Weird Obsession

I can't go to Bed Bath & Beyond (where you can purchase all the goodies seen below) and not stop at the kitchen gadgets section. It's impossible. My body is programmed to stop there. Not the appliances...the gadgets. You know, the section with all the super cool doo-hickeys that you don't know what half of them do but you just have to get them all? I mean a spoon is nice for scooping out avocado, but who couldn't use the tool that scoops it out AND slices it in to perfect wedges at the same time?!?

The gadget section is to me what the tool section at Sears is to Bob Vela. I see something new every time. Oddly enough, as enamored as I am by them I rarely leave the store with one. They aren't pricey by any means, I suppose it's just that while I know there may be an occasion where an olive pitter would come in handy, I don't think that occasion would arise often enough to give it coveted space in my kitchen drawers!

Here are a couple of my favorites:

Meet the apple slicer/ corer, the citrus juicer and the salad spinner.  We use the apple slicer and salad spinner so much we've already had to replace both of those (I will also admit that I bought the cheap-o version of each the 1st go round and have since seen the light and purchased the Oxo brand shown above) Believe me- spend the extra ten bucks and get the quality brand of the things you use often, or be prepared  for a warped salad spinner that doesn't spin and an apple divider whose handle snaps off and leaves the blade stuck halfway through your apple!  

And here are a few gadgets for your entertainment (although if you're a super serious cook these may not sound so silly):

Strawberry huller, tuna press, and egg slicer! I just don't get the strawberry huller and egg slicer (or a mushroom slicer for that matter). I can slice off the top of a strawberry, and chop up a hard boiled egg  just as fast ...I guess if you're doing a ton of strawberries for a party or something I could see the odds of losing a fingertip going waaay down by using this gadget instead of a knife but the egg slicer?? I just think all the egg would get stuck in all those little crevices!

My rule is if I can't look at it and figure out what it does it goes on my "don't really need it" list but that doesn't mean I'm any less enamored by it. The tuna press is one of those items. So apparently you open a can of tuna put it in the contraption and close the lid. The smusher at the top squishes the fish pushing the water (or oil) out of the can and over the sides and is supposed to keep your hands dry and smelling fresh. Again, I guess if you make tuna salad a lot (I don't know what else you make with canned tuna fish) then I could see this being beneficial.    

What are the kitchen gadgets you can't live without...or think are just ridiculous??