Amy Sedaris’ show, At Home with Amy Sedaris, is coming back for its second season February 19th. If you haven’t seen it, the show is a parody on craft/cooking/lifestyle shows. I like it. I didn’t love it and fell off towards the end but it had a few moments of brilliance that will bring me back for season two. Part of the reason Amy’s parody works so well is because Amy is actually a very good crafter and cook. So when Amy gives tips in interviews, I also take them to heart, like her recent comments about limiting your gadgets in the kitchen. Amy says don’t spend the money, you just don’t need them.
At Home’s scrappy, silly ethos underscores just how far the hospitality shows that transfixed Sedaris as a kid have evolved from the joyous imperfection of Julia Child dropping the potato pancake on the floor to the meticulous perfection of Pinterest and today’s cooking shows.
“It’s like who has this electrical lemon grinder?” Sedaris says. “Just squeeze it yourself. When they say you need all that stuff, it makes me feel left out. I don’t have a huge kitchen. I don’t have any of the gadgets you just showed me, or nice countertops. And why don’t you have an apron on? I just can’t relate to it, that’s all. But the older shows, I could. Those were the shows back then. Julia Child and The Galloping Gourmet. They seemed like real people and were doing something sincere.”
And don’t get her started on the Martha Stewart pipe cleaner mouse. “I made that mouse, and in no way did you make that. With these instructions? I don’t buy it.”
Everyone in my family cooks or bakes and I really don’t have a lot of gadgets. I agree with Amy, work with what you have and don’t rush out to get the latest and shiniest. I went through four electric pasta makers before I chucked them for a countertop and a hand crank cutter – I get near perfect results every time. I’d add to Amy’s advice of effort vs. outcome. Like my aforementioned pasta, I have tried many brands and I do prefer fresh pasta to almost anything I can buy in the store so I don’t mind the time and effort to make it. But does anyone remember that New Basics Cookbook in the 90s that had you make every ingredient from scratch? I had gallons of syrups that I never used and tasted no better than the stuff from the store.
I’ve liked Amy for a while, I still collect my dryer lint for the local birds to put in their nests because of Amy. But the fact that she prefers Julia Childs and Graham Kerr (The Galloping Gourmet) to anyone today just makes me even more of a fan.
Here’s the trailer for At Home with Amy Sedaris season two:
Photo credit: WENN Photos and YouTube
I love kitchen gadgets, but I admit that it is easy to go overboard with them, and that some of the gadgets take away from basic kitchen skills.
For example, we have this chopping “thing” from Williams Sonoma (you put the onion/pepper/whatever on it, slam the lid, and the onions are all diced nice and small.) It’s nice. But you still have to quarter the onion, find the “thing,” get it set up, and its a pain in the rear to clean. I would rather just chop the onion – its faster and I think its more fun, ha. But my husband isn’t that good at chopping things (its kind of painful to watch him) so he would rather use the “thing.” but as long as he keeps using the “thing” he is never going to really figure out how to efficiently chop onions.
I do think that sometimes people go for quantity over quality with kitchen items. I would rather have good pots and pans and good knives and fewer gadgets. But I guess as long as people are using what they buy?
I can’t chop anything. My knife skills are non-existent. I have professional chefs in the family. I live in shame.
I’m slowly trying to replace kitchen items I’ve had since I moved out from my mom’s 12 years ago with better quality ones that should last a lifetime but yes: 2 pots, knives, 2 pans, a cutting board, a wooden spoon, a set of measuring cups and spoons and 1cake pan, a cooking sheet and a pyrex 8×12, a hand mixer and a bowl is about all you really need in your kitchen to be able to do about everything.
Gadgets won’t make your food taste better or be more healthy, it won’t save you much time either cuz they usually are cumbersome to clean (and sometime to use too). And yet, I’m the owner of a terracotta gingerbread house cookie cutter so I can’t say that I’m immune to buying gadgets!
I would advocate for a slow cooker. Covers everything from soup to dessert.
Move once or twice and you will LOATHE all kitchen gadgets save for a good set of knives and a can opener. That reminds me. Today is my Kondo Klean day. Gah.
