Carrots

I don't think that I've extolled the virtues of my vegetable peeler to you all. I should. It is awesome. I know a lot of people swear by those Y-shaped peelers. I admit, those are better than those all-metal swivel peelers. My peeler, though? I bought it because I hated my old potato peeler. I saw this one. It is a Kitchenaid Euro Peeler. It isn't the fancy one, either. It is the cheap, $6 or so version. (There's another version that sells for about three or four dollars more.) I am thankful that I have it going in to Thanksgiving - when I'm going to be peeling some root vegetables: potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and celeriac. Celeriac (celery root) is particularly obnoxious to peel, but this cuts the pain a quite a bit.

A few weeks ago, my brother came by and we cooked dinner together. He was using my peeler on some carrots, and he expressed his admiration for it. What makes it awesome? I really don't know. It just works. The handle is comfortable without being offensively ergonomic. You have fairly fine control while using it. The blade has just enough swivel to it to respond to the contours of what you're peeling. The blade is fairly hefty. You aren't going to bend this thing on a potato.

I feel a little silly singing its praises, but I will be doing some of the Thanksgiving cooking over at my parents' house, and I made a mental list of the kitchen tools I needed to take with me. My Kitchenaid Euro Peeler was at the top of it.

Seriously, does anyone know why this is called a Euro Peeler?