“I’m not sure I need it,” I hesitantly tell my friend Pat, eyeing the medieval looking item with its ominous, pointy tip. “I don’t really make apple pies all that often.”

“Lori, you don’t make apple pies all that often exactly because you don’t have that thing!” Patty replies, rolling her eyes dramatically.

The thing we’re talking about is an apple peeler, and it does look like a holdover from the Dark Ages. Dubious-looking though it is, it’s also an attractive fire engine red and that’s what sells it for me. Mind you, with a kitchen as fully equipped as mine and with too much bakeware to boot, I do my best to avoid so-called “unnecessary” kitchen gadgets. Garlic peeler? Snazzy avocado slicer? Electric carving knife? Who needs ‘em. But I buy the apple peeler, lugging it home all the way from the States, bringing me two and a half pounds closer to being slapped with overweight baggage charges.

Funnily enough, my new kitchen toy ends up forgotten in my pantry cabinet. Sometimes, upon searching for an ingredient or choosing a baking pan, I’d spy its red color peeking out at me, and I’d always tell myself that it was time to make an apple pie. But other desserts got in the way.

Nine months later, I find myself with an abundance of apples, and lo and behold, out comes the apple peeler. The suction plug at the bottom attaches itself easily to my wooden chopping board, and – here comes the medieval torture part – I stab an apple onto the stainless steel blade. (It’s sharp!) Unsure if I’m working this thing right, I grab the crank and slowly turn it clockwise. Goshdarnit, the apple begins to move towards the blade, its skin slowly being peeled off in one long, thin string — edible shoelaces. It’s utterly fascinating to watch, especially when the blade hits an especially moist part of the apple, and the juices ooze onto the mechanism.

The blade that I’ve skewered the apple onto also acts as a corer, so the fruit is simultaneously being cored, peeled, and – get this – sliced. Incredible! It works on potatoes too. Where’s this thing been all of my apple-pie-making life! As an aesthetic plus, the apple is sliced into equal connecting rings. What a beaut!

Unfortunately, perfect apples don’t always equal perfect pies. I’ve had my share of apple pie pitfalls that are destined for nowhere but the trash can. Sigh. But with my apple peeler, I could peel apples all day.

Back To Basics Apple and Potato Peeler
$19.99
Currently unavailable locally

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