Evolution of Kitchen Gadgets

I'm always curious about the different gadgets used in the kitchen these days. Last week for Mothers' Day, my mom wanted to make a dessert that's quick and easy (according to her). So she sent my dad on a mission to find our handy dandy Coconut Grater. I don't know about you, but the grater we have is very unique, sharp and it gets the job done. Here's a brief description of what it looks like...see if you can picture it with my details: The stainless steel blade is fixed onto a 9" piece of wood rectangular in shape. We used to grate the coconut by placing the gadget on the floor and stepping on it and grating the coconut on the blade. When we moved to the United States, we realized that it would be more practical to clamp it to the counter space to keep it steady and using the gadget that way. Nowadays, there are more varieties of these gadgets that are being released to make this process more manageable.

**Indian Coconut Grater:

I know you're dying to see this baby in action. Just click on the video for a demonstration:

I just love watching my dad use this gadget. It grated all the juicy coconut flesh out of the shell. This beats chipping the coconut pieces with a knife and grinding them down with a chopper. Less work, if you ask me!

While my dad was grating away at the coconut, my mind wandered a bit and I started thinking about a few questions about the ease of culinary masterpieces created these days. Whenever I tune into my favorite cooking shows, I wonder how all their ingredients are so perfectly grated and diced and proper. Then it dawned on me that maybe they replaced the old clunky ones that got the job done but took too long with newer and faster ones...likes the ones found on the web link below:

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/index.ognc?CategoryID=47104&PageID=202311288492423

By the looks of some these gadgets, I felt that they just got fancier but can they really get the job done? If you look at the link above, there are gadgets for almost everything you can think of...even an Avocado slicer? OMG! Are you kidding me? I just use a big spoon and scoop it out. Then I mash it up myself; but hey if you are making a presentation with Avocados and want to make the dish look nice, you can use the slicer.

What Gadgets or contraptions do you use at home that you think are better than the modern/techie versions? Please feel free to share!

**FYI: The Coconut Grater in this post is from India. If you are looking for one like ours, you can inquire for one from your local Indian grocer.