Menu Plan Monday - Thanksgiving Edition

For more menu ideas, check out Organizing Junkie!

I am hosting Thanksgiving on Thursday here at my house. I love Thanksgiving! I think it is my favorite holiday. I love the food, I love the feeling, I love having family over, I love the idea of a day to sit around and give thanks. I also love that it signals the start of the whole "Holiday Season."

Because I'll be doing LOTS of cooking on Thursday, the rest of the week is pretty easy meals. And of course, Friday and Saturday (and Sunday?) will be something with turkey in it!

Breakfasts

• Muffin cake (a recipe I found in my "Cheap Eating" cookbook)
• oatmeal with berries
• toast with jam or peanut butter and honey
• left over pan rolls with butter and honey

Lunches

• hummus with pita chips and carrots
• lunchmeat sandwiches
• lunchmeat and cheese sticks
• leftovers!

Dinners

• Breakfast burritos
• Stir fry with pot stickers and veggies, rice, fruit
  
• pesto pasta, foccacia bread
• brown rice and bean crockpot meal (I've had this on the menu for three weeks and I'm actually going to make it this week!!)
• TURKEY, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, rolls, green bean casserole, corn, relish tray, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, berry pie, etc etc etc. YUM!
• leftovers!

I'm excited for this week. However, other than just reheating the turkey, gravy, potatoes etc. and of course, turkey sandwiches, I'm not sure what to use my leftover turkey in.

What are your favorite things to use leftover turkey in?

Jill

Yeah Me!

I had one of those days today. I went to bed last night disgusted with my house and my out-of-control life! I had things on my to-do list that had been on there for weeks. I needed to finally do a couple of those things and not be disgusted anymore.

So, today I got up and got ready. Then I went and found some cheap apples ($6.00 for a 22 lb box of Galas - I bought four boxes) then came home and got to work. I cleaned both chicken coops (the one they are living in now, and the one in my yard that is empty but hadn't been cleaned out. See, I told you it was disgusting!), held a funeral for five baby bunnies that didn't live nearly long enough, transfered straw from one bin to a different bin for transferring to the new coop, made 33 chewy granola bars, canned 25 quarts of applesauce, made all the children actually do their Saturday chores, made pasta salad and foccacia bread for dinner, planned my lesson for church tomorrow, vacuumed the kid's rooms, cleaned my bathroom, had a long phone conversation with a good friend I haven't talked to in a long time, threw in a load of laundry, cleaned the kitchen and wrote this post.

I'm totally exhausted but it is a good kind of exhaustion. I feel very satisfied that some things that have been bugging me forever are done. My house is cleaner than it has been in weeks, and I can sleep deep.

Yeah, me!

Jill

I Love Fall

I love fall! I love the leaves. I love the crisp cool mornings and evenings. I love the smell of fall in the air. The light feels different in the fall - maybe the different slant of the earth? I love going back to school. (I also love this picture, it is of my daughter Tali on a trip to Portland State University, my alma mater (go Viks!). My husband gave me a framed copy of this picture with the words "Life is an occasion. Rise to it." This quote is from the movie "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" and is my motto for life.)

When fall comes I feel the need to prepare for winter. I want to can applesauce and pears. I want to stock my pantry. Anyone else get this feeling in fall?

I am so busy these days that I don't feel like I have time to do any of the things I want to do. But I do want to do applesauce. My children are addicted to applesauce!! The take it with graham crackers for lunch. The eat it as snacks, before bed, and after school. In addition, I use it in place of oil in baking. I use in my latest "favorite" recipe (it changes weekly it seems), Cinnamon Bread Delight. If I run out of applesauce in January, I'm in trouble! But when do I find time to do applesauce? I guess tomorrow I could do some and then afternoons next week. I'd like to do 40 to 50 quarts of applesauce. Sheesh, that sound like a lot!

I think I'll go back outside and enjoy the leaves. Maybe go for a walk. If I go downtown I could walk here:This is Portland State again. This is so Portland! Look at all the bikes. Portland is the bike capital of the world! Actual we have a very "bike-friendly culture" and you can sure see it in this picture! If I walk here maybe I could forget about 50 quarts of applesauce. Probably not.

Ok, tomorrow I get up early and buy 100 lbs of apples and start making applesauce.

But I'm not going to like it.

Jill

I Bought a New Slow Cooker!

