It's great when you find one gadget that serves many purposes. When you stop and think about it, guys have their pocket knives that they use for different tasks. With their pocket knife, they can gut and scale a fish, they can pick their teeth, and be the quickest draw at a child's birthday party to cut those annoying plastic ties and release the much wanted toy from it's bondage.
As for girls, we have our purses and our kitchen gadgets. Take a wood spoon for example. It can be a stirring utensil, a spanking utensil, or a means of entertainment for a toddler when paired with a metal pan to bang upon while sitting in the kitchen floor. I've also found that an ice cream scoop can be used to scoop out more that frozen flavored cream.
What more could an ice cream scoop possibly do? Leave a woman in the kitchen long enough and she will discover a plethora of possibilities. Here are my latest findings: forming turkey meatballs (see meatball recipe is a previous post), making uniform-sized cookies (including coconut macaroons), and of course scooping sorbet into fancy glasses.
Today I used the mini ice cream scoop to make coconut macaroons. They looked great and to my delight, they cooked evenly and didn't spread. My husband paid me the nicest compliment about my macaroons. He said that the macaroons were my best yet and that they had a crunchy exterior, while maintaining a gooey interior. I'll definitely be using it at all times from this day forward when making macaroons.
The only problem that I have found with the ice cream scoop is that kids are intrigued by it. If you allow your little one to use it to shape cookies, monitor them. You wouldn't want their precious little fingers to get caught in the spring/handle part. The kids will monitor you and remind you that if you eat raw cookie dough, it will make you sick. At least mine does...
Although my physical appearance may resemble MacGruber (from SNL), I feel like MacGuyver as I wield my my kitchen gadgets and think of my simple culinary accomplishments. I've managed to make a meal/dessert AND entertain 1 more child while not using anything I learned in college. It's all in a day's work. Just call me Mrs. MacGoober.
My mini ice cream scoop was probably purchased at BB&B and looks to me like it is an OXO brand. By the way, Pier One has these adorable mini-martini glasses. I don't do mixed drinks (unless you consider ginger ale and cranberry juice a mixed drink), but I think the glasses are a fun way to serve 3-4 scoops of raspberry and coffee sorbet.
Coconut Macaroons
1/2 c flour
scant less than 1/4 tsp salt
4 1/2 c sweetened and shredded coconut---this is a little more than 1 package.
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Sift the salt and flour into a bowl. Toss the coconut into the flour bowl and stir, coating the coconut. Pour the milk into the mixture. Add the vanilla, and mix well to make a very thick batter. Using an mini-ice cream scoop, form the macaroons into balls, scraping on the edge of the bowl and release the shape onto the pan.
Bake for 15 minutes. Evaluate if they are slightly golden. If not, allow to bake for another 1-3 minutes. Remove from the oven. Place on a cooling rack.
Yield:52 macaroons
I love this one :)
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