The Least Sexy - But Most Useful - Kitchen Utensil

"I love your vintage dough scraper," a friend said to me recently.

"Vintage?" I replied, puzzled.

"Yes," she said, "I can tell by the rivets that it's really old."

It was one of those moments; I've had this particular utensil for at least fifty years - so I guess that makes it vintage.

But it made me take a serious look at this humble little utensil, made me realize that I use it - have used it - at least once a day during all that time. I'm always reaching for it.  Not just to scrape dough off the counter after rolling out pie dough, but also to transfer vegetables from the cutting board, clean off the pizza steel, scrape spills off the oven floor...  I pay no attention to my dough scraper, but I use it as often as I use my knife.

And so, I went looking for a beauty.  And I found it here - hand-made, probably too expensive, but hey - if it's going to last for the next fifty years or so, why not have one with a rosewood handle? It's less than a dollar a year.

And if you want a cheaper version, there's always this one.