I have owned a CrockPot for the past two years that I hate. I have been doing a slow burn over this slow cooker. It burns everything I cook! It drives me nuts. Have I stopped using it? No, I just have suffered. After all, it cost money and I should use it until I gotten out of it what I paid, right?

Wrong! Sometimes it is just better to admit defeat and start over. I recently (Monday) bought a new one. I'm SO excited! I bought this one:Mine looks a little different, the various crocks are all white. I was excited to have a crockpot that had different sizes. The crocks all stack together for storage which will be nice.

I made a bean soup in the 4 quart crock last night and it worked fabulous! Cooked it 8 hours on low and when I came home it was gently simmering. In my old one, it would have been boiling furiously and burned on the sides and bottom. I made overnight oatmeal in the 2 quart last night for breakfast this morning. It cooked perfectly, but I can't say it was a winner here in our house. I used steel cut oatmeal that had been on the shelf for awhile and it had a slightly stale taste. I liked it and my son asked for seconds. Carina had to be forced it eat it and no one else would even try. *sigh* I try to cook healthy.

So, if you are suffering with something that just doesn't work, I would highly recommend getting a new, different one. Unless it's your husband.

Jill

A Breath of Fresh Air

We are finally having real Oregon weather! It has been so hot this summer, especially the last few weeks, but we are finally having some cool cloudy weather. It is even supposed to rain this weekend!

I love the rain. I once wrote that you know you are a true Oregonian when you truly love the rain. I am SO ready for fall. I'm ready for soup and bread for dinner. I'm ready for sweaters and cozy sweatshirts. I'm ready for crunching through the leaves. I'm ready for long hot bubble baths. I'm ready for cups of hot cocoa.

I'm sure that my neck of the woods will experience a couple more really warm days, but I'm really glad that fall and winter are right around the corner.

Jill

Family Picnic

This weekend, despite the triple-digit weather (a rarity here in Oregon), Hubby and I and Hubby's whole family gathered in a local park for a family birthday party. I have to admit I wasn't excited to go. The temperature had been over 100 for the past three days and the thought of going and sitting in a park did not excite me. I'm not going to lie, I like my air conditioning. I know it's bad for the planet, but it is good for my psyche!

Once we got there I was glad I had come. Our picnic area was mostly in the shade. The food was good and the company was even better.

There was basketball playing, present opening, lots of food and a couple of the cutest kids not given birth to by me. My niece and nephew:

Don't let that cute adorable face fool you! He's in constant motion and not always the direction you want him to go! But he's sweet and good natured and interested in everything. And mostly comes back when you call him. Mostly.
Does that girl not look like Betty Boop? When you see her in person, you think to yourself - "Where have I seen that face before?" And then it hits you - "She's Betty Boop!" I guess actually she is a Baby Betty Boop (say that three times fast!). She is as sweet as she is cute, too.

The two of them are great friends. He knows how to push her buttons and she stands her ground. That is kind of what family is all about, isn't it? In families we know how to push each other's buttons. Sometimes we get far too much pleasure in pushing those buttons. But having our buttons pushed, our boundaries tested, and our patience tried, helps us learn how to stand our ground. It is where we learn to deal with that grumpy boss or that neighbor who drives us nuts. So, really, we should be very thankful that our families know exactly which thing drives us nuts, and then proceed to do just that!!

Nobody got driven nuts this weekend (well, no one over the age of three!). We had a fabulous time catching up and visiting.

Families are so important. And I'm so thankful for mine.

Jill

Whoa! Did you just paint in here?

Big changes here at Jill's Crazy Life. I was getting tired of the old look (the dark background with the black type was driving my eyes crazy - anyone else?). I decided to change it up a little.

Since I'm married to a web designer, I enlisted his help. I'm still using the Blogger templates but don't you like that fancy picture collage up there behind the words "Jill's Crazy Life?" My hubby made that - took him about 30 seconds and he wasn't going to keep it but I said, "Hey, I like it!" That is my backyard on the left, my waffles in the middle, and my lentil stew on the right. It's like my life, right there on the internet! (My six year old loves that him and his siblings are "right there on the internet!")

I will probably be tweaking the colors, layout and such for the next few days - I'm never truly satisfied, and it is so much fun to play! Be patient and no, you're not going crazy!

Jill

The Joys of Silicone Bakeware

A recent post over at Cheap, Healthy, Good got me thinking. The author was talking about the things she couldn't live without. I agreed with the article except for the part about silicone baking sheet liners. The author seemed to think they were a luxury that anyone could live without. I disagree, I can't live without them.

