Q: What happens when you instruct your dental hygienist little sister and an Army trained cook to figure out how to make a ravioli casserole?
A:
Magic.
Happens.
Was totally going to post all the pictures I got of the Recipe Round-Robin tastetests, and then I published before I remembered that I was going to do that. So uh, whoops.
In order to save myself some work, though, I made an Omnomicon Flickr pool for RRR pictures and also if you happen to maybe try one of my recipes . . . I’d love to see how they come out for you! Will also help me diagnose problems if you’re not sure why it didn’t come out (it comes up not infrequently).
Here are some of the wicked sweet photos fellow Omnometrists had to share. I’m seriously impressed! Click to see bigger photos, and feel free to add your Omnomicon-related photos to the pool!
I have my own new chat abbreviation, formally dedicated to all participating in the rrr: ssf, “sorry so flaky.” I was *supposed* to distribute recipes Friday, and I was *planning* on following through, but then everyotherfuckingthing impeded that, so my apologies.
Short story:
Everyone’s in.
You have asap to still submit a recipe.
I will send out recipes this week.
You’ll have the upcoming weekend and the one to follow to give a shot at ‘em.
I like to think my flakiness is one of my charms, buuuut I’m fairly certain that is not the case. *winkyface*
On one of my thrifting excursions, I happened upon this bad lawrence for $3.
Taken in by its chrome plated iron glory, I was all like “That thing is majorly diesel! Totally made to last forever! I could really *use* this!” And snapped it up, so happy with my excellent find.
I got home, clamped it onto the old kitchen table.
Then I ground some meat in it.
Little bits of grey meat kept making its way into the mix. At first, I figured it was something to do with the meat, and picked it out. Upon closer inspection, it would appear that the metal through which the meat is extruded is not iron, has corroded over time, and was grinding itty bitty pieces of metal into my meat. I’m not sure if that’s a major health problem or whatever, but at the very least the idea of gritty metal between my masticating molars is extremely unpleasant.
Consider this an official Omnomicon PSA, brought to you by Aleta Meadowlark and associates.
Results are in: we have some well-equipped kitchens! I asked readers about their favourite underappreciated kitchen tools and got these results.
Good, solid knives (37%)
Some had brand, others noted the complete genericness of their knives…all in all, having a knife you love makes the kitchen a better place! My all-time favourite was my very first: a meat cleaver I picked up at a yardsale and used for everything from meat (as intended) to cutting onions to mincing garlic.
Mixing bowls (27%)
Nesting, vintage, really big, everyone loves a good mixing bowl.
Prep bowls (27%)
Including ramekins. Mine came from a restaurant I worked at for awhile. We ordered tiramisu from a vendor that came in this perfect glass cups (1 c each) and had no use for them after dessert was done. I managed to nab a good dozen and I *still* run out from time to time.
Silicone Spatula (23%)
Nuff said. I’ve been using one for tomato sauces lately to keep my nonstick all nice.
Microplane (23%)
The one item I originally listed that made it on the list!
Narrow misses were wooden spoons, cutting boards of various sizes and materials (it would seem that cooks tend toward specific formats), whisks of varying description and garlic press (natch).
Ideas that I LOVE included a gold filter in place of cheesecloth, chopsticks (which I so totally use to clean out my garlic press, mix drinks and test cakes for doneness), fondant rolling pin, which might fix my notorious inability to operate a regular one, kitchen shears, and a husband to do the dishes, which I totally put on my registry. 
There was also a comment about the uselessness of mandolines, and ho boy, do I have one of my famous opinions on that topic. The first time I had my now-Matron-of-Honour over for dinner, I was in a total tizzy getting everything together and 1 hour before her arrival pulled out my new mandoline to slice up some red onion for the salad. I saw the little handguard and was like “psh, this thing is stupid, they totally put them in here for chumps so they can’t sue the company” and set it aside.
I think you know where this is going.
I earned myself a very permament 1/2″ x 1/4″ scar on the butt of my hand, narrowly missing important veins, and on my first day of work (almost a month later) had to shake hands with everyone with this huge gross bandage that obviously was treating some grievous kitchen injury. It felt gross to do that to a complete stranger.
