Kitchen Creativity – Kuhn Rikon Chef Kitchen Tools – Gneiss Spice

December 4, 2017 by
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Kitchen Creativity: Unlocking Culinary Genius-with Wisdom, Inspiration, and Ideas from the World’s Most Creative Chefs by Karen Page is one of my top cookbooks of 2017. You may find that inclusion a bit odd as this title contains no recipes, but what is great about this title is that it guides cooks to more inventive and intuitive approaches to cooking without recipes! 

“How does one get to be a great cook?” People have often asked me if I’ve gone to culinary school or how did I learn to cook so well? I’ve always been a good cook, but I would say that I am now a great cook because I’ve learned to cook with confidence. In Kitchen Creativity, the author reveals the secrets and techniques that the best chefs use to create memorable, delicious meals and those tips can help you build confidence as well.

As Page shows, good cooking is not just the right recipe or ingredients: it’s a mental approach we can all cultivate. Her two decades of culinary experience coupled with more than a hundred interviews with leading chefs from around the world make this book a cook’s dream come true. All of the author’s books display a profound intelligence and intuition about the world of food, chefs, and cooking and they are supported by an extraordinary set of personal and professional connections.

Page’s The Flavor Bible is another book that every cook needs in their arsenal as it draws on dozens of leading chefs’ combined experience in top restaurants across the country to share their knowledge on seasoning ingredients to coax the greatest possible flavor from them. Once a cook learns basic techniques, the art of seasoning and flavor profiles – the rest is gravy. 

We are pleased to offer three copies of this fantastic book to our members in the US as well as two special items that can spark additional creativity for you – Gneiss spices and great kitchen tools from Kuhn Rikon. Read about these items and then scroll down to enter our contest. 

Fresh spices make all the difference in cooking and Gneiss Spice offers a modern, and attractive, way to keep fresh spices close at hand. 

All of Gneiss Spice spices are certified organic, kosher and sustainably and ethically harvested, unless stated otherwise. You can build your own spice kit from a collection of over 200 seasonings! I love that the jars are about 1/4 cup size which ensures that we use  the freshest product possible.

Do you remember growing up and mom’s rusty can of poultry seasoning looking back at you every time you opened the spice cabinet? I’m not even sure that spice can was ever opened – it became a rancid relic. Rancid spices are not a concern with these gorgeous little jars.  Just imagine how gorgeous the display above would look in your kitchen? That photo is the selection of spices on the side of my refrigerator. I have the rustic wall plate but since we are moving I didn’t want to install it in this house. 

The attention to detail in this product is amazing. I love the metal lids punched with the spice names, the cute little bottles with GS embossed and the quality of the spices. Since I have put these spice jars on my fridge, I have used spices a great deal more than normally because I don’t have to spend valuable minutes searching through my spice racks on my pantry door. Yesterday, I used the all-purpose seasoning on a roast and it was the best all-purpose blend that I have ever used. Whether it be Gneiss’ blend or the freshness – it was stellar. Gneiss Spice is offering EYB members 10 percent off their products using the code EYB17! 

Kuhn Rikon is a cookware production company operating in Rikon in Zurich for almost a century. Their cookware products are of the highest quality and their history of good works is legendary. When Switzerland took in 1,000 refugees from Tibet in 1964, the Kuhns provided jobs and company housing and in 1967 they founded the Tibet Institute Rikon. Even today, among the employees of Kuhn Rikon many workers are of Tibetan descent. I have several of Kuhn Rikon kitchen tools and I never hesitate when looking for a new item to purchase their brand because I know it will be the best.

Kuhn Rikon was kind enough to send me their Chef’s Kitchen Tools Set which consists of the High Performance Epicurean Ratchet Grinder, the Standing Stainless Steel Strainer and the Stainless Julienne Peeler.  I already owned one of their grinders and use it for black pepper. I love it, it works incredibly well and looks great. I donated my other strainers and use the Kuhn Rikon standing strainer all the time and it hangs from my pot rack in the kitchen. The peeler is sharp and does an incredible job – no more flimsy peelers for this girl. 

 
Now for the giveaway! 


Little, Brown is offering three copies of Kitchen Creativity,  Kuhn Rikon is offering three sets of the Chef’s Kitchen Tools, and Gneiss Spice is offering three seven jar sets of their spices (with your choice of spices) to our members in the US. Three winners will win all three products! One of the entry options is to answer the following question in the comments section of this blog post.