I too once scoffed at the idea of lining my pans with rubber! HA! What in the world would I need to do that for? Wasn't a squirt of cooking spray just as good - and many times cheaper? Then I got invited to a Demarle party - sort of like a Tupperware party but better. Demarle is the company who originally made and marketed the silicone bakeware. They have many things besides liners: there are cake pans, muffin pans, loaf pans and "casserole"type dishes (sadly when last I looked, they didn't have a 9x13 pan). It was amazing at that party when the saleslady tipped the pan and the muffins all fell out. Or when she tipped the silpat (the pan liner) and all the cookies slid the to rack. Oh I was mesmerized!

So I bought a bunch. I have never been sorry. I LOVE these things. I have the muffin pan (mini and regular), a round casserole-type pan, and of course, two silpats! They really do work as promised and they have saved me so much clean-up time it is amazing!

There are now lots of "knock-off" brands of silicone bakeware. Not all work as well as the Demarle brand, but most work really well. One of my favorite things to give as a wedding shower gift is a silicone muffin pan and several boxes of muffin mix.

There are disadvantages to the silicone bakeware. Obviously they are flexible and so you must bake the muffin pans on a baking sheet to keep it stable. You should always put it on the baking sheet before you fill it - for obvious reasons! But the cleanup is so easy (my husband turns the muffin cups inside out to clean them - can't do that with an ordinary pan!), any inconvenience is minimal in comparison!

Really, I'm not selling them. I just really, really like them. Try them, you'll see.

Jill

(photo from Demarle website - check it out)

Monkey See, Monkey Do

I caught the three of them on the couch the other day. I'm pretty sure Hubby had sat down and, like any normal 40-something man, sleep snuck up to him and attacked.

The other two just wanted to be like Dad.

They never outgrow it do they?

I'm so glad they don't.

Jill

Thank you Food Network!

My new favorite show is "Next Food Network Star" on, amazingly enough, the Food Network. In this show the contestants are put through various challenges designed to test their food knowledge, cooking skills, and abilities in front of the camera. I watch it every week, and so do my kids - whether they like it or not!

It has had one unintended, but very positive result. My two youngest kids suddenly are dying to cook!

The picture above is what they made my for breakfast today - a fruit smoothie, chocolate milk, cheesy bread toast, regular toast, and orange slices.

Not bad considering they are 6 and 11.

And it was delicious!

Jill

Guess Where We've Been . . .

You guessed it, vacation! All the people in Jill's Crazy Life went on Jill's Crazy Vacation! We went camping on the Oregon coast. We go every year to a place called Ft. Stevens (in between Astoria and Seaside for those of you who care). Ft. Stevens is the best place! You are camping in the woods, there are bike paths everywhere, there is a lake to swim and boat in, and the beach is about a 10 minute bike ride away from your campsite. You get beach, lake, camping, and biking all in one vacation! We took my nephew with us this year and we had so much fun! The weather was beautiful except for a demonic wind on the beach. We all got sunburned and tanned and exhausted and rested and whatever else good stuff you get on vacation - oh yeah, fat! We ate and ate and ate! So, for the next few weeks, I'm focusing on healthy food that doesn't cost a fortune and my kids will actually eat. Check back to see what I'm cooking in Crazyville!

Jill

Happy Birthday America

Oh, ok, I'm a day late. But I rarely remember birthdays - I'm the reason they invented those "sorry I missed your birthday" cards.

I'm glad I live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. I thank my lucky stars that my kids were born in a land where they will probably never know starvation or war in their homeland. In a land where their options are only limited by their ability to work hard and make good choices and not by their last name, gender, or social class. I'm glad I can dress, eat, pray, and live the way I want. I hope someday in this nation, everyone will allow everyone else the same rights.

Happy Birthday America!

Jill

Splitting Hairs

I have teenagers. That means that I have people in my home who are testing the boundaries, everyday. Every hour. Ok, every minute! They just love to be different and to find out what I will allow. I'm fairly strict on somethings - God put a certain number of holes in our bodies and other than an extra set for a pair of earrings, I think the number he put there should stay the same, I believe clothing is designed to cover our bodies and that somethings are best left to the imagination (if people can tell what underwear you have one, or whether or not you have underwear on, you need to re-examine your outfit!). But when it comes to one thing, I'm willing to allow some freedom of expression - their hair.

