Inspecting gadgets

Look around your home for tools that could help you out in the kitchen

People are very resourceful and the kitchen is one of the places where the most clever among us can shine.

Kitchen equipment can be more expensive — and less durable — than similar tools designed for elsewhere, so it’s especially satisfying when you come up with a smart, practical way to use something you already have.

Following are some of our favourite kitchen uses for non-culinary items.

BINDER CLIPS

They’re cheaper and sturdier than your standard chip clip. Keep a stash handy to use on snack bags and bags of flour. If you have a cookbook that won’t stay open, try clipping the pages together to the cover of the book.

RULER

It’s handy for measuring all kinds of food, whether it’s a rope of bagel dough or the size of an unmarked baking pan. If you need a straight edge for cutting dough, such as for a lattice pie crust or crackers, the ruler can help.

PAINTERS TAPE

It doesn’t stick to your walls, which makes it perfect for using in your kitchen, too.

Write with permanent marker on strips of tape to label containers with what you have stored inside (name and date, please). The tape easily peels off when you’re done but is also surprisingly durable. I’ve put labels through the dishwasher and had them come out still attached and legible. If you cut out recipes from the newspaper, hang them on a wall or cabinet with the tape for easy access while cooking.

SELF-ADJUSTING PLIERS

I credit my husband’s late grandfather for this one, which is using self-adjusting pliers as a nutcracker. It would never have occurred to me until I visited the family farm in Alabama and we started cracking our way through a bowl of fresh, local pecans in the shell. Keep your ornamental Christmas nutcracker pristine for holiday display.