revenge of the souffle dishes

[rm]

So Patty and I really like those pre-made chocolate souffle things they sell at Trader Joe's. This has resulted in us having over 20 of these miniature ceramic souffle dishes (diameter of 3.5"; 1.5" high) in our house. We've used some to put small potted plants over to catch water drips, but seriously, we have stacks and stacks of these things, and, well... we think they are breeding.

To what useful purpose can we put them?

Comments

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

Creative lingerie?

Edit: No, potted plants as gifts is actually much more practical.

[cozzene.livejournal.com]

also, if you have a tiny drill bit you can drill a drain hole in the bottom and use them to start your seedlings for next summer.

[zeldajean.livejournal.com]

They can be used to gift baked goods for holidays. Bake cookies, muffins, small aliens, whatever suits your fancy! Place them in the container, wrap with clear or colored or whatever plastic wrap or whatever you choose to contain the goods with (be careful, undercooked small aliens will try to escape), slap a bow on there and TA-DA! A gifting.

I'm not entirely sure what size they are, so perhaps you can make a baked good in them and tada!

Turn them into some sort of art. Paint on them and put a glaze over it to make them foodsafe again and have decorative tableware.

Donate them as a set of plates/bowls to a charity.

Use them for target practice.

Seed starters perhaps?

[shweta-narayan.livejournal.com]

Combining two of these suggestions --

Draw a tentacled horror on the inside, glaze, and make something transparent, like jelly or a water-based soup in 'em :)

[zeldajean.livejournal.com]

This is definitely made of win!

[kargashina.livejournal.com]

yesssssssssss

[snakeling]

Next time you're invited somewhere, instead of bringing flowers, bring a small potted plant inside the dish. How big are we talking, there?

Or you could sell them on eBay. Or gift them to people for their birthdays/whatever they celebrate.

[laughingacademy.livejournal.com]

Candleholders?

Save ’em up, then throw ’em against a brick wall as a means to relieve stress?

[ebonypearl.livejournal.com]

Some of them could be used as organizers for small objects kept in drawers: paperclips, screws, safety pins, etc. Others could be used to make pincushions: stuff a circle of fabric very firmly and glue into the dish, The pincushions don't have to be used for pins - they are also good for holding brooches, hat-pins, and other sharp thin things. Paint them to use as nut and candy dishes, or for dipping sauces for foccacia or chips. Paint them and fill them with marbles or little flattened glass balls and use to hold paint brushes, pens, flash drives, styluses, or hair sticks. Paint them, cut florist's foam to fit inside, then push painted (or natural) many-branched small twigs in them and fill with moss or small pebbles and use to hold jewelry or display small ornaments or as placeholders. You could also put an alligator clip in it instead of a twig to use as a noteholder or recipe card holder. They also make excellent food dishes for small pets like hamsters or mice or even ferrets, or treat dishes for cats or tiny dogs. Fill a tulle or cheesecloth bag with potpourri and tie with a ribbon, then use a decorated souffle dish to hold the potpourri - it can be slid into linen cabinets and dresser drawers to scent things or left out to scent the room. Decorate, fill with water and float a floating candle in it - a cluster of them on a mirror is very pretty. Glue them to the tops of short turned pieces of wood (with wide bases) and decorate to make child-sized fancy goblets or elevated nut and candy dishes. Decorate them and use as fingerbowls. Decorate them and put a lump of non-hardening clay inside and use to burn joss sticks. Use as "pinch pots" for cooking - to hold small ingredients or spices to be added as you cook - or decorating sugars - or for separating eggs: yolks in one, whites in another.

[ophymirage.livejournal.com]

More chocolate souffles?

[savateuse.livejournal.com]

I use them to make chicken or beef, even vegetable pot pies, mini lasagnas, tamale pies, apple crumbles or any kind of fruit crumble, brulees, bread puddings for breakfast, macaroni and cheese with a nice crunchy baked topping. Making individual entrees in them like any of those listed above, especially for say a dinner party of five or something is really impressive. I could keep going, I use the ramekins everyday in my galley.

how about a nice silver tray

[newwaytowrite.livejournal.com]

with these dishes on them on top of the dresser using the cups to hold pairs of earrings, cufflinks and whatever.

Or same in near the desk surface for push pins, paper clips or whatever.

Of course after suggesting this I forgot you have the cat issue.


so maybe none of the above.

[mme-furiosa.livejournal.com]

Clearly, you need to buy a Bernz-o-Matic torch and start making creme broulee.