The way I see it, hair grows back! Unlike, say, a tattoo, you can undo any poor choices you make with your hair. So I let my girls do almost anything to their hair (I draw the line at a bright green spiked mohawk - I do have to been seen with them). Tali has taken advantage of this and recently I dyed the underside of the back of her head bright pink. It has been blue, green and red in the past but this time they chose "pink panic." (I do both her and her best friend's hair. Yes, the other mom is ok with this). Here is what it looks like:
Notice her carefree shrug of her shoulders? She doesn't care what any of you think! (I would like to add at this point that Tali is an amazing kid who gets straight A's in school, runs track, has tons of friends and is an all around great kid, pink hair not withstanding!) My oldest daughter, Jana, has different views on hair and what is acceptable. We found this on the bulletin board this morning:
Not to be outdone, Tali countered with this:


Well, to each their own I suppose, at least they are "communicating," right?

Jill

You Go, Girl!

My oldest daughter passed her driver's permit test today and can now terrorize the road (and her parents!). She passed on the first try, ain't she a smarty?!

Congrats, Jana!

Lazy Summer Weekends, Gotta Love 'Em

What did we do this weekend? Pretty much nothing. Actually we did a lot of little things around the house and yard. Hubby has almost finished the shed, we planted a few things in the garden, moved the baby chickens to the backyard, and read books, enjoyed the sun, and lots of other little things that weren't too strenuous.

I did go to the library and pickup some new cookbooks to read. All about cheap, easy to prepare, good-for-you recipes that your family will actually eat. I'm excited to review these books in the next few weeks. I love me some new recipes!

I'm going back to read the Sunday paper and do more . . . .nothing.

Jill

The Case of the Missing Chicken

The day started out like any other day. Any other day that was incredibly busy and included things like my husband going to Urgency Care for a nail stuck in his foot, my family coming over for a family birthday party, and getting ready for Father's Day. We had worked hard in the backyard getting ready for the family barbeque and the yard looked great. So picturesque with the green grass and the three chickens grazing amongst the flowerbeds. You see, we have pet chickens. Three of them (and three baby chicks that are in a box in the garage currently). We call them "pets with a purpose," the purpose being fresh eggs. We love our chickens (and their eggs) and treat them truly as pets. They are spoiled rotten and we dote on them. We have lost several over the years to raccoons and are very protective of the ones who are left. They are only allowed out during the day and are locked up tight at night.

We had let them out this day because the cousins who were coming over enjoy the whole "farm feel" of Auntie Jill's house. I say farm feel because we live in a suburban neighborhood and have a larger than average yard, but not a farm by a long shot! But we have chickens, bunnies, a little red barn chicken coop, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, gardens like crazy, and it feels like a farm to someone who doesn't have that.

The cousins had fun playing in the backyard and the weather was beautiful for the barbeque. At the end of the day I was going to show my sister (who lives far away and doesn't see my yard often) all my pets. But we couldn't find Jellybean, my black Austrolorpe chicken. We searched everywhere - the bushes, the coop, the green space behind our house, everywhere we could think of, but she was gone. When dusk came and the other two chickens went back to the coop for the night, she still wasn't there. She just . . . . vanished! (cue scary music!)

We went to sleep thinking the worst, she had been grabbed by a raccoon or a hawk and we had seen the last of her. But the detective in me wouldn't give it up; how could she have disappeared in a yard full of kids with adults watching from the deck? Wouldn't we have heard or seen something? It bugged me and when I woke up this morning it still bugged me! I wanted to go search the yard again but I had a Father's Day breakfast to make, kids to get ready for church, things to do!

After church, and after the Father's Day dinner (we go all out on holidays here), I went to take my baby chicks to the backyard for some "sunshine time." While they frolicked and pecked and flapped, I watered my garden and did some tidying up. When I came to the hay storage area I noticed the lid of one of the boxes had gotten knocked part-way off, when I lifted it to straighten it - out flew Jellybean! She had somehow gotten herself trapped under the lid and couldn't get out. She was very thirsty, very hungry and is walking with a limp right now, but otherwise seems ok. It is still a mystery - how did she get under there? Why didn't she make noise? Did she and we didn't hear her because of the kids? Whatever the case, I'm glad she's back and the mystery is solved!

Jill

Welcome to Jill's Crazy Life!