I hate to cook; my kids are just about gone and my husband throws together his own dinner, so I feel free! But one little $10 gadget I enjoy is a hand lemon squeezer. Cut the lemon in half, put one half in the thing, squeeze. It’s great.
Between Amy and her brother David, I can’t imagine how anyone in their family got through a day due to laughing non-stop. David’s descriptions of Amy are the absolute best.
I know, right? What a hilarious and brilliant family. Lots of heartbreak, too, but I admire David and Amy’s closeness in particular.
Couldn’t agree more. They’ve been through a lot of pain but the way they talk about their family is just hilarious!
I love both of them! David’s most recent book was all about how they bought a beach house so the family can all be together, it really made me happy. I know they’ve suffered loss, but both of them still bring such joy to people.
all you need to cook pretty much anything is a knife, a wooden spoon and a pan. that’s it. gadgets just make it easier – sometimes. the only thing about gadgets is that it is more things to clean after the fact. i hate the cleaning up so i like to keep it to a minimum. the only one i use with any regularity is a mini food processor. i like a hand mixer for baking. i’ve used my kitchen aid mixer twice in the 7 years i’ve had it and will throw away any and all garlic related gadgets. just smash it and throw it in whole.
Thanks for saying this about the kitchen aid mixer,I’ve felt so left out,like I’m the only one without this gadget that everyone seems to have.I’ve contemplated buying one,but geez it’s about the same price as a basic dishwasher (and I need a new dishwasher),so I think I’m crossing this pretty shiny object once and for all off my list!Plus I don’t really bake so…
If you don’t bake then you don’t really need a KA mixer. I use mine for other things (its actually great for shredding chicken) but I do use it primarily for baking. I don’t bake a lot, but when I do I am glad I have it. But I got it as a wedding gift knowing that I would probably use it a few times a year, and that it would last for decades. (My mom had the same one for 30 years.)
But, as much as I love it, its definitely something that I think people can forego.
Yeah Becks I am a good cook but baking not so much, I hate measuring all the time,plus I don’t need the calories from baked sweets.Those mixers are just so pretty in all their brilliant colors 😉I think I’ll keep my money and the extra counter space!Question-does anybody else find the Keurig to be not all it’s cracked up to be,we have one but my McDonald’s coffee only tastes good when it’s actually from McDonald’s!
The shredding chicken is a great idea though.
it is one of the those things where i suspect some people force themselves to use it b/c they have it. i don’t really bake and when i do – it isn’t complicated. it takes so long to haul a 25 lbs monstrosity out of a closet down the hall from my kitchen, use it for a minute and haul it back – there is just no point.
@spicecake28 – mcdonalds coffee 4-LYFE. best coffee on earth.
I got a KitchenAid mixer (with Airmiles points, because I am cheap), and you really don’t need it even for most baking. A hand held mixer is often a more effective option, as long as it has a pretty good motor. The one good thing about mine is that I kept feeling guilty every time I saw the dough hook, because I wasn’t using it to its fully capacity.
So I started making my own bread. Now I make my own whole wheat bread, and I absolutely love it. But I would say making yeast breads is one of the very few things a person really needs a KitchenAid for. Even then, some people like kneading by hand. *shrug*
@Spicecake – I hated our Keurig. I think we had two over the course of a few years and I just hated it. The coffee wasn’t good, and we drink a lot so we were going through several pods a day – and we had the refillable pods and one of the Keurigs had the carafe, and it was still just a pain.
We are back to a 10 dollar coffee pot and its perfect for us.
@Genevieve – I love my KA for making pizza dough! I’m sure I could do it by hand or with a hand mixer but it takes like 5 minutes in the KA mixer and is so good. But I figure people were baking for centuries before KA mixers and did it just fine, lol.
I love my kitchenaid mixer; I use it at least once a month (used it yesterday to make chocolate chips cookies to bring to our cabin w/e) and almost daily during xmas. If you do a lot of bakery, it’s useful, especially for whipping egg whites and stuff like that or when you gently have to poor liquids into the mix since you don’t need to hold the mixer. Plus it’s easy to clean.
But the only “gadget” I think it’s worth investing in even if you’re not a big baker or have little room is a decent food processor (KitchenAid and Culinart have great ones). From pie/pizza dough to hummus and nut butters (and homemade “nutella”) to grated carrots and cabbage, it does everything. It’ll save you time and makes salad making in the summer much more easier.
