Hot Kitchen Gadgets
What's new in the kitchen this Christmas? That's the question I asked the department manager at my neighborhood Bed Bath & Beyond store. Apparently anything related to tea or juicing is 'hot" right now. Those could be considered health-conscious trends so I took that as a good sign. As I strolled through the department, with my 20% off coupon close at hand, this is what I found to be "new" or at least worth mentioning:
#1 JUICER
The manager told me their best selling juicer was the "Jack La Lanne brand juicer for $99.99, to which I couldn't help but reply, "He's still around?" If the fitness and body building guru that I remember from my youth (the 60's and 70's) is indeed still "with us" then I would say score 100 points for juicing! (Jack was a juicing advocate back in the day too as I recall.)
#2 GEORGE FOREMAN GRILL (THE NEXT GENERATION)
This sounds more like a Star Wars episode than an appliance, but apparently George Foreman is the EverReady bunny of the appliance world. He keeps going and going and going. This new generation grill is the original George Foreman grill on steroids with 100 square inches of cooking surface. Grilling indoors during the winter can keep you slimmer and your cholesterol lower. This baby will run you about 100 big ones (dollars).
#3 SILICON BAKEWARE
This year silicon seems to be everywhere and I'm not talking about the playboy mansion kind of silicon either. Silicon bakeware must be selling because this year there are quite a few more brands and options available. You can even buy a silicon madeleine pan (sea shell looking cookies) for $9.99. They are popular because they are safer to handle out of the oven and they are easy to wash. I highly recommend the mini muffin pans because it's hard to find mini muffin papers and those mini muffin pans can be a bear to clean. Muffins are a great snack to have on hand for holiday drop-bys!
#4 SILICON BASTING BRUSH
I told you silicon was everywhere! Actually these basting brushes are awesome. The silicon threads stay separated and it coats a surface with liquid very well thank you. It's dishwasher safe so cleaning the brush between uses is easy peasy. They are heat resistant to 600-degrees so I think it can handle just about every basting situation. And the best part is you don't have to pick the brush hairs out of your food or between your teeth like you do with the traditional pastry brushes. The brand I saw ran about 7 bucks a brush.
#5 KITCHEN AID SILICONE GRABBER
Again with the silicone! You know how the flat and square silicone hot pads are kind of hard to hold then bend so you can grab the pot or pan from the oven? Well Kitchen Aid literally molded this grabber to resemble exactly what your hand does when it is gripping a pot or pan. It's hard to explain the shape...like the toe part of two shoes connected in the middle. They come in various colors and sell for about 8 dollars.
#6 QUICK & EASY MICROWAVE SPLATTER SCREEN by Miracle Ware
If you use your microwave as much as I do, certainly you've dealt with exploding entrees or sauces that seem to spit in your microwave. I'm not one for using plastic wrap to cover my bowls and plates in the microwave, so a splatter screen is the perfect solution to cover bowls at least. This one has little tiny holes so your food is still well ventilated. It's a bargain at $2.99.
#7 ORKA ICE CUBE TRAY
I know, I know...an ice cube tray? But this is an ice cube tray unlike any I've ever seen or touched! That's right, touched. You see these ice cubes are shaped like ovals and the bottom of each ice cube section has a soft pad that is, dare I say it--silicone-like?... so you can press (release) just as many ice cubes out as you need. I would have totally bought one but I have one of those refrigerators with an automatic icemaker in the door and have become unabashedly ice cube maker dependent.
#8 SALAD BLASTER container by Guateplast S.A.
I'm all about fitting some low cal, nutrient rich salads into our day and this doo-ma-jiggy can help make it happen. The Salad Blaster includes a 26-ounce plastic container for the salad (shaped like a rocket ship) with a 2-ounce container on top for the salad dressing. Basically you store the dressing on top and when you are ready to eat it, you press the top container and the bottom part of the dressing container pops off and the dressing oozes down onto the salad compartment. The rocket shaped container then allows you to shake it to "dress" your salad. I like this for one main reason…you can only fit 2 ounces of dressing in the dressing container! That's what I call convenient portion control. It's not made out of the most crack-resistant plastic but I guess that's what I should expect for $3.99.
