Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!! The Easter Bunny came and spread joy throughout the house this morning... that is, if you're a kid... Dad just wanted to go back to sleep! ;) There were ~5 dozen plastic eggs hidden throughout the living room and stairs, filled with fresh organic strawberries (yes, imported from California), green grapes (also imported), raw chocolates from Cafe Bliss (about 4 chocolate egg halfs each and one large bunny), and some no-sugar-added E-Fruiti gummy bears. Did my children notice that there was no commercial chocolates or jelly beans? No. They sure loved being able to eat as much of the fresh fruit & raw chocolates as they liked first thing in the morning!! lol

I've made a chocolate tart with strawberries for dessert tonight and a banana-strawberry pie for tomorrow night (we're heading out to family's each night). I'll take pics in a minute... (I haven't gotten around to thinking about what I might actually eat for a meal - collard wraps? nori rolls? kale salad?.... lol, I'm just making sure we all enjoy dessert!!!)

Hey, I was just looking at Sherri's blog over at http://greenandcrunchy.blogspot.com/ (yes, I could hyperlink that over her name, but I'm too lazy, I guess).... anyways, I got wondering what kind of appliances you really enjoy having in your kitchen - raw or not. Looks like Sherri has a vacuum packer thing - that would be useful, I think.

Here's what appliances I use regularly:
- my VitaMix 5000 blender. I use it every day for something or other! Juicing, smoothies, making pates, nut milks... you can do SO much with this appliance. DEFINITELY worth the investment. Someone recently told me that measured with a gaussmeter (magnetometer), VitaMixes are actually really high for EMR (electromagnetic radiation)... significantly higher than this person's microwave, I was told. I don't know. I use the thing EVERY day, SEVERAL times a day. It would be such a shame to find out it's radiating a high electromagnetic field. I've sent an email off to VitaMix to find out if it's been tested for EMR.
- the Braun food processor. We got this as a wedding present nearly 12 yrs ago. It's taken such a beating - several pieces have broken off over the years, but again, this is something I use EVERY day. I'm considering getting a new one, but this one works just fine, even if some of the motor is exposed (yikes!). It's pretty loud when I'm processing nuts initially, too - I wonder how it would fare on the gaussmeter...
- I have a Nesco food dehydrator (4 tray). It's a $40 dehydrator (circular trays with the fan down the middle), but it's been quite decent over the years, and especially this past year with the amount of dehydrating I've done (flax crackers, dried fruit, etc). But upgrading to an Excalibur 9-tray is definitely on the wish-list. :)
- other tools in my raw kitchen: Spirooli slicer, cutting boards, knives (including a cleaver for opening coconuts) - and I can't say enough about having high-quality kitchen tools (I would love to get a set of Cutco knives, but I do like our set of Henkels), large and small grater, a manual glass citrus juicer, parchment paper is handy, spatulas, nut milk bags, glass pie dishes (I'd like to get one with a nice fluted edge), lots of canning jars and lids for soaking and storing foods and drinking smoothies & juices out of, wicker baskets from Chinatown that I sprout in, bamboo sushi rolling mat, colanders, strainers, and mixing bowls... OH! and a large compost bucket, of course!!! ;) 'cuz I make a WHOLE LOTTA compost on a raw vegan diet!!!

Things I'm looking into getting:
- upgrading the dehydrator
- possibly a new food processor
- a juicer. I don't have one. When I did the 45 day juicefeast last fall, I blended everything in the VitaMix and then strained through the nut milk bag.
- glass straws
- a new cutting board (I'm rather embarassed to say I have 2 old plastic ones and 2 wood ones that are both split)
- hmmmm, now I'm wondering how often people use their vacuum sealer? (I think my parents might have one of those) What about a mandolin - do you have one and use it regularly?

What kind of appliances or kitchen tools do you have that I've not thought of?

and of course, hoppy easter to you all. :) however you choose to celebrate this time off work. lol

p.s. i'd be remiss if i didn't add that dh brought home some delicious chili almonds from Gorilla Foods, as well as some sunny ginger nori flax crackers and sweet snack bars (like a thicker flax cracker with raisins and sweetness in it). i was spoiled! and BOY those almonds were good. mmmmm.