Fun in the Kitchen: Silly Utensils that Make Me Smile

I’m a serious person. I was forty years old in my own mind by the time I was in first grade. But having children has made me a little more fun. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and they’ve found some silly kitchen tools that make me smile and are just as functional as their more mature counterparts.

My mother had to force me to go outside and play when I was six or seven years old, only to look out the window a few minutes later and find me reading under a tree. As an adult in a yoga workshop, when the well known instructor encouraged everyone to dance around like a monkey, I pretended I had to go to the bathroom and waited out the silliness in the hallway. I’m serious in the kitchen, too. When I got interested in cooking in college, my first purchase was the Larousse Gastronomique. I was interested in food on an intellectual (read: nerdy) level.

With three boys, a husband and some pretty regular dinner guests, my interest in cooking has become more practical (read: I have to do it every day). The aqua blue tiny hand tongs were a find in our favorite kitchen shop. My six year old spotted them and couldn’t fathom living in a world without them. They have a regular place on our table, as they’re the perfect size for serving grated cheese on taco or pasta night. We also use them for homemade croutons and anything else I would prefer the boys not pick up with their actual hands.

The smiling red spoon was a gift from the boys. They know I love something new for the kitchen and you really can never have too many basic spoons. That smiling face is too cheery for a drawer, so it peers out from in between the wooden utensils on the counter. It’s the perfect size and its narrow openings make it the best slotted spoon when I want to keep a little liquid in whatever I’m serving.

They were also responsible for the Party People drink markers. Or was it the mustaches? They love them both, and I’ve learned to let my guard down and laugh with them.

The tiny aqua hands and the friendly spoon make me smile every time. And mustaches are always hilarious. So…maybe I’m finally six years old! At least in the kitchen.

What makes you smile in the kitchen? How do take the mundane to a fun level?

(Images: Anne Postic)