[kireishojo.livejournal.com]

we use them as a dish for our cat's gooshy food.

[baxaphobia.livejournal.com]

Plant things in them and give them as gifts?

[berry-k.livejournal.com]

Whoa, the TJs soufflées are gluten free? Who knew? AWESOME!

You can use the dishes for mise-en-place when cooking -- as you chop things, use a dish to hold them until it's time to cook. Mini salad bar? Crème brûlée?

Other uses: mixing small amounts of paint. sorting beads. fill with marbles and insert flowers. Water/food dishes for hamsters/gerbils/ferrets. Holding screws and bolts from IKEA furniture during assembly. and more...

[graene.livejournal.com]

Don't forget checking with TJ's about returning them for re-use.

[p-zeitgeist.livejournal.com]

You can never have too many of these. You can mix dye colors in them! (If so, don't use them for eating later.) Sort semi-precious beads into them! Collect the change that's always lying around everywhere into them!

Or you can do the obvious sensible thing, and make baked custard in them. Gluten-free, good for you, filled with protein and calcium. Two to four eggs per two cups of milk (duck eggs if you can get them, they're amazing), as much sugar or honey as you happen to like (probably between four tablespoons and eight tablespoons, but tastes vary), a pinch of salt, maybe some flavoring like vanilla or almond extract, maybe a handful of dried fruit. Mix it together, pour it into the souffle cups, put the filled cups in a shallow pan with water coming maybe half way up the sides, and bake them at 325 for anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a quarter or so. Pull them out when they've set, but still quiver a bit when you move the pan.

Don't hoard them. They'll keep for days and days, but not for weeks and weeks. And they make excellent and virtuous snack food.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

I knew you'd know!

Um . . . I'll take 3.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

If it were me, I would make a bunch of tiny pies. Or quiches.

Maybe you could donate them to someone's after school or art program for re-use.

[supremegoddess1.livejournal.com]

yard sale? art project?

[tearsinger.livejournal.com]

Make Pot de creme in them.

1c good dark chocolate
2tbs sugar
2/3c just boiling whole milk
1 egg
pinch salt
optional 2tbs of liquor

Use food processor, toss everything in but the milk -- make ground fine. Run processor on low -- pour in the just boiling milk and run until smooth. Pour into those little cups and chill.

Or make pumpkin pie filling, pour into those cups put them all in a baking dish with an inch of water and bake, for gluten free pumpkin custard.

[lawsontl.livejournal.com]

Gosh, so many good suggestions. I've gotta second the usefulness of ramekins. Ours are used mostly for mise en place, cat food (treats in particular), and whenever assemble-it-yourself furniture is in the house, all the parts are sorted into them for easy access.

They're also great small portion dishes for everyday use: salsa bowls, for instance. Or for catsup or other dipping sauces so they don't run all over the plate, or for runny side items that you may not want to bleed onto the entree (or vice-versa). I've used them as a makeshift steamer insert, too, to lift entire heads of veg above the water line (depending on the veg in question, you may want to place a heatproof plate on top of the ramekin).

I make individual servings of Shepherd's Pie in them so they can be frozen and reheated later: perfect ratio of mash to gravy that way. Anything you make in large batches that can be frozen could be portioned out that way to make budget friendly freezer entrees. And, yeah, um...creme brulee. There's nothing better than making it at home and blow-torching it yourself. Food and FIRE!

In addition to custards, you can simply bake whole eggs in them. Look for recipes for "shirred" eggs. A baked egg is quite sublime. If you're not into hours spent in the kitchen, make your Jell-O pud or gelatin and portion it out in the dishes. It sets superfast that way.

You can freeze discs of juice and fruit for use in punch bowls. Just dip it quickly in hot water to release the ice.

I'm sure I can think of more...they're just so handy and durable. I find myself grabbing for them all the time.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

My TJ's stopped carrying these before I bought any! I partly wanted them for the ramekins, though I hadn't thought of all the million great things people are suggesting.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

I really liked the gift baking idea someone else had.

Were it me, I'd keep some of them for cooking/planting/whatever, maybe do the gift baking thing, and then otherwise freecycle or give them to people I know who'd use them for any of the above (or other novel things).

[valancy17.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking make a cascading water fountain out of them.

[nobodyreally.livejournal.com]

If you don't want them, or will keep accumulating them as you eat more souffles, give them to friends who cook. They are a great sie and cost 1-2 bucks retail. Hell, I'd take 'em if I wasn't across the country.