In unrelated news, I totally found copies of those white bowls I use in most of my food photos and will be listing them on etsy at some point next week. Anyone here interested? They’re all that are left of what used to be Hamilton Beach stand mixers from the 40s or 50s, are made by Pyrex, and let in just enough diffused light to make for nice bright in-the-bowl shots. The ones I have now have some metal-utensil damage (little scratches on the bottom), but only where you’d have food anyway. $20 and they’re yours; $25 next week on etsy.
Here they are in action (there are two–a big ole bowl, and a smaller spouted mixy thing).
I’m not planning on making Omnomicon a repository for etsy advertising, but where so many of my readers are food bloggers, I though these might be of especial interest. To everyone else, apologies on the plug!
I currently have my fingers in many pies, and it feels awesome to be in the swing of things. I’m happiest when productive!
There is a new food post (I know! Right?) that should be up on Sunday, a new Recipe Round-Robin next week (I want to rename this…it’s a cumbersome title…suggestions welcome), I’m working on like 3 food-related side projects that I’ll tell you all about in due time, and of course, shopping/researching/listing for my Etsy project.
AND *drumroll please* I’m excited to announce that at some point over the last month, Omnomicon hit 1 million visits! Meaningless in and of itself, but a fun milestone anyway.
So in the meantime, what are your top 5 underdog kitchen gadgets? Everyone fortunate enough to own them loves their Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, their Le Crueset Dutch Oven, their Henckels knives, but what do you rely on practically every time you cook that you totally thought you didn’t need until you started using it?
Not to bias things, but here’s mine (in no particular order):
Not as cool as the posse Andre has, but I set up an Etsy shop for all the vintage stuff I love so much but have no space for. I like to think the descriptions really carry my personality for me. I feel ever-so-slightly lame for posting this before some amazing recipe, but I’m really enjoying still life photography of the non-food variety, and will be posting in the next week or two (really really I mean it this time!).
So consider Aleta’s Kitschen open.
While I don’t suspect this will earn me any money, it does satisfy an insatiable lust for vintage I have no use for. If I had the dough, I’d just give it all away, but sadly, I don’t. Still, it pays for an otherwise expensive and storage-raping hobby.
These were my favourite descriptions, I had tons o’fun with these things.
Tang Pitcher & Mugs “A Bold Wave of Sunshine”
This lightweight pitcher and mugs are appealingly vintage with what could very well pass as Hillside Middle School’s new logo in 1982.
Outfitted with slick STRAIN/CLOSE/POUR lid technology, this would be an ideal vessel and serving cups of Tang for, say, two children who are thirsty after swinging in the yard. The pitcher holds 3 quarts (96 oz) and each mug holds 12 oz. That means you can pour each cup all the way to the top FOUR TIMES before you have to make more Kool-Aid.
Pitcher is 9.5″ tall, 4.75″ in circumference and 8″ wide (lip to handle). Each cup 4″ high, 3″ in circumference. Packaged with complimentary packet of Tang.
Pyrex Spring Blossom Casserole & Whisking Bowl
This set will no doubt impress your mother-in-law, who will burn up much of dinner talking about her wedding dish pattern, and every scrap of Pfaltzgraff she’s ever owned while you smile and enjoy dinner without having to force small talk.
Funky Spring Blossom Casserole and Whisking Bowl by Pyrex. Made for housewives in the USA between 1972 and 1979, who says you can’t use them now?
Oven-to-table, cheery, and just begging to try your grandmother’s noodle casserole recipe, the casserole holds 2.5 quarts, and the bowl 3 cups. Silver V marking on the casserole in the photos has been safely removed.
Packaged with a delicious casserole recipe card to try out.
The plaque pretty much says it all.
Not only is this vintage (1968), it’s all Victorian stylized so it’s like, Vintage Vintage. Double Vintage. Meta-Vintage.
This bad lawrence comes from Yorkraft which, according to a cursory overview of the Internet, appears to be one of the earliest sources of “Crap that Places Like Applebees Put on Their Wall in Lieu of Real Antiques.” Wikipedia had nothing, Google Maps had an unconfirmed listing in York PA, and while I found links to Yorkraft.com, they were dead. Then I remembered there were muffins cooling on the counter and so that’s all I know about Yorkraft.
Nice beard, though.
16″ high by 12″ wide on sturdy, completely flat 1/2″ MDF board. 1968 Yorkraft, York PA. 3 lbs 5 oz, this thing is wicked diesel. Packaged with all my love. <3
Okay, now go tell your friends!
