Shop Scissors Blog

Kitchen Shears: The Superhero in your Kitchen

While you may own a pair of kitchen shears, chances are that you aren’t using them to their maximum capability. Sure, they come in handy when you are deboning a turkey at the holidays or even cleaning chicken breasts once a month, but there are so many ways you can use kitchen shears to make your life easier in the kitchen and use your kitchen shears to their full potential.

Secret #1: Slicing Pizza

Trying to use a regular knife on a hot pizza can cause the melted cheese to catch and drag. Pizza wheels can dent your pan if you bear down when slicing. Let your kitchen shears save the day. They will cut through the pizza easily. Simply hold the edge with a folded paper towel to safely pick up the crust to cut more easily.

Secret #2: Chopping Tomatoes

Have you ever found yourself facing the task of chopping messy canned tomatoes? Save yourself from a messy cutting board by opening the can and cutting them directly in the can with a pair of kitchen shears. Using fresh tomatoes? After initially slicing them, try chopping them with your kitchen shears. You will find the task moves quickly and easily.

Secret #4: Shelling Shrimp

Peeling shrimp can be a time consuming process. Save yourself time and energy preparing shrimp by using a pair of small scissors to slit the back of each shrimp’s shell. Use the tip of the scissors to lift the vein and remove.

Secret #4: Slicing Green Onions

Slicing green onions, or scallions, with a knife can easily crush them and spoil their appearance. Use kitchen shears to cut neat, intact pieces. This trick also works well with chives, lettuce, spinach and other leafy vegetables.

For more tips or to purchase a pair of kitchen shears, visit us online at ShopScissors.com.

Make Old Fashioned Hard Candy

Today is the first day of winter…a fact that I realize many will find amusing, since many states have been experiencing snow and ice for some time. However, with it cold outside and the kids out of school for the holidays, it’s the perfect day for making some old fashioned hard candy. Many people have memories of cutting candy when they were children, yet this much-loved tradition has been experienced by few of our youth today. It is also a great treat to add to your desert table on Christmas Day, just a few days away.

You will need…

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup water
• ¾ cup light corn syrup
• ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1 drop red food coloring
• 1/8 cup confectioners’ sugar

1. Combine the sugar, water and corn syrup in a quart saucepan and cook, stiring until the sugar is dissolved. When the sugar has fully dissolved, lower the heat until it has reached the hard crack stage, which is 300 degrees Fahrenheit. If sugar crystals form on the sides of the pan, simply use a damp brush to wipe them away.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and add the oil flavoring and enough coloring to change the color of your candy. Stir the mixture just enough to fully mix the oil and food coloring. Pour the liquid candy onto 2 well-buttered 9-inch pans. If you have another adult helping you, you can cut both pans of candy at the same time, otherwise you will need to place one of the pans over a pan of hot water to keep it from hardening. As soon as the other pan is cool enough to handle without burning yourself, cut a pair of kitchen shears to cut the candy into 1-inch strips, and then cut those strips into individual pieces. Drop each piece onto a buttered baking sheet to fully cool. You will need to work quickly so the candy will be pliable for cutting. If it does cool too quickly, you can set it on a saucepan over hot water.
3. Sprinkle your candy with a small amount of powdered sugar to keep it from sticking together.
4. Repeat the process with the second pan.

10 Things Every First Apartment Should Have

With Labor Day past, college students have now fully settled into new apartments for the year. However, I have to ask…how well equipped are their apartments? Are they fully equipped, or just making runs to the store every time they need something? Here we have provided a basic list of the top ten things every first apartment should have.

