We have house guests this week so I've been cooking for six people. My kitchen appliances consist of one induction stove top and a small toaster oven. I purchased a roaster for preparing larger quantities of food. Now I'm able to do a big batch of ribs, cook a whole roast or chicken and casseroles. I made lasagne to feed the troops and still had leftovers. It's a marvelous tool and it's actually more efficient than a conventional range.

I like to roast butternut squash and put a layer in the lasagne. Leftover rotini served as a layer too. The casserole turned out great and no one complained about the use of gluten free pasta. The picky six year old even ate all of her dinner. I consider that a grand compliment.

Thank goodness for gluten free lasagne noodles. I was almost sure I'd never fix and eat it again.

Deciding what tools to use for any project can sometimes be daunting. The helpful people at any hardware store will probably load you up with all that you need and sometimes more. This is my short list that gits 'er done.

Plastic applicator or trowel to spread mastic on the walls. It has a variety of sizes of notched edges and a smooth edge.

Putty knife for narrow and hard to reach places although I used a finger also.

Tile cutter from the rental store.

Hand held tile cutter. My sister brought us this tool which worked GREAT to cut tiles in half but I needed practice and the skill of a neurosurgeon. She has done extensive glass cutting for leaded windows so her abilities made it look simple. She bought this and the hacksaw blade at a home show after seeing a demonstration. Trying it herself convinced her that it worked as well as the demonstration. For the price it really is a handy tool.

Hacksaw with diamond blade for cutting out notches in the tiles to fit around outlets and wall switches.

Grout float for applying grout. My friend and consultant, Jim, suggested this tool to make the application of grout easier.

Sponge for removing mastic or grout from tile surfaces.

Woohoo! I discovered yet another use for the Bosch Roto-Zip my sister and brother-in-law gave me for Christmas 2005. I had to cut six threaded rod chandelier parts and the metal cutting disk of this little puppy did it like a hot knife through butter. It's possible my family has heard me making whining sounds everytime I've had to cut something because my daughter gave me a new circular saw for Christmas 2006. They know I need all the help I can get with POWER!

This is a good place to remind everyone to practice safe power tool usage:
wear safety goggles
wear ear plugs
keep long hair pulled up and back
avoid clothing that could be grabbed by the tool (dangling sleeves or shirt tails).
READ THE OWNER'S MANUAL BEFORE STARTING!

What's Bunko? Twelve women gather once a month to eat dinner, roll dice, keep score and win prizes. Each woman gets a chance to host the evening and is responsible for preparing the dinner and desserts. Rena, James wife, hosted tonights Bunko. She served up a wonderfully delicious dinner of gumbo, hoe cakes and salad based on a southern theme in honor of Martin Luther King's birthday. All the desserts were southern comfort foods as well.

It was the prizes that held my attention. Taking my advice for women to have their own set of tools, she gave out small tool cases to be kept in the kitchen for easy access. What a good idea!

Here's a short list:
screwdrivers - #2 philips and straight blade
crescent wrench
wire cutters
needle nose pliers
hammer
socket set
ear plugs
gloves
volt meter
tape measure
file

I remember hearing my father’s distraught voice yelling up from the basement that rhetorical question, "who used my chisel as a screw driver?!" No one answered him. I didn’t fess up when he used that same tone from the bathroom, "who used my razor to shave her legs?!"

I own that chisel now. Yes, I did use it as a screw driver and just about anything else except as a chisel.

My father had lots of cool tools but I was a girl so wasn’t taught how or what to use them for. I was on my own in my creative adventures. My mother took it upon herself to teach me how to make an extension cord.

We lived in a 20 room Victorian mansion with few outlets. Extension cords were very important. That’s when I learned the difference between a philips head and a straight blade screw driver. It changed my life.

Without tools, I’ve improvised. I’ve accidentally broken the tips off of expensive knives in the effort to use cutlery in place of a screwdriver, smashed a tin and glass thermos against a coconut for lack of a hammer and I have dulled and nicked my father’s chisels.

Get tools. They don’t have to be expensive. They don’t have to necessarily fit your hand (although manufacturers are making pretty and smaller tools for women) but they do have to be available. Put them in the kitchen junk drawer, have a small bag of them in the closet upstairs, keep them in your underwear drawer, but have them so when that pot lid falls apart or the handle on the drawer needs to be re-attached you don’t use a knife from your grandmother’s flatware.






Oh…and one other thing that I personally can’t live without. Ear protection. Get some and use them when you vacuum, use the blender, mow the lawn or use the power drill. I’m the only one in my family that still hears crickets.