Kitchen

It is a cold, wet Tuesday night in Chicago. After getting home, exhaustion sets in. Fresh garlic drops into a hot Lodge cast iron pan. It smells so great. But then, panic hits. You can not find a good spatula. You grab a cheap plastic…

I learned this lesson on a rushed weeknight.I was making eggs after work. The pan was hot. I left my plastic spatula resting inside for a minute. When I came back, the tip had curled.It looked warped and shiny. A sharp smell filled the kitchen.…

I still remember the first time I tried to clean and season a cast iron skillet on my own. It was a Sunday afternoon. I had just made cornbread, and the bottom stuck like glue. I stood there staring at the pan, half proud of…

A few years ago, I thought any sharp blade would do. I was wrong. I still remember standing in my small kitchen on a Sunday night, trying to chop onions with a dull knife. The blade slipped, and the pieces came out uneven. Pain shot…

Picture this. It is a cold, dark night. My icy Midwest kitchen is freezing. You just got home. You are so mad and hungry. The floor is sticky. Cooking feels too hard. That feeling is very familiar to me. Testing home tools is part of…