1. A toolbox. If your parents helped move you in your apartment, they may have taken their toolbox home with them upon leaving, which left you without a toolbox of your own. You will need a minimum or at least one or two screwdrivers, a hammer, tape measure, level, adjustable wrench, and allen wrenches.
2. Kitchen basics. While you probably can forego the meat hammer for now, you do need the basics like a can opener, wooden spoon, sharp knife and kitchen shears. You will also need pots and pans, hot pads, pizza pans or cookie sheets, a baking dish, tongs, a cutting board, measuring cups and measuring spoons. You might consider purchasing items like a toaster, blender, or even a George Foreman grill if you think you will use it.
3. Plant. Even if you know that you are seriously lacking a green thumb, buy yourself a plant, as the touch of life can really go a long way towards brightening up an apartment. If you have trouble keeping plants alive, consider buying something like an orchid that doesn’t need much water or light, or an aloe that needs minimal maintenance.
4. Books. While books seem to be growing less common in the age of technology, a few books are good to have on hand, even if it’s just to flip through for inspiration or you need a little late night reading to relax.
5. Baking soda and vinegar. Even if you don’t need these in the kitchen, this combination of ingredients can clean just about anything, whether it might be a spill, mold, or grime left by the last tenant.
6. Three sources of light. Many apartments are lacking in light. By putting three light sources in your main room, you will instantly make your new apartment feel more like home.
7. Bed. Make sure you have a bed that you find comfortable and that will grant you restful sleep. If you are sleeping comfortable everything else will feel much more tolerable.
8. Extension cords. Always own five more than you think you will need. Having a few extra cords of power bars will save you trips to the store when you discover that you don’t have enough outlets for your products.
9. Box knife. While you may have already moved in, this is a great tool to have for any future moves. This tool will save you time and energy in opening boxes, unpacking furniture, or taking the hard-to-remove zip ties off new packaging.
10. Cash. Keep a minimum of $50 in the bank or stashed in your apartment in the event of an emergency. Whether your need is big or small, there will come a day that you are glad you have it.

Kitchen Tip: Try Kitchen Scissors

It’s important when handling raw meat to take precautionary measures to avoid contaminating your cutting board and tools. More than your tools, you have to be particularly careful with the cutting board, as there is always the risk of bacteria permeating a wooden board. Always be sure to wash it with hot, soapy water after you are finished. However, for those of you who would like to avoid the risk of contaminating your cutting board altogether, consider kitchen scissors!

Putting on a pair of vinyl gloves will protect your hands from the raw meat while you use the scissors to trim fat from the meat or cut beef or chicken into strips. You will find that it is also much easier to cut with scissors than a sharp knife. The kitchen scissors allows you the freedom to cut the raw meat directly over a plate or bowl and let the pieces drop directly down, avoiding contaminating your cutting board. Kitchen shears are also highly resistant to rust and corrosion-dishwasher safe, so they will be free from bacteria and ready and waiting for your next use.

Tips for Handling and Storing Chicken Safely

Few things are better during the summer months than a piece of chicken hot off the grill. It’s important, however, to practice good safety habits with handling and storing chicken to hurting yourself or becoming ill.

• Make sure you wash your hands both before and after handling raw chicken. Ensure that your cooking area is clean and that, after finishing, you clean both the cooking area and tools with hot, soapy water to avoid contaminating other foods.
• Raw chicken should be refrigerated immediately after being purchased to limit the amount of time it is exposed unsafe temperatures.
• If you are keeping a cooked chicken hot, try to keep it at 140 degrees Fahrenheit and if it is cold, it should be kept at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Make sure chicken is always cooked completely to eliminate the likelihood of food borne illness.
• When dividing hot chicken for serving, use poultry shears to reduce the risk of burning yourself.
• Make sure chicken is as fresh as possible before freezing and encourage the freezing process along by placing it on the floor of your freezer. A whole chicken can be safely frozen for up to a year and chicken pieces, nine months.

To order poultry shears or other kitchen scissors, go to ShopScissors.com.

Feature Friday: 8" Poultry Shears

 
For anyone who spends much time in the kitchen and enjoys poultry, these kitchen scissors are a must-have. Lightweight with heavy duty, stainless steel blades, they allow you to easily cut through chicken bones as you prepare meals.

Some of the features include:

• Heavy duty stainless steel scissors
• Offset handles
• Specially contoured thumb hole for firm control
• EXTRA-large lower bow for gloved hands
• Thick blades for long-lasting edges under normal use
• Ambidextrous nylon handles for right- and left-hand use
• Adjustable to the run you prefer

To read reviews or order a pair of 8" Poultry Shears, visit ShopScissors.com.

Kitchen shears make crescent mummy appetizers a breeze

Looking for a spooky appetizer for your upcoming Halloween party? Look no further than crescent mummy appetizers.

Sounds like a lot of work. It's not.

Shop Scissors Tip:If you use kitchen shears to cut the crescent rolls in thin pieces, it will create a more authentic mummy look.