What do you do when you need to spark creativity in the kitchen?

Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest before posting or your entry won’t be counted. For more information on this process, please see our step-by-step help post. Be sure to check your spam filters to receive our email notifications. Prizes can take up to 6 weeks to arrive from the publishers. If you are not already a Member, you can join at no cost. The contest ends at midnight on January 13th, 2018.


Category: Book News

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83 Comments

  • rchesser  on  December 4, 2017

    I get my creativity spark from cookbooks and from looking at groups like the Cookbook Junkies. Also necessity sparks my creative battery.

  • mjes  on  December 4, 2017

    I get my creativity spark from the ethnic grocery store produce and meat sections – if I haven't seen it, I have to buy it even if I have to wait to get home to figure out what I have and how to use it.

  • mcrimmins  on  December 4, 2017

    I get my inspiration from readiing my cookbook collection and browsing cooking blogs.

  • kmn4  on  December 4, 2017

    I get inspiration from social media and my cookbook collection.

  • wjsisung  on  December 4, 2017

    I open a cookbook and try something new

  • lauriesk  on  December 4, 2017

    I spark creativity by constantly trying new recipes I find on-line and by following food bloggers.

  • ravensfan  on  December 4, 2017

    I spark creativity by reading cooking blogs and trying new recipes.

  • LaurenE  on  December 4, 2017

    I look and see what my CSA brings, and use that as a starting point for what I will cook next.

  • smartie101  on  December 4, 2017

    Reading cookbooks!

  • Angryyew  on  December 4, 2017

    I watch a lot of cooking shows and I'm always trying new recipes.

  • genie28  on  December 4, 2017

    I keep a stack of cookbooks on my night stand to flip through for inspiration but when I'm really stuck, I ask my 3 kids under age 5 what I should make. They have some very creative ideas sometimes!!

  • contest718  on  December 5, 2017

    We usually crank up the music, have the dogs and cats in there with us, throw away the recipe cards/books, and just have a bunch of fun experimenting with fun and unique ingredients that we have never used before.

  • heyjude  on  December 5, 2017

    I read new food magazines and old cookbooks and try to find a middle ground. Or I ask my husband what he wants for dinner.

  • Uhmandanicole  on  December 5, 2017

    To spark creativity I browse my cookbooks or look for inspiration in food blogs after seeing what I have on hand in the ktichen.

  • jr0717  on  December 5, 2017

    I think about the ingredients in my kitchen and how they've never been utilized before, then I consult my cookbook shelf for the how-to!

  • hedder14  on  December 5, 2017

    I get my cookbooks out or go on the internet

  • sarahawker  on  December 5, 2017

    I read a lot of cookbooks, and in general see recipes as outlines. I try hard to use all scraps so there is very little waste, and sometimes that requires a lot of research.

  • hillsboroks  on  December 5, 2017

    I find that Eat Your Books sparks my creativity every time I go searching my recipes in my cookbooks for something to make with an ingredient, whether it is the odd vegetable from the farmers market or a staple that has become boring.

  • sgump  on  December 5, 2017

    For creativity, I head to my cookbook library–or do a search on Eat Your Books for ideas that are trending or seasonal.

  • LeePicard  on  December 5, 2017

    So many ways to spark creativity and I love them all. It can be a new fruit or veggie from my CSA in the summer that makes me research ways to use it. It can be the necessity of pulling together a meal with the ingredients I have in the house and might be inspired by something I recently ate in a restaurant or at a friends home or read about in a book/magazine/newspaper. Sometimes it is a desire to return to a beloved comfort food that was made by a relative but the recipe has disappeared and I try to recreate it from memory.

  • sir_ken_g  on  December 5, 2017

    I think of the general idea of what I want to cook – and then look up multiple recipes – and synthesize.

  • Teruska  on  December 5, 2017

    One way we spark creativity in our kitchen is that during the Olympics, we cook from a different country each day. We take out cookbooks from our Library system. We talk to our friends. We scour the internet. We love to try new things.

  • amylou61  on  December 5, 2017

    I spark creativity by exploring websites, magazines, and cookbooks for new recipes and ideas.

