Chef Scoopy Thingy... aka the Graham Kerr Bash n Chop/Cutter

Hi Everyone,

In yesterday's blog I posted my list of things that I needed to bring to Morrisburg. As I was typing out the list I had a brain lapse on the tool that I wanted to bring and ended up calling it the Chef Scoopy Thingy.  Deborah commented about it and wanted to know what it was.  Turns out that the Graham Kerr version is also called the Bash n Chop/Cutter, which is a way more fun description but I would imagine wouldn't have provided any more clarity if I had posted that wording.  It's also known as a bench knife, pastry cutter, dough scraper, and various other names.  I think I like the Bash n Chop best.

One of our fellow guild clayers, Barbara, had recommended the dough scraper as an all purpose clay tool and I have to say it lives up to that. I use it primarily for scooping clay off my tile and for making sure that my clay cane slices are in a straight line (more on that in a later posting).  I would imagine that you can use the curved surface as a baking form for petals, bracelets, pendants, and other things.  I also use mine as a rough cutter for when my blades have temporarily turned themselves invisible on my work surface.  It's also been handy for taking things out of the oven and for pressing down the air bubbles that sometimes show up on the flat clay surfaces.  I like the little ruler it has on my version and that's come in handy.  Perhaps the best thing about it is that it's a good size and rarely gets lost in my work area.

I found mine at a Salvation Army at Christmas and scooped it up when I saw it.  Apparently you can buy similar versions in dollar stores, but I particularly like that mine is a Graham Kerr one as it makes me smile.

If you're not familiar with Graham Kerr, he was known as the Galloping Gourmet in the 60s and 70s with a focus on fats and alcohol.  I was a kid then and thought he was hilarious.  I still smile just listening to him talk.  He's still around and has become a much healthier chef.  There is a wonderful series of several hundred recipes and associated videos that he's created at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.  It's actually quite an amazing site, you can click on the recipe search tab, check the ingredients that you want to use, and it generates a whole listing of healthy recipes.  Or you can simply click on the recipe index to see all the scrumptious sounding recipes.  I spent a happy hour this morning clicking and choosing and I've decided that this week's menu will be recipes from this site keeping in mind that I've got a couple of large butternut squash and sweet potatoes to use up.  Here's what I've got so far.

• Turkey Soup with Sweet Potatoes
• Mexican Stuffed Peppers
• Waldorf Salad 
• Spiced Squash Soup
• Spinach Ricotta Quiche
• Bulgur Nut Salad

I'm also looking forward to trying

• Strawberry Jalapeno Salsa
• Sweet Potato Brulee

But I can't quite get my head around the Sweet Potato Pasta Sauce.

Anyhow, short story long, thanks, Deborah, for asking the question on what my chef scoopy thingy was. I've gotten two things accomplished out of that relatively simple question, a blog entry and a grocery list with a menu plan.

Not a bad way to start a Saturday at all.

Cheers,

Sandy