My Bowl

Though I'm not expecting gifts of any magnitude this Christmas, I occasionally indulge myself in what can only be termed a "Christmas Wish List." (If this were April and not November, it would simply be a "wish list.")

Admittedly, I should be wishing for practical things: a digital camera to replace the one that got lost-and-or-stolen in Delhi, a new laptop or notebook to replace my cantankerous machine which takes 1/2 hour to reboot (among other charming proclivities).

But this year, all my wishes are kitchen-related.

A spatula.
A teakettle.
A toaster. Maybe one of those toasters that does wide slices of bread.

I should probably just buy the friggin' spatula already (I've been handling all of my pancake- and egg-flipping needs with the edge of an all-purpose slotted spoon), but I'm still trying to fulfill my goal of setting aside two months' living expenses by the end of the year, and am monitoring my cash-flow very, very carefully.

So carefully, that when I mentioned to a friend that I was pining for a breadmaker, and my friend showed me instead how to make No-Knead Bread (won't bother with the hyperlink -- google it yourself, it's an internet phenomenon), and I realized that I would need a large mixing bowl to make the bread myself... well, I ended up electing not to go to the Richard Avedon exhibit at the Corcoran that weekend because I had to offset the cost of the initial breadmaking supplies, including the bowl. (No, I didn't cancel plans with friends. I was going to just go on my own, and ended up going to the National Portrait Gallery instead, which is my favorite museum in the entire city. I like studying the faces. It was also an amazing thing to go into the Hall of Presidents and to think that in a year Obama's portrait will hang on the wall.)

That bowl has more than repaid its $4.00 value. It's so -- I want to say "delightful," but I don't want to sound silly about it -- fantastic to have a large mixing bowl. I've never had a large mixing bowl before. I've always mixed things in old yogurt containers or large-ish generic Tupperware containers or other random non-bowl-like substances.

I think I've used that bowl every day since I've bought it. I've used it to make bread, I've used it to make yogurt, I've used it to hold chopped vegetables, I've used it to mix chickpea flour and yogurt to make karhi. I love my bowl.

It's so neat that one little thing can make me so happy. ^__^