I feel so Emeril!

We went out shopping today and bought a bunch of kitchen gadgets and stuff...and now I feel SO cool! This is what we got:

-a Crock Pot (can you believe I didn't have one?)
-a herb keeper for the fridge (it's holding the parsley right now)
-a microplane for grating (which is the coolest thing that I bought today by FAR)
-a pair of tongs
-a Brown Sugar Saver
-a meat pounder
-a grill pan (which is going back since it can't be used on glass cooktops)
-a six-quart mixing bowl
-a no-slip cutting board
-a slow cooker cookbook that was on sale at Kroger

Very cool. I feel so gadgety right now...just like Emeril Lagasse, who has every possible kitchen gadget imaginable!

However, I have come to the conclusion that I am THE slowest prepper in the world. I made almost green curry chicken tonight with coconut jasmine rice. It took me over an HOUR to cut all the vegetables, herbs and chicken and get them ready for cooking and then close to an hour to cook everything. *sigh* P thinks that it's the fact that I am terrified I'm going to cut my fingers off with the knives. Yeah, that COULD be it. "A great meal is only thirty minutes away." YE-AH. I don't think so! Only if you are able to operate a Santoku knife with your eyes closed. If I tried to cut my veggies while my chicken browned or my olive oil preheated, I'd burn the house down.

Anyone that has seen me bake can attest to the fact that I can throw together a cheesecake at the speed of light, but try to get me to make a simple Asian stirfry and I panic. Someone please assure me that I'll get better and faster at prep as I go along!

But at least I ate everything. My dish had onions, scallions, green peppers, jalapenos, broccoli, cilantro, parsley, garlic and ginger in it and I ate it ALL, no picking around nothing. THAT, my friends, is a major accomplishment.