Recipe and Directions for Mummy Dogs:

Prep Time: 30 min ; Start to Finish: 50 min

1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls (8 count)
2 1/2 slices (2.5 oz) American cheese slices, quartered
10 large hot dogs
 Cooking spray
 Mustard or ketchup, if desired

1 . Heat oven to 375°F. Unroll dough; separate at perforations creating 4 rectangles; press perforations to seal. With knife or kitchen scissors, cut each rectangle lengthwise into 10 pieces, making a total of 40 pieces of dough. Slice cheese slices into quarters (1/2 slice cheese, cut in half).
2 . Wrap 4 pieces of dough around each hot dog and 1/4 slice of cheese to look like “bandages,” stretching dough slightly to completely cover hot dog. About 1/2 inch from one end of each hot dog, separate “bandages” so hot dog shows through for “face.” On ungreased large cookie sheet, place wrapped hot dogs (cheese side down); spray dough lightly with cooking spray.
3 . Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and hot dogs are hot. With mustard, draw features on “face.”

 

Spooky cupcakes for your Halloween funtacular

These creepy cupcakes will be crowd pleasers at your Halloween party this year. They're easy to decorate (you can get the kids involved, too!) and continue the still-hot trend of bite-size cupcakes at parties.

What you'll need:

- Chocolate or vanilla cupcake mix

- Licorice strings

- Kitchen shears

- Red hots

How to make it:

Prepare batter for vanilla or chocolate cupcakes, pouring batter into 2 1/2 mini muffin tins with paper liners.

Once they are baked and cooled, ice mini cupcakes with meringue buttercream and coat icing with black sanding sugar. Use cinnamon candy for eyes. For legs, attach 8 pieces of black licorice. Use kitchen shears to cut them to size. For fangs, cut out tiny cone shapes from a marshmallow and attach.

Chef shears for all seasons

Make entertaining your guests a bit simpler by using the last pair of kitchen shears you’ll ever need. 

The 8” Titanium Bonded Chef Shears will handle most tasks you’ll encounter in the kitchen. The blades are three times as strong as stainless steel, and the scissors are backed by a lifetime warranty.  The blades are notched making bone cutting a cinch and apart for easy cleaning, and are dishwasher safe. 

The scissors will prove their worth when preparing this wonderful dish courtesy of foodnetwork.com: Honey-Butter Baked Chicken with Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Feature Friday: Father's Day Kitchen Shears for Culinary Dads

This Father's Day, give Dad a break from the kitchen -- by preparing him his favorite meal -- but also give him a gift he'll love for years to come: Titanium Chef Shears. 

For the culinary Dad:

These amazing shears combine the high performance of Titanium Bonded metal blades, ergonomic handles and break-apart blades thus providing the ultimate in cutting performance. 

• Lifetime warranty
• 3x harder than stainless steel
• Notched blades for cutting bones
• Blades come apart for easy cleaning
• Dishwasher safe

Father's Day Dinner Idea: Make your own pizza

This fast and fun dinner idea is easy enough to get the kids involved. 

Here's a dough recipe from the Food Network

Ingredients

• 1 package of active yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 to 4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 4 ounces grated Mozzarella cheese

Garnishes:

• 1/4 pound pepperoni slices
• 1/4 pound ground hamburger meat, browned
• 1/4 pound ground sausage, browned
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 tomato, julienne
• 4 ounces grated Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup hamburger dill pickles
• 2 bags of M&M's
• 1 cup shredded lettuce
• Tortilla chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a electric mixing bowl, whisk the yeast, water and oil together, to make a paste. Add the flour and salt and mix, using a dough hook, until the dough comes away from the sides and crawls up the dough hook. Remove the dough from the bowl. Grease the bowl with olive oil and place the dough back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until double in size, about an hour. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide dough into four ounce portions. Roll the dough into balls, cover and let the dough rest for 15 to 20 minutes. The dough is ready to be shaped into four individual pizzas. Press the dough out into four individual pizzas. Place the pizza dough on parchment-lined baking sheets. Spread 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce evenly over each pizza dough. Sprinkle each pizza with 1 ounce of the grated cheese. Top the pizzas with what ever you wish and place in the oven. Bake the pizzas for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the pizza from the oven and slice into 4 slices.