Related Topics: How to Choose Healthy Holiday Gifts, Making Over Your Kitchen
#1 JUICER
The manager told me their best selling juicer was the "Jack La Lanne brand juicer for $99.99, to which I couldn't help but reply, "He's still around?" If the fitness and body building guru that I remember from my youth (the 60's and 70's) is indeed still "with us" then I would say score 100 points for juicing! (Jack was a juicing advocate back in the day too as I recall.)
#2 GEORGE FOREMAN GRILL (THE NEXT GENERATION)
This sounds more like a Star Wars episode than an appliance, but apparently George Foreman is the EverReady bunny of the appliance world. He keeps going and going and going. This new generation grill is the original George Foreman grill on steroids with 100 square inches of cooking surface. Grilling indoors during the winter can keep you slimmer and your cholesterol lower. This baby will run you about 100 big ones (dollars).
#3 SILICON BAKEWARE
This year silicon seems to be everywhere and I'm not talking about the playboy mansion kind of silicon either. Silicon bakeware must be selling because this year there are quite a few more brands and options available. You can even buy a silicon madeleine pan (sea shell looking cookies) for $9.99. They are popular because they are safer to handle out of the oven and they are easy to wash. I highly recommend the mini muffin pans because it's hard to find mini muffin papers and those mini muffin pans can be a bear to clean. Muffins are a great snack to have on hand for holiday drop-bys!
#4 SILICON BASTING BRUSH
I told you silicon was everywhere! Actually these basting brushes are awesome. The silicon threads stay separated and it coats a surface with liquid very well thank you. It's dishwasher safe so cleaning the brush between uses is easy peasy. They are heat resistant to 600-degrees so I think it can handle just about every basting situation. And the best part is you don't have to pick the brush hairs out of your food or between your teeth like you do with the traditional pastry brushes. The brand I saw ran about 7 bucks a brush.
#5 KITCHEN AID SILICONE GRABBER
Again with the silicone! You know how the flat and square silicone hot pads are kind of hard to hold then bend so you can grab the pot or pan from the oven? Well Kitchen Aid literally molded this grabber to resemble exactly what your hand does when it is gripping a pot or pan. It's hard to explain the shape...like the toe part of two shoes connected in the middle. They come in various colors and sell for about 8 dollars.
#6 QUICK & EASY MICROWAVE SPLATTER SCREEN by Miracle Ware
If you use your microwave as much as I do, certainly you've dealt with exploding entrees or sauces that seem to spit in your microwave. I'm not one for using plastic wrap to cover my bowls and plates in the microwave, so a splatter screen is the perfect solution to cover bowls at least. This one has little tiny holes so your food is still well ventilated. It's a bargain at $2.99.
#7 ORKA ICE CUBE TRAY
I know, I know...an ice cube tray? But this is an ice cube tray unlike any I've ever seen or touched! That's right, touched. You see these ice cubes are shaped like ovals and the bottom of each ice cube section has a soft pad that is, dare I say it--silicone-like?... so you can press (release) just as many ice cubes out as you need. I would have totally bought one but I have one of those refrigerators with an automatic icemaker in the door and have become unabashedly ice cube maker dependent.
#8 SALAD BLASTER container by Guateplast S.A.
I'm all about fitting some low cal, nutrient rich salads into our day and this doo-ma-jiggy can help make it happen. The Salad Blaster includes a 26-ounce plastic container for the salad (shaped like a rocket ship) with a 2-ounce container on top for the salad dressing. Basically you store the dressing on top and when you are ready to eat it, you press the top container and the bottom part of the dressing container pops off and the dressing oozes down onto the salad compartment. The rocket shaped container then allows you to shake it to "dress" your salad. I like this for one main reason…you can only fit 2 ounces of dressing in the dressing container! That's what I call convenient portion control. It's not made out of the most crack-resistant plastic but I guess that's what I should expect for $3.99.
Related Topics: How to Choose Healthy Holiday Gifts, Making Over Your Kitchen
2 Comments:
Yup, Jack LaLanne is still around and he's still juicing up a storm! He still looks pretty much the same as he did in the '60s!
I like the idea of the ice cube maker. I'll have to check that one out!
Jack LaLanne. He is incredible, isn't he? Speaks to the power of exercise as well as juicing.
I just got a silicone hotpad/trivit but haven't had a chance to use it. I know I do NOT like silicone bread pans for yeast bread.
I could only love my George Foreman more if it were big enough to grill for both my husband and myself, and had grills that removed to put in the dishwasher. I like the new ones but can't see spending the money when I already have a perfectly good if small one.
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