Norpro Spaetzle Maker
Whether you call that German-by-way-of-Genoa hybrid of dumpling and pasta spaetzle, spatzle, spatzen, or just "that dough stuff you drop into boiling broth," the folks at Norpro have fashioned a reasonably efficient way to prepare it. With their stainless-steel spaetzle maker--essentially a bottomless mining-car basket that runs along a flat cheese grater with bigger holes--cooks can load their favorite combo of egg/flour/milk (recipes for two spaetzle doughs are included) into the basket. By running the "mining car" along the rails of the stainless-steel grater, the batter is extruded into the waiting pot of boiling water or stock. At least, that's the theory: while the plastic basket is bottomless, it's also topless, meaning that, depending on the consistency of the batter, you may need to push it through the grater by hand--a bit daunting over a boiling pot. The grater base is also attached to a plastic handle via plastic tabs; one wishes for one-piece construction, though no doubt an  all-stainless-steel fabrication would involve dropping a different kind of dough.--Tony Mason