I Love My...

Last night as I tucked the wee people into their beds, Superman, in an effort to stall bedtime, announced, "Mom, I know what I'm going to get everyone for Heart Day."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"I'm going to get Ava a new doll. And I'm going to get my baby sister a new doll too. And you know what I'm going to get you, Mom?? A new laundry basket. A shiny green one."

Hm. It makes me laugh to think of how he preceives me. The thing is... I'd actually love a shiny new green laundry basket. All of our laundry baskets are broken from me dropping them over the upstairs bannister into the foyer with clothes in them (self-made laundry chute... it's faster that way). His innocence just makes me smile. If my husband gave me a shiny new laundry basket for Valentine's Day I would not be smiling. But from your kid... well its just darn cute. And I love that.

So, in a similar less romantic fashion, I want to give one of you one of my favorite things this Valentine's Day. My friend Katie, long ago, gave these the name of "The Chicken Choppers," although they are formally known as Salad Choppers. I use them ALL the time on this blog to shred/chop chicken. And you probably hate me big time when I do because it is so much faster then chopping, or heaven forbid the laborious task of two-fork shredding.

Its actual purpose on earth was to put whole salad ingredients into a bowl (a head of lettuce, a tomato, an onion, a cucumber) and then just go at it with the salad choppers in the bowl as opposed to chopping them all on a cutting board. Even cooler than that, I love using them to make salsa in one bowl in 5 minutes (just throw whole tomatoes, onion, jalapeno and cilantro in a bowl, and chop away). Perfect for a quick appetizer or one of my summer faves, Classic Salsa Pizza.

Same goes for bruschetta!

I use them to mash up old bananas for banana bread. I use them to chop up a can of whole tomatoes straight in the crock pot. I use them to cut up pasta for the kids right in the pot. And I can do it all with one hand, which is crucial when I need to free up my other hand for helping the kids. Okay or more realistically for my glass of wine. I often daydream about carrying them in my purse and whipping them out to cut up my salads at restaurants (like McDonalds, and the other fine establishments we frequent these days). Seriously, is it that difficult for them to cut my cherry tomato in half, chop the chicken, or give me a cucumber smaller than the size of a coaster?

I digress. Anyway, for the technical stuff... it's dishwasher safe, and has two parallel blades with micro-serrated edges so it's actually sharpening itself everytime its being used. It is amazing and definitely one of my favorite little kitchen gadgets. If you already own one, don't let that stop you from entering. I'm sure you can think of someone you know who would love to take it off your hands!

Giveaway Details

1. You must be a follower on this blog (not facebook)

2. leave a comment on this post that starts with "I Love My..." and tell me what your favorite, can't live without kitchen gadget is.

3. I will pick a winner on Valentine's Day. Okay more realistically, the day after Valentine's Day. Because I'll probably be really busy with my shiny new Laundry Basket. I know, that is not very long from now, but I procrastinated on getting this post up and I like to keep contests short and sweet :) So enter now or run the risk of two-fork shredding your chicken forever.

4. If you enter the giveaway and do NOT win, but think you really can't live without some salad choppers like I can't, shoot me an email and I will help you get it for 10% off and free shipping.

5. OH! And I forgot to mention I am picking the winner at RANDOM like I normally do. The "I Love My ..." is purely for my entertainment value. If it was a subjective contest however, Whitney's answer would totally win.

Good Luck!