Home & kitchen ware shoplog

Let’s return to this space with something I do best: post a shoplog. This time it’s a bit of a different one though. Today I’ll be showing you some things I bought yesterday to spice up my home and kitchen!

I am usually not one who’s big on home decor and kitchen stuff. I have things I like and that’s it. I only go on the hunt for things when I feel I absolutely have to and this was the case. I was on the hunt for a mandolin and a julienne slicer. I’ve been experimenting with subbing zucchini (i.e. courgette) for grain in several dishes these past two weeks and I’ve decided that I also want to try them as noodles, but I will have to slice them up to do so. Hence the hunt. Of course I found plenty of other things in the mean time.

Mason jar with stainless steel straw. (you’re going to have to imagine the lemonade inside for now)

My first stop was HEMA, where I didn’t find what I was looking for, but I did find the following:

Stretchable book cover (HEMA)

I hate it when my books get messed up by having them in my bag. So you could understand my joy when I found this stretchable book cover. Meant for school books originally but I’m sure I can use it to cover up my novels as well. They had several kinds and they’re cheap: only 2.50!

Bag clips

These things are sooo handy. With the way I eat I’m very dependent on inconvenient packaging as everything comes in bags. I have been converting everything to containers to keep everything fresh, but they take up so much space in my cupboards. I only had one of them and they sold these bag for cheap so I figured: let’s swap my trusty wash pins for these nifty little things.

Done & To Do stamps

Back to school stuff is in and that’s where I also found these nifty stamps. I bought them for 2 reasons: 1.) they’re cool 2.) they remind me of being a kid. My doctor had a stamp much like these with his address on it and everything I came there I got a stamp on my hand before I left.

Tongs

One kitchen utensil I missed in my kitchen: a pair of tongs. These things are so useful for flipping things in pans. No more struggling with grilled veggies and meat that just won’t slide onto your spatula.

HEMA was no success, so I went to Xenos instead (I had already checked Blokker and no luck there either). Again, no julienne peeler or mandolin, but I did manage to find… a pillow.

Red pillow (Xenos)

Ask anyone who’s ever been to my place and they’ll tell you that the last thing I’d need is a pillow. I decided to revamp the collection of pillows though, going with only red, cream and black on my couch and I moved some of my other pillows to my bed. I love sleeping with tons of pillows and all my old pillow move there. This new one is so soft and fluffy so it’s a nice addition to my couch.

Then I got distracted on my shopping spree. I had one more mission (apart from the julienne slicer) which was to find a good reusable water bottle and/ or a plastic cup that would allow me to take smoothies with me on the go. So I wandered into De Tuinen (health & beauty store) where I decided to stock up on some health foods such as dried apricots and protein powder. And look what I found: a protein shake cup! Well if that won’t make a good smoothie-on-the-go cup I don’t know what else would!

Protein shake container (De Tuinen)

By this time I had exhausted most places in town, but I knew that at a specialist kitchen shop I’d surely find what I need. So I headed towards Dille & Kamille, cooking store pur sang and guess what I found there:

Julienne peeler (Dille & Kamille)

A julienne peeler! Scary looking thing now does it? It should cut anything into strings so I’ll be sure to try it asap. Other things I found at Dille & Kamille:

Preservative jars & bottle

Dille & Kamille have an entire section devoted to making your on preservatives like jams, pickled and other jarred goodness. I figured I could easily utilize these for, well anything! Some ideas I had: storing left over pasta sauce, storing pasta (duh!), for making and storing lemonade, for storing smoothies in my fridge, making flavored olive oil. Since these things come with a lid it will make life so much easier as things aren’t left out in the open and go bad easily. Of course you could simply reuse old jars, but these are big! I bought 2 of the small ones which are 0.5 liters, the middle one and bottle are 1 liter each.

Stainless steel straw (Dille & Kamille)

Now my first hunch for the jars was to use them to make iced tea and lemonade during my summer vacation. Those are best enjoyed chilled super cold and of course: with a straw. When I saw these little stampers I had initially not even noticed they were straw until I asked the lady at the counter whether they had any and she pointed to the hollow. And again these will come in handy: I drink all liquids with a straw whenever I have a cold sore and I used to use disposable ones, but those kind of melt in boiling hot tea which is yuck. I’m sure these would stand the test of time.

I also know what water bottle I want by the way, but they don’t sell them where I live. I’ll have to go to The Hague or Amsterdam to get one, but what I’d like to get is a Bobble (click here). I’m simply sick & tired of having to buy new water bottles time and time again and I don’t like the sports kind with that sippy cup top that pulls up. Plus a Bobble has a filter in it which is a plus. Anyone have experience with Bobbles?

Did you buy anything home decor/ kitchen ware related as of late?