Pampered Chef – The Four Dollar Spatula You Don’t Want to Live Without
I received my Pampered Chef Mini-Serving Spatula as a gift. I was a bridesmaid in a wedding. In the past I had received gifts for standing as a bridesmaid for my friends: jewelry, picture frames, dorky “I was in John and Sarah’s wedding” t-shirts. Yet, a spatula? What?
My friend looked at us all and just said, “Trust me.” I saw that it was a Pampered Chef product, so all I could think was, “Great! She must be selling it. Right after the honeymoon she’ll want us over for a Pampered Chef party so we can spend more money on her!” Yet, she was a good friend. She was logical. I did trust her. So, I packed away my Mini-Serving Spatula and finished the weekend festivities.
I came home and tossed it in my “spatula/spoon/measuring cup” drawer. I had another spatula. Whoopty-dooo!
I baked a little batch of cookies a few weeks later. I decided to give the Mini-Serving Spatula a test drive. It was unusually small for a spatula. Yet it was rock-solid. It is stainless steel (don’t have to worry about rusting). Because it is so small, I noticed it was a lot sturdier than bigger spatulas. Even thought it was a tiny little thing, it held up the cookies just fine.
The edges are beveled, so I was happy that I could get under the cookies that were stuck and actually bring it all up. I can’t stand it when I leave pieces of cookie corroded to the pan. This little runt of a spatula quickly popped off any stray batter that burned itself solid in the corners. Hmmmm. Impressive. Yet, I was still thinking it was a very archaic gift for a wedding shower in the 1990’s!
It tosses right in the dishwasher. So, that’s what I did. It went back in the “spatula/spoon/measuring cup” drawer.
A special event rolled around, and I decided to make an apple pie from scratch. These people were special to me, and I wanted this pie to be perfect … and pretty. I even cut out little leaves from extra crust and placed them on top. As I pulled it out that evening, everyone gave the obligatory “ooo’s” and “ahhhh’s.” It really was pretty. I hadn’t made a homemade apple pie before. I was just hoping it would taste as good as it looked.
That’s when it hit me. I had to actually slice and serve the silly thing! You know what happens when you do that. If you can get the slicing to come out perfectly, you still face the moment of pulling out that first piece. Most of the time (if you’re me), the spatula is too wide and picks up edges of the other pieces. If you back up a little bit, the front part of the slice isn’t supported and caves back into the pan. When you work so hard on something, you want it to look fabulous on the plate. I don’t care if “it still tastes good.” I want it to look good!
Then, I remembered that darn little Mini-Serve Spatula. I had a flashback to the wedding. Some woman commented, “It’s perfect for the first piece!” I remember thinking she must have been drunk.
But I finally got it! I grabbed my sweet, miracle spatula (still under its three-year guarantee), and pulled out the most beautiful, perfectly formed, first piece of homemade apple pie. That day has been followed by other gorgeous first pieces: lasagna, brownies, casseroles.
It’s sounds crazy, I know! Yet, I will never go another day without this little $4 spatula in my “spatula/spoon/measuring cup” drawer. I now give Mini-Serving Spatulas as Christmas gifts. When my friends and family stare at it, trying to act thrilled, I just smile and say, “Trust me. It’s great for the first pieces of everything!”
Sources used for this article:
www.pamperedchef.com
My “spatula/spoon/measuring cup” drawer