Welcome! If you are new to my blog I thought I would tell you a little bit about myself and what exactly I am doing here. (Well, right now I am typing but you know what I mean . . . !) I started this blog to prove to myself that I could write. I had just been rejected by Pacific University for their Master of Fine Arts in Writing program. I was disappointed to put it lightly! I started writing entries about my family and life as a wife/mother/full time college student to prove to myself that, yes, I can write. But slowly things began to change. I started writing more and more about food. I decided not to fight it!

Now I see this blog as a way for me to expand my "food horizons." I also hope to share some of the things that I have learned along to way. Many years ago, I quit my job to stay home and raise my three daughters. We figured out our budget and we had enough to cover everything - except food. Somehow we always ate, and ate fairly well, and I learned to shop and cook for next to nothing! With the price of food today, I need to go back to cooking cheap - and figure all of you could use some recipes and ideas, too. Hopefully, we will start a conversation and we will all share what we know.

I must warn you, I am still a wife and mother (although I graduated from Portland State in May), and my blog will feature my kids and life here in Crazyville. (That is me and my youngest, Kaden in the picture above) It is highly likely that sometimes the entries will not even mention food! But most of the time it will and hopefully it will entertain as well as inform. (oh, I have high aspirations for myself, don't I?) In the coming weeks I will review cookbooks, provide links to cool cooking stuff I find, and post recipes.

I hope you will bookmark me and come back often to see what I'm up to. For now, feel free to browse the site and make comments at will.

Enjoy and welcome to Jill's Crazy Life!

Jill

A Slow Burn over my Slow Cooker

About 3 years ago, I purchased (or was given as a gift - I don't remember which) a Rival Smart-Pot 5 quart Crock-Pot. I was so excited! My old slow cooker was a cheap-ish one I was given as a wedding gift some 13 years earlier. I had used that trusty slow cooker to death. Tons of giant batches of spaghetti sauce, baked beans, chicken and sauce stuff, and lots of other stuff had been slowly cooked to tender goodness in there, but it was falling apart and needed to be replaced.

This new Crock-Pot was so shiny! So clean! So huge! So substantial! It was much more heavy duty than my last one and I was excited to use it. The first few batches of stuff were over cooked and I couldn't figure out what I had done wrong. These recipes had always worked in the other one, what had I done wrong? I thought that maybe it was a size issue; the other slow-cooker had been a 4 quart and this one was a 5 quart, meaning that it didn't fill up as much, maybe that caused it to get too hot? The next thing I tried was a huge batch of spaghetti sauce - on low. It was boiling withing an hour - what the heck? I remember talking to my sister about the problem and she said she thought she had heard that slow-cookers were now being made to cook at a higher temperature due to food safety concerns. That made some sense, after all, cooking something all day on "low" could, theoretically, cause bacteria to grow.

So I just put up with it. I cooked things for three hours instead of the recommended 6, I alternated between the "low" setting and the "warm" setting, I propped the lid open for part of the cooking time. Nothing seemed to help and it was ticking me off. Yesterday was the proverbial straw (and I was the proverbial camel - picture that!), I started my Crockery Beanery recipe from the Saving Dinner cookbook, on "low," at approximately 11:15 am, then I left to go have lunch with my sister. When I got home at 1:40 pm my recipe was burned on the bottom!! Just two hours and twenty minutes later!! I thought, this cannot be right. So, I did what any computer savvy 21st century woman would do - I put "Rival crock-pot too hot" in Google and hit return. One of the first results was a link to the Amazon listing for this crock-pot, there were 95 comments/ratings for this crock-pot and 93 of them said versions of this, "Don't buy this product! This crock-pot cooks way too hot! It burned my food! I'm taking it back! I hate it! Don't waste your money!" (Go read the reviews if you don't believe me)

My first reaction was joy - I'm not crazy! I have been cooking these recipes right and it is the cookers fault not mine! The next thought was sadness. Why have I been putting up with this for three years? Why didn't I do some research and figure it out a long time ago? I have a tendency to do this in my life, I just settle for something even though there might be something way better out there. Sometimes it is an object (like my crock-pot) but sometimes it is a situation (putting up with someone rude when I could have asked them nicely to stop and it would have changed everything).

Needless to say, I'll be buying a new crock-pot soon. But I'm going to go read the reviews on Amazon before I bring home anything!!

Jill

Perfect Pancakes, The Easy Way!

