Thursday, January 13, 2011

With all the convenience of the 80's...

It has been stated that I highly enjoy the preparing of foodstuffs. So it should be no surprise that I have a few choice cooking gadgets to aid in the process. Over Christmas, I added a vintage, brand new device to my repertoire; one I've been wanting since I was a kid (if you can believe that...). Thankfully, now I don't have to wait for my mother to die to get one. Ladies und Gentlemen, I give unto thee - The Kabob-It...

When I was a kid, my family would occasionally bust out the Kabob-It and have some bite sized food for dinner. As a kid, I thought the Kabob-It was way cool; not a whole lot has changed since then. Mom would cut up some meat and veggies, skewer them up, and each of us would get two sticks of food for dinner (plus some filler dish, like potatoes or rice...). It was a ball, at least for a kid growing up in the mid 80's through the mid 90's. We didn't use the Kabob-It that often, though. I imagine that it was because it was a little bulky and cumbersome and even too fragile to keep out on a regular basis. As I got older, I made Mom promise me that I would get the Kabob in the will (understand: I was a teenager telling a 30 something mother about what I wanted upon her demise...). She would laugh and usually say yes. I hadn't thought about the Kabob-It much in a long time, until...

My family is a huge fan of yard sales (future blog post...) and we have pretty good luck finding great deals on interesting items. I nearly bought a 5 foot iron wrench for 30 bucks cause I thought it was cool (Tara thanked me later by not not marrying me...). Occasionally, my family is also great at keeping secrets, especially around the holidays. For Christmas, I unwrapped a fairly big box that contained a mint condition Kabob-It. The skewers were still in the original plastic, the wire was tied together with the original twist tie, even the manual was cherry. I can only imagine someone received this as a wedding gift or a college present or something and didn't think they would ever use it. Suckers. Well, their loss is my gain and I am now the proud owner of a working Kabob-It in fantastic condition...

This very evening, I used the Kabob-It for the second time and made beef with pirate sauce and Italian peppers (my own concoctions...) for our standard Thursday night dinner with friends. Coupled with this was white rice and some red beans w/ rice (protein for the vegetarians...). We cracked some wine (a Riesling, a Tugboat Red, and the rest of the Rosa Regale...) and made a meal of it. It seemed to go over well. It did, however, enforce some facts about the Kabob-It; it is only really good for dinners for 4 max or hors devors (say it phonetically; it's fun...) for a party. There is too much prep to do for more than a 4 person dinner, especially breaking it up between vegetarians and carnivores. It'd just be quicker to use a skillet or grill. It certainly wouldn't be cooler, though. I highly recommend finding a Kabob-It or buying a modern day equivalent. I love using it, and I think you will too...

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