@Becks thanks for confirming what I already believed regarding the Keurig,not worth the money IMO.
@ Lizzie we will go out in a blizzard to get our McDonald’s coffee 😉
After seeing tons of newlyweds get Kitchen Aid mixers, I bought one in my 50’s and NEVER want to be without it again. Oatmeal scotchies are a snap, meringues, even just beating cake mix. Homemade bread with the dough hook attachment. Even getting the lumps from mashed potatoes. I hear there’s an ice cream attachment that works great, so that’ll be my next experiment. BTW, I full-on dropped it on the floor, twice, and the mixer is fine!
Keurig’s can get algae or something green in the tank, in a spot you can’t really clean. And unless you get the reusable cups and fill them yourself, they’re very bad for the environment, all those dinky little plastic cups and wrapping. I had a Keurig, and threw it out.
I use my Kitchen Aid to make bread, ground beef and other meats for burgers, juicing. It is a truly flexible kitchen machine.
Two things, 1. I love my stand mixer, use it constantly, it’s 10 and still going strong. 2. Go online and watch some Keurig videos. They have vid after vid of people showing the mold and gunk that grows in the tanks of Keurigs. It’s quite bad, especially if you don’t use your machine daily. It’s not in the tank you fill, it’s the inner tank that holds water and eventually passes it through the system. If your coffee is funky, that may be why.
@spicecake38 – i’ll probably reach up from my grave for a mcdonalds coffee….just one last sip
💀☕️🤣
Lol!
I am late to the convo, but I love my KA stand mixer. It was my mother’s & is 30 years old. I bake a lot, but I have weak hands & forearms (nerve problem), so it works out great for me. It does take up a lot of counter space, but that & the toaster are all I want on the counter any way (I don’t drink coffee).
The thing with gadgets is that clean up tends to be more work, and I usually don’t have time for that. Also, I’m not sure if the microwave is considered a gadget but it’s not that hard to get by without one of those, either. When mine was broken, I didn’t miss it at all. And the house my sister bought 10+ years ago didn’t have one and she never bought one. And she and her husband cook a ton. It’s really not necessary.
My favorite kitchen item is my Dutch oven,it was pricey but so worth it.I need a couple more in various sizes,anything that can go straight from stovetop to oven regularly is awesome in my book.It is super heavy,but that’s alright,add one good quality knife,chopping board,tongs,and good wooden spoons.I already have cabin fever,and this post is making me want to start spring cleaning and tossing out the junk and donating what can be donated. I need to streamline things in the kitchen more,too much clutter makes me not want to cook!
Add to above,if I was super rich I would have Ina Garten’s kitchen and everything in it 😁
I’m a pretty basic cook, so I absolutely agree that lots of gadgets aren’t necessary. Last year I treated myself to a (refurbished) Vitamix, and I use it almost every day. The motor is powerful, and the cleanup is a cinch, so it was a good investment.
I worked PT at Williams-Sonoma for awhile, ironic since I totally don’t cook. I was amazed at the sheer number of gadgets available and that people would buy, ie an $800 countertop pizza oven (thats it, couldn’t use it for anything else) but the most popular item by far was a $5 vegetable peeler.
I worked PT at Williams-Sonoma for awhile, ironic since I totally don’t cook. I was amazed at the sheer number of gadgets available and that people would buy, ie an $800 countertop pizza oven (thats it, couldn’t use it for anything else) but the most popular item by far was a $5 vegetable peeler.
I love her show but agree, that last couple episodes went off the rails a bit. One gadget of hers I would love is the vintage looking Smeg refridgerator but wow, they are pricey!
I didn’t know she had a show!
I still remember seeing her years and years ago as a guest on some tv show and she showed us how to make a Christmas dip from cream cheese, almonds, etc. that looked like a pinecone.
My family thought I was crafty from that. Ha!
I cook a lot and I don’t have many gadgets.
I also think my Kitchenaid mixer is my favorite. I still use it all the time and my husband got it for me our first Christmas together.
That was 30 years ago and I think I could still mix cement with that thing.
Also, Julia Child and Emeril will never steer you wrong with a recipe.