My family loves pancakes. They could eat them once a week for breakfast or dinner. I love pancakes, too. Actually, I don't really like to eat pancakes all that much but I really like them anyway and I'll tell you why. To me, pancakes for dinner is cheating. It isn't a "real" dinner and it is so easy that when I make pancakes I feel like I'm taking the night off. But I'm taking the night off without anyone in my family whining! In fact, they cheer! "Yeah! Pancakes!"

The secret to really good pancakes was given to me by my sister and I bless her name every time I make them. You see, you start with Bisquick (or any other mix) and add a few things and viola, it tastes like you made them from scratch! This last batch I did was even easier (and cheaper) I had some Aunt Jemima Just Add Water Pancake Mix and some Krusteaz Just Add Water Whole Wheat and Honey Mix. I had gotten the Aunt Jemima for about 25 cents a box during the last Albertson's freaky $10 off 10 items sale. The Krusteaz is pretty cheap too. I put equal amounts of each mix in a bowl (The "large" recipe called for 3 c. mix and I put 1 1/2 c. Aunt Jemima and 1 1/2 c. Krusteaz). I use half of each for the whole wheat in the Krusteaz. My family doesn't love the 100% whole wheat by itself but I feel better if they are eating at least half whole wheat. To the mix I added about a tablespoon of baking powder and a tablespoon or two of sugar. I mixed that up really well. Then you measure out the amount of water/milk that is required (the Bisquick calls for milk, the "just add water" mixes, surprisingly, just call for water! go figure.) To the measured liquid you add egg, if called for, and a tablespoon of lemon juice.

The baking powder and the lemon juice chemically react with each other to provide a really powerful rising action. The lemon juice gives it just a hint of tartness and the sugar balances that out nicely. These always turn out terrific and everyone raves about them. Should I tell them it is just a mix? Nah, let 'em think I'm awesome.

The last time I did them, I did them the night before Jana's birthday. She leaves really, really early in the morning and I didn't want to get up that early but I still wanted her to have a good breakfast. So I made a batch of pancakes the night before. They reheat in the microwave perfectly and everyone loved having pancakes for breakfast. I loved not having to make pancakes for breakfast!!


Jill

The Joys of an Off-Set Spatula

(Updated: The above picture is of an off-set spatula. Some people (ahem, Jenifer) said they didn't know what one looked like, so here it is.)

There are certain things in life that aren't neccessary but help make life so much sweeter. Right now I'm sitting out on my deck overlooking my backyard (thank you husband for the wireless laptop!). The grass is that amazing green that it gets only in late spring when the spring rains and the first warm days collide. My flower pots are full of pansies which are running riot, much to my delight. My chickens are wandering the yard, nibbling grass and clucking softly to each other. My neighbor is mowing his lawn which makes for some noise I could do without but is also generating that heavenly fresh-cut grass smell which says "Spring!" to me. I don't need any of these things, but man, do they make life better!

There are some kitchen gadgets that are a lot like fresh-cut grass and foraging chickens, you can cook without them but they sure make it a lot more fun. My off-set spatula is one of these. I love my off-set spatula. You can get them in lots of different sizes but my favorite is my little one. It is about the size of a butter knife, I got mine from Pampered Chef the last time the Pampered Chef parties went through my group of friends. I don't think I bought it on purpose, it was probably that extra $5.oo I needed to get that free gift or something, but oh, am I glad I did! The official use of an off-set spatula is for spreading things like frosting on a cake or sandwhich spread on bread, or something like that. For this use it is fabulous. Because the handle is off-set (hence the brilliant name!), you don't get your fingers covered in goop. It also provides a good angle so that you can make those frosting swirls on the top of the cake like you see in the cookbooks.

The other uses are what I really love. My favorite use is to unstick muffins. I never use paper liners when I make muffins, partly because I really cheap, partly because I'm trying to be "green" and the wasted paper just kind of gets to me, and partly because I have silicone muffin tins so I don't really need liners. But I do need to go around the edges to loosen the muffins from the pan and then tip them out without burning my hand. The off-set spatula is perfect for this! The angled handle lets me get it in along side the muffin and the fact that it doesn't have a sharp edge lets me pop them out without gouging my muffins all to bits. I also use the spatula for loosening the bread from the bread pans before turning them out on the rack to cool.

I could go on and on, but I won't. Just suffice it to say that I love my off-set spatula, almost as much as my chickens!

Jill