  • lpatterson412  on  December 5, 2017

    I love being inspired by reading through other cookbooks and seeing what other people are doing, and then trying some of their recipes out and then experimenting and trying some of my own things out too!

  • kitchenclimbers  on  December 5, 2017

    watching cooking shows and eating at restaurants

  • Mariarosa  on  December 5, 2017

    I look at what ingredients I have in my fridge and try to find new ways to combine them. If I'm stuck for ideas, I enter the ingredients into Eat Your Books and look for new recipes!

  • AnnaZed  on  December 6, 2017

    I like to trawl places like my local Indian Spice Store, or the Greek store or on Amazon and find odd ingredients then try to make things with them.

  • eileen2015  on  December 6, 2017

    I get my inspirations from cooking shows and cookbooks

  • meatn3  on  December 6, 2017

    I often cook based on what is on hand rather than from a specific recipe. I find The Flavor Bible and Culinary Artistry often inspire a flavor profile that I hadn't initially thought of. Can't wait to see Kitchen Creativity!

  • Siegal  on  December 8, 2017

    I look to
    Books for inspiration

  • infotrop  on  December 8, 2017

    When I'm tackling a dish, I look at all similar recipes in my cookbooks (easy to do with EYB), as well as the ones I've saved online, then try melding them all into my own version.

  • skipeterson  on  December 8, 2017

    Like many others I browse my cookbook collection, especially of different ethnic cuisines.

  • southerncooker  on  December 9, 2017

    By doing research in my cookbooks for inspiring recipes and ideas.

  • mpdeb98  on  December 9, 2017

    Peruse my cookbooks

  • SnarkyLarane  on  December 10, 2017

    My love of making something from scratch, especially something that someone else will love and my love of new flavors keeps me inspired.

  • Dannausc  on  December 10, 2017

    Look at my cookbooks, browse through The Flavor Bible

  • kelliwinter  on  December 10, 2017

    my creativity is sparked from my ingredients. I receive a CSA from a local farm every Wednesday. I put everything out on my work bench and look and think about what can be done with the bounty. Inspiration from blogs, cookbooks and Instagram will help sometimes. My spice rack is always full of surprising combinations. I love to play with my food!

  • nadiam1000  on  December 11, 2017

    my creativity is sparked by browsing my massive cookbook collection, browsing the web or by shopping at the farmer's market and getting inspired by seasonal ingredients

  • Senkimekia  on  December 12, 2017

    I look through cookbooks for inspiration, I will read other EYB member comments on recipes they’ve made, and while in the kitchen I put on jazz music.

  • janv  on  December 12, 2017

    I spark creativity in the kitchen by choosing a different region of the world each Saturday for cooking.

  • Katiefayhutson  on  December 13, 2017

    I read cookbooks for inspiration or pick a new ingredient to try out.

  • NaomiH  on  December 13, 2017

    Read cookbooks, scan through Pinterest and sift through my cabinets to see what I have.

  • AnneOther  on  December 14, 2017

    Lots of things spark creativity in my kitchen–seasonal ingredients, good cookbooks, a new cooking appliance or kitchen tool, even needing to get dinner on the table in a hurry with pantry staples.

  • t.t  on  December 16, 2017

    I look at cookbooks or blogs

  • tarae1204  on  December 16, 2017

    The fewer ingredients you have on hand, the easier it is to be creative.

  • RSW  on  December 17, 2017

    Look at cookbooks or google it.

  • tennyogirl  on  December 17, 2017

    Spices and cookbooks

  • stargirl  on  December 18, 2017

    I browse through a cookbook I haven't opened in awhile, and look for something new to try.

  • starrie143  on  December 19, 2017

    Open a bottle of wine!

  • eboos  on  December 20, 2017

    Browse my cookbooks or pinterest.

  • ltsuk  on  December 21, 2017

    Open The Flavor Bible to see what other flavors go with what I have on hand!

  • JaneRose  on  December 21, 2017

    I'm not creative on my own. Thank goodness for the many websites and cookbooks which provide me with endless ideas and recipes to choose from.

  • davisesq212  on  December 21, 2017

    I might either pick a spice and design a meal around a spice or two OR take whatever I have in the freezer as in a protein or buy something new at the green market, and make something without a recipe.

  • circ2000  on  December 22, 2017

    My main source of inspiration are my cookbooks.

