Interesting new cooking tool of the week!

It's no secret that I love to troll cooking supply houses and second hands and always come across a tool or a widget or a gizmo I haven't seen or used before. It's usually after the fact that I find out that I really want it or need it and then come to find when I go back to seek it out that it's gone.

The kitchen world is full of tools, many of them too focused on a task to be of any real use, but then again, some things are totally indispensible and are tools we can't live without. Sometimes we find that out afterwards, like when I came across a Rabbit knockoff wine bottle opener. I have had dozens of wine openers in my life but nothing opens a bottle of wine like that tool!

Then again, there are things like those rubber jar grips that I'm always scouting around for when I have pickle jar that doesn't want to give. I find that a rubber kitchen glove or even a gentle tap of the jar lid on the countertop and a damp rag will do it. We tend to get obsessed with tools, believing that with the right tool we'll be able to pull off the perfect meal. Sometimes all it takes is a quality chef's knife, a seasoned cast iron pan, a Swing-away manual can opener, a sauce pot and a handful of fresh ingredients. But try to tell that to the man with the food processor or the gal with a new full set of Caphalon pots and pans. We love our toys and if we're good to them they'll love us back for a good long time in the form of great meals and long use.

So, what I'll do is this: I'll find the tool and then it'll be up to you to tell me what it is. I'll maybe throw in a clue or two but the rest is up to you. I'll let you know next week what it is and what it does before I share a new one with you. Okay, here's an easy one. See you next week!

Cooks talk!