March 7

3 gifts in the kitchen

1.  The Keurig.  I love being able to make just one cup of coffee.  And a cup of tea for Bret to enjoy on his ride to work.  I know I could steep him a cup of tea the old-fashioned way, but the Keurig is much faster.  I would have never spent the money for this gadget if not for the Silent Auction last year, and I'm so glad I did.

2.  The dishwasher.  It's hard enough to keep up with the dishes as it is.  My kitchen would be piled with dirty dishes if not for the dishwasher.  I remember about a decade ago, our dishwasher died and we didn't have the money to buy a new one.  So for about a month, I washed all the dishes by hand.  It wasn't so bad, and I actually liked it.  It made life seem a bit simpler.  But I had fewer people using dishes and certainly fewer activities to keep me away from the house.

3.  The tortilla press/flatbread maker that Bret gave me for Christmas about 8 years ago when I was in my homemade corn tortillas craze.  I surely do enjoy homemade corn tortillas, especially when they're still warm.  He had bought me a cast iron press and I would cook them on the stove, but this press is electric so it's all one step.  I had completely forgotten about it until I ran across it a few weeks ago.  The last two times we've had chili, I made some tortillas, and they were soooo good.  One of these days I'll make a batch for enchiladas.