  • lizkamerer  on  December 22, 2017

    I’m not very creative in the kitchen. I tend to rely on familiar recipes, changing them up a little based on the ingredients that are seasonal or simply leftover

  • dusksunset  on  December 22, 2017

    I look at the ingredients on hand and figure out a new way to combine them.

  • cheftina888  on  December 26, 2017

    I get inspiration from looking at cookbooks or blogs. I love to go to ethnic restaurants and get inspire by wanting to recreate what I ate. sometimes I get inspired by what I see in the markets from all the wonderfully exotic produce and aromas

  • orchidlady01  on  December 27, 2017

    I love looking through new recipes and having lots of innovative tools at my disposal to spark some kitchen creativity!

  • KarenDel  on  December 27, 2017

    Using herbs and spices to create unique flavors

  • sdg8trgrl  on  December 27, 2017

    Cravings for specific flavors or spices and/or textures.

  • cambridgecook  on  December 28, 2017

    I look for interesting recipes from cuisines I don't often cook.

  • PennyG  on  December 29, 2017

    Browse my vast collection of cookbooks!

  • lhudson  on  December 30, 2017

    My cookbooks of course!

  • lgroom  on  January 1, 2018

    I browse through EYB's with regularity.

  • jkmfrog  on  January 1, 2018

    Going to our local farmers market usually gives me lots of inspiration. I love looking at fresh ingredients. Then, of course, browsing cookbooks!

  • SamanthaV  on  January 1, 2018

    Cookbooks are my passion, there's nothing like grabbing all my favorites and flipping through the pages. I love to get inspiration from all my cookbooks.

  • auntietina  on  January 1, 2018

    I love reading cookbooks for inspiration and spending time at the farmers market.

  • EmilyR  on  January 1, 2018

    Traveling – so many wonderful flavors that remind me of exciting experiences. I also love buying spices at local groceries or markets and using them at home.

  • jluvs2bake  on  January 2, 2018

    I go through cookbooks with flagged recipes I haven't tried yet. Switch up old standards. Have people over. Browse the produce section.

  • Sfgordon  on  January 2, 2018

    If I have the opportunity, I like going to grocery stores in different countries when I travel. More often I will try to spark my creativity by finding new ways to use leftovers or looking for recipes on Eat Your Books using the random odds-and-ends in my fridge and pantry.

  • milgwimper  on  January 2, 2018

    Inspiration comes from shopping ethnic stores, travel, cooking with others, reading cookbooks.

  • Aproporpoise  on  January 3, 2018

    My inspiration comes from browsing the grocery stores, gardens, and of course my bookshelf. Not just cookbooks, but any book that mentions some foodstuff makes me want to recreate it.

  • sberes  on  January 4, 2018

    Cookbooks!

  • brigitm  on  January 5, 2018

    Reading cookbooks and comparing multiple recipes for the same thing (much easier with EYB!)

  • klahaneridge  on  January 6, 2018

    I get my inspiration from seeing various people’s creations – especially through Foodgawker & such!

  • Scotsman61  on  January 6, 2018

    My creativity spark comes from looking at old & modern recipe books, then playing with the recipes to see how I can improve on them.

    I also come up with ideas just by twisting a traditional recipe.

    E.G: I've taken the Italian Cannoli idea and twisted that with a British Cream Horn Idea and created what I call a Caber (I'm Scots Obviously) A Caber being a large log that the Scots try to toss end over end to land straight in front, usually at Highland Games.

    But by taking a traditional idea and giving it my own twist I can come up with a whole new dish.

  • cherie  on  January 6, 2018

    Reading cookbooks.

  • VeryVigario  on  January 7, 2018

    I open up a cookbook that's out of my comfort zone and tackle a recipe!

  • Karla123  on  January 8, 2018

    My primary source of stirring culinary creativity comes from studying recipes and using herbs and spices.

  • Rosesrpink50  on  January 11, 2018

    I read cookbooks and chat with others in Facebook cooking groups! I have learned a lot!

  • jemans  on  January 13, 2018

    I always go back to my cookbooks – I think the sign of a good cookbook is one that makes you run to the kitchen to make something right away!

  • jmay42066  on  January 13, 2018

    I spark creativity by reading cooking blogs, looking through my cookbook collection and trying new recipes.

  • topdawg11  on  January 13, 2018

    Reading and watching the great chefs do their magic.

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