They tend to be complicated but you can do prep work one day and finish the next.
I’ve never paid to much attention to her, but now I really like her! Today perfection is everything, but I’m sure things will start over again. The new hipster mantra will be, “Screw up, you’ve earned it!” Or, “Mistakes ARE perfection!”
I love tech gadgets, I really do, but my kitchen is still a bit like my Mamaw’s used to be…a few loved items. I admit to my KitchenAid mixer, but I’ve had it for 15 years and it rocks. So many things don’t last, but the mixer stays on the counter at the ready. I love a good food processor. Seriously. Everything starts with healthy doses of chopped veggies and my chicken salad wouldn’t look as good without a few pulses lol. Spice, nut and bean grinders are awesome too.
I’ve chucked expensive coffeemakers because they keep breaking down, or the pods and cups are ridiculous, or I want more than a cup, or they’re trying to do too much with one ghastly machine. French presses and pourovers are my thing now lol. Enough shaking gives me froth and creamed coffee freezes beautifully, and when blended provides better tasting frappes than you know who.
Anyone enjoy their veggie spiraller? I really want one lol.
@Mabs – I have a basic spiralizer that I got off Amazon for 20 bucks or so. I like it! I can imagine that a more expensive one that is a bit heavier might be better (mine “rocks” as I use it). I just wanted to see how much I would use it before investing in a good one. In the summer I use it about once a week. If you try to avoid pasta, it’s good. Our grocery store sells frozen zucchini noodles but they really aren’t good; making them myself is pretty easy and much better tasting. I haven’t tried to spiralize anything big like a butternut squash – I’m not sure mine could handle it – but for zucchini and cucumbers its great. Like I said, in the summer it gets a lot of use.
I absolutely LOVE my spiralizer, it was cheap and makes great veggie noodles for Thai dishes. I highly recommend it!
Thanks ladies. I’m ready itching to find other ways to wean off pasta. Dammit.
I used to buy my “Zoodles” at the store and I thought they tasted really good until a friend had me over for dinner and made them from fresh zucchini…wow, what a difference! Not only did they taste better, the texture was much firmer and closer to pasta. She served it with homemade turkey marinara sauce…bliss!
She had a little round thing that she twisted and pushed the zucchini through, and that did NOT work for my poor, swollen thumb with osteoarthritis. She said using it was also hard for her but she wanted to see how much she used it before upgrading. Went to Walmart and bought us each a “Vegetti”. Can’t wait til she gets back from vacation to give it to her!
I still haven’t seen her show, but I LOVE her book “I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence.” I’ve had it for years and years and I still cook out of it constantly.
I’m like a magpie in the kitchen – any shiny gadget catches my eye, so I have them all but slowly over the last several years I have been decluttering and giving away my underused items to a local charity that resettles new immigrants.
The ones that make the cut and stayed:
– my kitchen aid mixer – I love to bake so it gets used a lot and I have a special shelf for it so I can pull it out, use it and push it back in without having to lift all 800 pounds of it
– my veggie bullet – a lady in my office recommended one about a year ago and I use it constantly. I like cooking with lots of veggies and I have terrible knife skills so it is a necessity for me – it shreds, chops, spiralizes and cleans up so unbelievably easily I can’t imagine being without it
– basic handheld lemon press – I think citrus brightens up most any dish so I use this almost daily
– herb stripper – I love fresh parsley and dill and while I’m not too fussy about using stems, for some things, I just want the leaf and with my trusty stripper, I can plow through an enormous pile of dill or parley in a fraction of the time it previously took me by hand.
The best other kitchen tip I got was to wash your produce in 10 parts water to 1 part vinegar. Apparently the vinegar recovers the bacteria on the outside of the produce that continues the ripening process, so I find my produce lasts much longer if I wash it this way as soon as I get it. I do this for everything except tender berries. Also I store my produce in glass containers – lasts so much longer, even than Tupperware Fridge Smart or produce bags.
Your post was interesting and super helpful! I’m copying it into a Word document for a reference! 🙂
Glad you found it useful!
