Gadget Week: Rice Cooker

I’m unofficially dubbing this week “Gadget Week”, in which I will introduce myself and you to some of the lovely and fancy kitchen gadgets we received for our wedding, hopefully concluding with the behemoth that is our 5.5 qt. artisan KitchenAid mixer.

Yesterday I introduced you to our lovely (yet sort of intimidating) mandoline. The mandoline was something that always fascinated me, but I never thought I’d be “enough of a cook” to own, let alone use one. Today’s gadget is one that I have always wanted, but never could justify. Why have a rice cooker? Uncle Ben’s makes completely passable “quick rice” and boil-in-bag is just a convenience I had to indulge many a time in bouts of laziness or well…laziness. When I started my last adventure into losing weight, I was introduced to many different grains, all of which could be cooked either on the stove top, in the microwave, or in a rice cooker.

Wait, what? You mean I can make my steel-cut oats in the rice cooker? And quinoa? Those dopey little balls don’t have to go all over the kitchen? Yes, other grains could be cooked in the rice cooker! Then my wanting started. It took years of messy microwaves, burned and ruined pans, and finally the prospect of a wedding registry that got me truly thinking about getting one. It was one of those things we registered for but never in a million years thought we’d get. My amazing coworkers pooled together for our work wedding shower and, among other things, got us the rice cooker! It sat in the box until last week, and when I removed it, I was amazed at how pretty it is… just look:

Can you see the grainy goodness? See how they’re separated and not sticky? See how they’re not burned?! THAT is the wonder that is our rice cooker.

In other news, my finger injury from last week also seems to be healing well, and I can now get away without having a fluorescent purple band-aid on it. And I ran the spelling bee today. The winning word was “brigadier”, and not one student there knew what that was.

So my question for you: what’s your most coveted, in your dream kitchen, must-have-someday kitchen gadget? I have just about all of mine now… all I need now is my dream kitchen!

Have a great Wednesday!

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