring knives and the like....I have a thing for paring knives. Oh, and cake pans. I have every size cake pan known to the human race. Between cake pans, muffin pans, and muffin top pans, cupcake pans, Yorkshire pudding pans, etc, well, it doesn't matter what the size is, chances are I have it. (Except I don't have a Nordic Ware bundt cake pan....we were just talking about that Saturday when we were in the -- where else? -- kitchen store. I used to have one, but it got all scratched up and I threw it in the trash and never replaced it. I've managed to live without it....when something calls for a bundt pan, I use a tube pan.) It's all in the kitchen. Somewhere in the kitchen. Oh, and cookie cutters. I love cookie cutters. One of my favorite things to do on a snowy day is make cut-out cookies.

Rick wants a quesadilla maker. I don't know why, but he has it in his head that we need a quesadilla maker. We do make quesadillas from time to time, but not often enough to warrant an actual maker.  

calico2222, have you looked online for a rocker replacement....is it one of the pressure valves? The reason I'm asking is because my MIL broke one of the disks to her (very) old shredder and we were able to find a replacement for her online. I don't remember the name of website as it's been quite a few years ago by now, but you might want to check and see what some companies might have. Sometimes it's amazing the stuff you can find.