Feedback? Things you like? Am I missing the mark? Is vintage even cool any more? Would you actually pay for any of this junk? Though my food photos rely heavily on boring white plates, this is the stuff I pull out when we have company.
So I update my site after several months and I get one comment??
Clearly, Apollo is my only real internet friend. *tear*
It’s cool, I dig it. Holidays, busy times, finals . . . whatever other crap is plaguing your life at the moment . . . it’s a tough time for a blogger to end a period of truancy. I also suspect the lack of photos and a cohesive recipe may be to blame. Long story short, I am (temporarily) bereaved of my beloved 50mm lens (the one that took all those lovely photos everyone likes) and thusly am forced to endure the frustration of using some other, vastly inferior lens. With a zoom. Which you would think might make my task easier, but in reality does not.
SO I will try to snap some photos of what I’m talking about as I prepare it for my family and dearest friends.
Um, okay. I’ll end my guilt-inducing lecture with that.
While absence might make your lover’s heart fonder, I’m not so sure how it works with blogs. I’ve been especially internet-absent as of late, and in line with my apologetic nature, I’d like to assure everyone that everything’s peachy and no bizarre accidents or illness has befallen me. It’s just that
a) I’m not usually very talented at any one hobby, which is why
b) I rarely hold onto any hobbies for very long.
For example, once I made enough doilies for every appropriate surface in my parents’ house, I pretty much called it quits on crochet, and while I may make a hat every now and again, I’m no longer the lady always working on something like a Charlie Brown scarf.
I feel like I’ve missed a lot of food-related stuff in the last few months, like the opportunity to subversively bitch about Food Inc, or even consider attending the Foodbuzz Festival thing. And to think, I could right this very moment have a cabinet bulging with spice mixes & condiments I would never buy! C’est la vie, as I hear they say in France.
If you’ve been following along, you already know that every time I make a site plan, I can’t stick to it, so no promises here in terms of schedule, or regularity of posting, or anything I have to actually make good on. But I think I will be offering a bit more random commentary here and there between posts, because I prefer my recipe posts to be self-contained and non-referential, but at the same time I feel like I have a bunch of internet food buddies and talking like it’s the first time anyone’s ever been to the site is getting to be a kind of strain. I’m not even sure if that makes sense to sane people, but I’m a woman and my feelings don’t have to be sensical, so there. [side note: I don't actually believe this; it is merely a convenient sentiment at the moment]
So thank you for reading, and thanks for keepin’ on comin’ back, and hey! I can’t skip a November Recipe Round-Robin—we have Thanksgiving coming up! Look for an announcement some time next week.
In the meantime, check it out. It’s a little boat of husk cherries bravely navigating the husky waters of their own protective little pods.
Hehe.
FACT: Omnomicon has lain dormant for some time. Months, even.
To all concerned: everything’s fine and great! I’m not dead, and hey, I even had time to get all engaged and thinking about a wedding. I’m just you know . . . not busy updating my website.
You see, I’m the kind of person with A LOT of hobbies. Well, a lot of [short-lived] hobbies. So the fact that I managed to go almost six months before lapsing is just remarkable! But in time I need a little bit of a break because if I’m going to burn myself out, I should probably save that for normal stressors like work and personal relationships rather than a website named after a nonsense word.
The lament continues: I’m really not feeling the food blog scene these days. I scroll along my rss feed daily, catching tidbits on Julie and Julia and free samples of rice wine vinegar and Tuesdays with Dorie and seasonal desserts and the culinary scene in upper Peoria, but I skip past most because I kinda just don’t care at the moment. That’s not to say I don’t have a lot of respect for food bloggers (hey, I got friends), but a lot of us are all saying/making/photographing the same stuff. And while it’s not a competition, if I’m not really bringing anything special to the table, why do I feel this overwhelming sense of obligation?
Aren’t you glad I came back to whine a little bit? You missed that, admit it.
The good news is, I’ve no intention of discontinuing Omnomicon, so I won’t make you beg me to keep posting. The not-as-awesome news is that I do not have this huge backlog of stuff to share like I wish I did, so I have to start generating more content. I’m working on it. Hoping to announce a new Recipe Round-Robin soon (and also send out old prizes, my GOD am I behind).
Cute little nose wrinkles,
Aleta
