Fruitful Kitchen Gadgets

Ah, kitchen gadgets.  I love them.  They fill up my drawers and cabinets and make an appearance once a year.  In many cases I could live without the kitchen gadgets, but there are two fruit-related gadgets that I refuse to give up.  At first glance a strawberry slicer and apple peeler might sound a little ridiculous, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

Let’s start with the strawberry slicer.  If you’re anything like me, slicing strawberries by hand is the one thing that stands between you and strawberry shortcake or strawberry rhubarb pie.  That’s where this tool comes in handy.

The slicer whips through berries and produces nice even slices.  It’s especially helpful when you go strawberry picking and have a gazillion berries to freeze.  Trust me.

And another handy feature is that you can fill up the container and measure out your berries at the same time.  It makes it very easy to cut up the two cups of berries you might need for muffins.

And then there is my beloved apple peeler and slicer.  When I had friends over recently they thought this tool was completely unnecessary.  My mom had this tool, so using this slicer was normal for me.  I had to convince my friends though.  Once they saw it in action peeling, coring and slicing the apple, they were sold.

This gadget suctions right to your counter and magically makes apple peeling easy (and even a little bit fun).  As an added bonus, you can also use this gadget to peel potatoes (you just move the coring and slicing mechanism to the side).

So, those are a few of the kitchen gadgets that I truly couldn’t live without.  Have you used either of these or are they new to you?  Are there any gadgets you can’t do without?