I love my gadgets! My favorite is my little pickle thingy. It’s a small contraption that has wire claws the will grip a pickle and pull it from the jar. Like the game where you try to grab stuffed animals with the claw. And don’t get me started on my butter dish! It’s the PERFECT gadgety butter dish. In the mode of Tidying Up, my red KA mixer gives me absolute joy taking up its huge amount of space on my counter. I still remember my now husband carrying it in the restaurant on my birthday many years ago. ❤️❤️ On the other hand, we use a hand can opener. And cutting boards! So many cutting boards.
You need to spill on the butter dish. Details please!
What’s your pasta maker? I’ve been thinking about getting one for my husband, but don’t even know what I’m looking for… there’s information overload with the number of gadgets you can get.
you can pry my instantpot from my cold dead hands. But yeah, I agree with her overall. I would say I splurged on some kitchen gadgets in the past year, but I’m overhauling my diet to try and eat healthy long-term. Some of these silly things that take up drawer space have really helped me stay on track, so they’re worth it to me.
Ok. Butter dish. It is the Butterie Flip Top butter dish in red. I adore it! It has its own little spreader and you flip the top up rather than take it off. I keep butter on the counter so it works for me. We do Keto-ish and use a lot of butter. My friends make fun of my obsession with this butter dish and have accused me of having too much time in my hands. 😂😂😂
I also have a cute white farmhouse butter dish that says Butter in it because. Well because of no good reason other than it’s cute.
That looks amazing! Sadly it will not fit a Cdn lb of butter and I hate cutting the butter to make it fit ☹️
Oh the other random gadget that I love is my immersion blender. I don’t have a regular blender (used to but it broke and we haven’t replaced it since the IB is so easy to use.) I use it a few times a week. It’s easy to clean, convenient, and I like how I can control how much I blend something.
I do cook and bake, but mostly of the “working mom let’s get fairly healthy supper on the table ASAP” variety these days. I really miss pre-kid weekends when I’d try out complicated new recipes, or pour myself a glass of wine and cook a leisurely dinner. Just not a lot of time for that. One day…
I totally agree with Amy about gadgets though. We currently live in a smallish house and the kitchen is tiny, with no counter space. I curse it pretty much daily and even thinking about how difficult it is to really cook in it makes me ragey. But I’ve gotten rid of everything except the essentials and we do just fine without many gadgets. Good kitchen shears and well-seasoned cast iron are probably my must-have items.
HONK for Amy Sedaris!! I love her (and David as well) and am pleased to see her in a story on CB! She’s right about gadgets (or as Alton Brown calls them, “unitaskers.”) I try not to have anything in my kitchen that doesn’t perform multiple functions, unless I use it several times a week. Sharp, quality knives, good pans and cutting boards, lots of bowls, and sturdy rimmed sheet pans are virtually all you need. I do have a KA mixer and use it at least weekly, but I’m lucky to have a large kitchen and have space to leave it out. I’ve also got lots of cake/cupcake/springform pans, but I bake very often, so they’re also on the necessary side. Cooking and baking brings me joy; it’s my one “domestic art” since I can’t sew and I’m not crafty.
You can definitely get overwhelmed with kitchen gadgets. I will say, though, that while some seem eye-roll worthy if you’re able bodied, they might be really helpful for someone else. We actually just got my mother an electric lemon press for Christmas because her arthritis was making squeezing them really painful for her.
There you go. That’s what I mentioned above regarding my KA stand mixer.
I have a stove-top smoker that is amazing – I’ve smoked whole chickens, salmon, hard cheeses, turkey breasts. The flavour is amazing.
I love her freestyle creativity. Going back to watch clips of her with Colbert in Strangers With Candy!
Anyone have any experience with an Airfryer? I’ve heard great things but I’m still undecided on buying one.
I love Amy Sedaris. But I’m not giving up my little milk frother, which re-directed my life.
I only bake around Christmas, or if my husband begs for a pie. We have a very small kitchen, and I got rid of a lot of stuff last time we moved, and have found the only things I ever use constantly are my Instant Pot (game changer!), immersion blender, Bullet, hand lemon squeezer and ancient rice cooker (I can’t make rice in the Instant Pot, it turns mushy every time for some reason).
i luh her and completely agree. hate the clutter!!
Y’all need to watch her apartment tour. She’s the best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYHE7UIVpTs