Do you ever get tool envy?

Okay, get your mind out of the gutter. I know yesterday's post about my poor hubby's predicament might have that in the forefront of your mind, but I'm talking about chef tools or if you have absolutely no training, cook's tools. Every time I watch Food Network I drool over the pretty measuring cups, measuring spoons, bowl and platters I have never seen in Minnesota. But two of the simplest things in the kitchen get my goat every time I watch Ina or Giada: have you seen their fresh off the shelf Pyrex liquid measuring cups and the spanking clean stainless steel oven racks? I mean, come on. They cook with these instruments EVERYDAY. Here is my Pyrex:

You can barely make out the word Pyrex, plus after 8 thousand washings, the glass is all filmy and scratched. And don't even start me on the oven racks. I wouldn't even dare to take a photo of mine. Granted, mine were never stainless steel, but it is best that they are tucked away in the dark oven. I looked at those nice new, all-the-writing-is-legible-and no scratches measures today, but could in no way justify buying new ones just because my old ones are ugly. Sigh. Envy continues.

On the bright side, I did find some fun potatoes to go with dinner while at Target Greatland today. I have seen several posts lately about chicken and about roast vegetables, so I put some together tonight for dinner. We scarfed down dinner in no time flat, it was that good.

Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Onions

1 package cut up chicken

1 package small new potatoes (the package was about a pound and a half) or any small spuds

1 onion

Oil (not shown, used vegetable)

poultry seasoning

paprika

Tuscan Sunset seasoning from Penzey's (it has sweet basil, Turkish oregano, Aleppo pepper

garlic, thyme, fennel, black pepper and anise seed)

Rinse off spuds and put in a plastic bowl with lid. Pour over a couple tablespoons of oil; cover and shake so potatoes are coated in oil. Chop onion in slices and lay in roasting pan. Rinse and pat dry chicken. Place on top of onions. Drizzle the chicken with a little oil and then sprinkle on dry seasonings. I used about 1-1/2 tsp of poultry seasoning, about 2 tsp of the Tuscan Sunset and about a tsp of paprika. Tuck the potatoes down into roasting pan so some are covered partially by chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast in a 375 degree F oven for about 1 hour 20 minutes. Check chicken temp with instant read thermometer. When it reads 175 degrees, take out of oven and tent with foil for 10 minutes before serving.

Plate up and enjoy. I have seen the purple potatoes on shows and in print, but had never found them in stores around here. The Dude was surprised when he cut one open and it was purple all the way through. They were so good. Potatoes-God's greatest starch ever!