Gifts from my in-laws
The new star of my kitchen: a pizza stone. I think I've managed to adapt my pizza-making to it now, though it will forever bear the scars of topping casualties! My current tactic: pinching up the crust, deep-dish style, before sliding the pizza from the peel to the stone. I've found that doing that actually helps give me a more pizza-parlor style of crust, and now that I'm adding plenty of flavorings to the crust, I don't mind having a larger border. At some point I may try another trick to let my pizza dough rise a bit after it's rolled out but before I peel it onto the stone; the large pepperoni stains come from my one not-so-successful attempt. (The crust stuck. The toppings didn't.) I doubt I'll ever be quite done tweaking that recipe!
The mini tool caddy has been a great addition, too. I don't have to fish around in my drawer for the right measuring spoon anymore, and my tiny spatulas don't get lost in the larger caddy. Joy of Cooking is actually from my mother. As my cookbook shelf ran out of space this Christmas season, I decided that select volumes will now live within easy reach of my cooking area!
Now if only I could consistently defeat the temptation to procrastinate washing dishes... :)