**Anytime Gift List** For People of the Kitchen

(This is one of my Non-Christmas or Anytime Gifts Lists. They are some random gift ideas to get someone just because.)

For those who like to bake, cook, blend, mix, etc, here we go.

chainmail scrubbers
as low as $10 and up to $30+

I got pics of some of the ideas and... I was too lazy to get pics for some!

• Tea towels are handy for everything. I have some that I use as a makeshift apron; padding the counter when I want to mute the blender; wiping spills; and grabbing hot handles. Just all-around useful. ($9 to $30, depending)
• A covered cake plate. Cake doesn't last long enough here, but my mother thought that every married couple should have a nice cake plate and cover for keeping and serving dessert.

• Oil dispenser bottles. My dispenser is one of my favorite kitchen items. I always fill it with olive oil and some cut up pieces of garlic to steep. I use it so fast that it never goes bad.
• Baking sheets, cake, and pie pans, and loaf dishes. I got one of my nieces some cake pans and she was SO happy that I almost cried. It's not something she will use every week so she probably would not have gotten around to buying any until they were needed. Now she is all set.



Same link as for cups
(can get separate from cups are part of set)



metal measuring cups & spoons
$10 to $20

• Digital kitchen scale. I use mine when counting calories and using a fitness app to keep track

.

• Magnetic hooks. I don't have any now but they look awesome for utilizing all that space on the front of the fridge. Look for some that have a strong hold. They can be used to hang towels and oven mitts. Or if you have other metal surfaces you can use them with.

food bag sealing machine
$35 up to $200 and beyond

• Oven thermometer (probe?). I keep planning to get myself one of these. I would probably only use it every now and then but my current thermometer cannot be used to check oven temps.



recipe binders
from $9 to $30
depending on size

• Silicone stretch lids/food covers. I am SO getting some of these as soon as I can. I am tired of using saran and foil to cover dishes to which I've lost the lids. Food storage lids are the socks of the kitchen...

• There are lots of inexpensive things you can gift someone. Just think of things that they don't have or (need a replacement for): a good peeler, a folding colander, spoon rest, apron. Someone got me a $10 knife at Walmart when and I have it to this day. Best dang knife ever.

stainless steel odor removing bars
as low as $10.00

You can go to the Dollar General and find things like really pretty decorative pillows, plaques, and baskets. When I moved into this apartment, I bought 3 pillows from Dollar General for under $25 and they are super cute on my tiny black futon couch.

handheld sealing gadget that looks like a flat iron!
around $8 to $10

The trick to gifting something nice is to go for higher usability instead of higher price. A kitchen person you know would probably love to have jar of that Bar Keepers Friend cleaner to try out. If someone got me a couple of rolls of sealing bags for my sealing machine, I would be thrilled with the gift.

The easiest way to please someone with a gift is to listen. If you listen to them, you will learn what kinds of things they would like to have. My best friend and I gift each other throughout the year. She loves tea and she has a mind like a sieve. I have gotten her things like some of that flowering tea and a password notebook. She has sent me a little money to buy vape accessories and she sends me Christian plaques to decorate my home with. She knows me because she listens to me. I know her because I listen. We love and care enough to pay attention to each other. Best friends for life, baby!

Peace
--Free

No music today but a fun video about a product I will be reviewing soon. The young woman in the video made me smile. I just wished we didn't live in a world where people have to work so hard to be personable.

**REVIEW** Kuuk Professional 48 Blade Meat Tenderizer

You have to love the name of this product:

That's a 48 blade meat tenderizer by Kuuk

This is a great kitchen tool to have around. My niece had been wanting a tenderizer for a while and I was going to just get her something from Kohl's or Target's, but I never did! I would always forget that it was something she wanted until we were getting ready to prep some food... Yeah. Anyway, when I saw this, I jumped at the chance to get it. (Thought my niece would be just thrilled, but I actually ended up using it before she got around to it. Cos she's always like that.)

As I have said in another review of this item, it's not my mama's kitchen gadget. Of course, my mama used what her mama used...

 Talking 'bout "old school"! 

I took after my mama too, but I eventually got a little more modern. For a long time I had something like this:

Or, I went totally off the grid and just used one of these:

All of those tools will get the job done, but there are some problems. Safety is a big issue (especially for someone with my iffy motor skills) and, even if you don't end up stabbing or hammering a finger, there quality of the finished product. Who wants meat that has been ripped up with a fork or beaten into a ragged mess with one of the old-fashioned tenderizers? 

I'm depressing the handle to expose the blades here

The Kuuk tenderizer takes care of the safety issue and it does more than just tenderize whatever cut of meat you're prepping. Notice the "teeth" on the Kuuk. 

In the above photo, I have the handle depressed so you can see the blades (that I call "teeth"!). But those teeth are kept completely - and safely - stored away when they aren't in use. 

Now the blades are safely stored

I actually like "thinning out" those thicker cuts of meat (which I usually only buy when they are priced better than other cuts), but I could never keep control of the old-fashioned type tenderizer. I'd mostly end up with, say a pork chop, that was either beat all to hell or not well tenderized. 

With the Kuuk's tenderizer, you are basically depressing those blades into the meat evenly and consistently. Because the blades all depress at once when you push on the handle, you can't mess up and mangle a cut of meat the way you can with a standard tool.

Before I forget, here's a little tip that I learned after using the Kuuk a few times: if you want to get tenderize near the bone in a cut of meat,  just place the tool close to the bone and, while you are depressing the blades, kind of move the tool around. It helps "stretch" the meat out and then you can get the blades nearer the area.

In addition to this being such a useful kitchen tool, I'm happy that it cleans up easily. Though it's dishwasher-safe, I literally just swish it around in a shallow dish of hot and soapy bleach water, then rinse - cos, um, meat, germs, bacteria... Once it's clean and dry, the tenderizer tucks back into the clear plastic cover. The whole thing is small enough to fit into a kitchen drawer, but I leave ours on the counter next to the knife rack because it barely takes up any space. 

In summary: Simple to use, simple to clean, simple to store. Also, right now, the cost is under $12 with Amazon Prime or via this site that is also selling the item.

Peace

--Free

DISCLOSURE: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.