What is it??

Mother in law and Father in law just recently spent a week in the mountains for their birthdays. They brought me back some good wine and this...



She was so excited to give it to me, saying things like "I hope y'all don't already have one". I looked at it.... and everyone waited for me to say something...

"OH!.....Is.....Is it a biscuit cutter?"

short pause

"Noooo it's to chop meat up!"

Boy, was she right! This thing is SO handy to have in the kitchen, especially since we now have a commercial barbecue pit in the back yard. You gather your cooked meat in a pile and shove this thing into it with a twisting motion. At first it doesn't really tackle the heap like expected, then out of no where, you've got a pile of perfectly chopped meat. It is such a time saver! It makes it look just like if you went to your local bbq joint and ordered a "chopped sandwich/platter". Love it!

new toy :)

When you go to the beach with the girls, you do what girls love to do! Talk, lay out and SHOP!

While almost everyone else went to the clothing stores, Amanda and I browsed the cooking stores and "ohhhhh'd" and "ahhhh'd" over all the great finds. And trust me - there were some great finds! I got a kitchen aid hand chopper, in empire red, for $11! I also got a lovely bottle that I plan to use when I infuse my own olive oil. Stay tuned for that!

Right now, I want to show you something I found that I have been wanting since Christmas. A mortar and pestle.


What do I need with a mortar and pestle, you ask? Well it all started when Bradley gifted me with this super cool awesome spice rack with like two point five million different spices on it. Several of them were in "seed" state. Meaning, they needed to be ground up to use them to their full extent. One of which was - Coriander.

Coriander was new to me, but I have since read up on it and pretty much fell in love with it once I ground it and was hit with a giant cloud of lemony heaven. I think it is going to be the perfect touch to my chicken marinade.

Fun fact - coriander is the seed of the plant and is used as a spice. The leaves of the plant are used as an herb and have been given the name "Cilantro". Betcha didn't know that! If you did, please keep it to yourself. No one likes a bragger.

Just kidding!

Now, back to the matter at hand. I have found that if you do a little bit of grinding at a time, it works best. So let's place a few dried coriander seeds into the mortar.


Obviously that is less than what I would use if I was going to put it in a marinade, but this is for training purposes... and so I can get another whiff of that great lemony breeze!!

Once you have chosen just the right amount of spice you desire to pulverize, go ahead and use the pestle to grind it up. I like to do a circular motion.


Check it every now and then, to see if it is at a stage that fits your liking... and to sniff the pestle.

There you have it! From seed to dust in just seconds, and its completely man powered, so you are saving money by not having to buy gas!