By David Draper

Thanks to all the readers who took the time to tell us about their favorite kitchen gadgets. Among all the shout-outs to Kitchen Aid mixers (which I covet from afar), Ninja processors (which I’d never heard of before), and coffee makers (obvious choice), were some truly great posts. Some were funny, some were serious, and some were just plain odd. And you guys know I’m a big fan of odd.

One of my favorites posts came from usmcturkey, who, I’m pretty sure, was serious when he nominated his Moo Mixer. You’ve got to be pretty passionate about your beverage of choice and secure in your manhood to proudly sip from a frothy cup of chocolate milk that moos.

By David Draper

There’s a pretty good article in the New York Times this week about those specialized kitchen gadgets that end up in the junk drawer and never get used. Whether we got them as gifts or bought them during a weak moment at the kitchen store, we all have them.

“There’s something about a kitchen tool suited to a single task that casts an irresistible spell for many cooks. The Williams-Sonoma catalog, to cite a highly visible example, is a Venusberg of culinary charms, but temptation lurks everywhere.

“Dennis Nyback, a film archivist in Portland, Ore., bought a commercial butter slicer at a thrift store. At the time, it seemed like a brilliant acquisition. ‘It was green enameled metal with stainless blades and had a sort of mass guillotine action’ he said. ‘A solid one-pound block of butter could be made into a few dozen pats with one fell swoop. I didn’t expect it to change my life, but I did expect that if I ever encountered a one-pound block of butter I would be prepared. That day never came.’”

By David Draper

Fried Pheasant vs. Asian Quail

Congratulations to Wild Chef reader Levi Banks whose venison pizza put a pretty resounding beating on my meat loaf last week. I’m not going to lie, after eating leftover meatloaf for about three days straight, I think I would have voted for pizza, too.

This week, I’m going to pit a couple of birds against each other to see which one the readers favor. It’s pheasant vs. quail, with two very different preparations. Each were pretty tasty, but I’m going to wait to see how the vote falls before I tell you which was better.

By David Draper

My post last Monday asking for the best way to cook snow geese got a wide range of responses, from the wise to the wise-ass. Not unexpectedly, the old grill-them-on-a-plank-then-throw-away-the-goose-and-eat-the-plank recipe came up a few times here and on the Field & Stream Facebook page.

That joke was funny the first 754 times I’ve heard it, but now it’s just getting old. And it’s just plain wrong, no matter how it’s told. Of all the comments I got, Trey Osborn’s was the best: “Folks if you don’t like goose. DO NOT GO SHOOT THEM! Let the folks who will eat them shoot them.”

I couldn’t agree more.