by Joi on August 31, 2010
If you’re a rock star when it comes to collecting recipes, welcome to the band. I’ve been a recipe collector extraordinaire since the day I got married. Recipes are a great passion of mine and the drawers, folders, recipe boxes, and tins filled with recipes support this fact.
In addition to a cookbook collection that would make AMAZON green with envy, I have recipes snipped from favorite magazines, newspapers, books, and index cards where I’ve jotted down recipes on the fly. Not only are these recipes a great source for cooking, they’re unbelievably precious for strolling down memory lane. I often jot little notes on recipes such as, “My husband said this was his favorite chicken ever” or “(insert daughter’s name) and I made these on a cold December evening.”
The recipes and the notes allow me to relive the magic all over again.
I also love to come up with my own recipes and concoctions – so I write them down as well with step by step instructions and amendments. More paper, more index cards, more recipes…
After years of cooking and collecting, they’re everywhere! When I set out to find one, it can be like The Amazing Race taking place in my kitchen. Recently, I had an epic search for a favorite sugar cookie icing recipe. I’ll never get the 30 minutes I spent searching back, but it was kind of a kick to visit with all of the memories.
The gorgeous Wicker File Basket by Bond Helman
pictured above would be ideal to keep all of these recipes in – all in one place, neat as a pin. I could even separate them by categories. The wicker file basket even has handles on both sides, so it could easily be carried to and from other rooms. After all, Rock Star cooks can sort through recipes even while watching television.
How much easier would it have been to simply look for my icing recipe in one place – in a gorgeous wicker organizer under the file “Icings.” Simple!
I’ll be honest, it’ll take more than one wicker file for my recipes but that’s okay. I even have a shelf in my pantry in mind for them. Currently it’s covered with messy files, folders, and thin, paperback recipe books. These wicker baskets will make it all so much more attractive.
As a bonus, I won’t have to turn the kitchen upside down looking for that certain recipe ever again. These searches unnerve the cat even more than they do me.
*** It just occurred to me how perfect this wicker basket would be for organizing craft supplies, too. Hmm, two may not be enough…
by Joi on August 25, 2010
“(The Toddy) is the ultimate coffee maker.” -The Washington Post
If you’ve never used the Toddy T2N Cold Brew System
for coffee, you have no idea what you’re missing. I’m not sure why this system makes incredible, outrageously flavorful coffee (I guess we’d need Alton Brown to explain it to us) but it does.
Truth be told, I don’t guess I care WHY Toddy’s so outstanding as much as I care how soon I can have my next cup. Then the next, then the next, then the next…
I insist on trying out every coffee bean and every coffee-brewing system that comes down the pike before I recommend them on Get Cooking – so I force myself to consume untold amounts of coffee, but that’s okay, really, I don’t mind. As in AT ALL.
It’s how I roll, I call it my caffeine roll.
After I took a few drinks of my first cup of brewed “Toddy” coffee, all I could think was, “This is a perfect cup of coffee.” And I’ve thought the same thing with each subsequent cup. Perfect, with a coffee house boldness – yet smooth as a baby’s….well, you know.
From the website:
As important as those fresh roasted beans are to your cup of coffee, it’s what you do with them that counts the most.
In 1964, as a chemical engineering graduate of Cornell, Todd Simpson developed and patented a cold brew system that, using regular coffee beans, creates a superior-tasting cup of steaming HOT coffee. And, with 67% LESS ACID than coffee made by conventional hot brew methods, it’s easier on sensitive stomachs.
The Toddy coffee maker extracts the coffee bean’s true delicious flavor and eliminates much of the acidity, producing a bold, super-smooth coffee that can be served one cup at a time.
Toddy Cold Brewing System Features:
- Designed to brew coffee with 67-percent less acid than coffee made with hot brew methods
- Patented cold brew system uses regular coffee beans to create super smooth hot coffee, but with no electricity required
- The Toddy Cold Brew System also makes tea, served hot or cold
- Set includes brewing container with handle, glass decanter with lid, 2 reusable filters, 1 rubber stopper, set of instructions, and recipe guide
- Get more out of your coffee beans, since the coffee concentrate stays fresh for up to 3 weeks
You can use your favorite coffee beans with the Toddy System and, as you just read… it makes fantastic tea as well.
You’ll want to slide on over to Amazon and order your very own Toddy T2N Cold Brew System right away. While you’re at it, you might want to grab one for the biggest coffee fiend on your Christmas list.
My husband is a pretty great hinter. And apparently, said husband is craving brownies. He e-mailed me a link to the Edge Brownie Pan from Baker’s Edge, available from the Food Network’s OUTSTANDING store.
Product Description:
For corner brownie fans and chewy edge lovers, it’s a dream come true — a gourmet brownie pan that adds two chewy edges to every serving! It’s the Edge Brownie Pan from Baker’s Edge, and it’s the first (and only) brownie pan specifically designed for chewy edge lovers. The pan’s patented sidewalls also improve baking performance by circulating heat evenly to the pan’s middle, where food typically takes longer to bake. Its 9” x 12” x 2” size is a perfect fit for box mixes, as well as most recipes sized for 9” x 9” and 9” x 13” conventional pans. The pan also has a quality nonstick coating and smooth, round corners so it’s always easy to clean. Hefty cast aluminum construction ensures superior durability, and the unique recessed handles make the pan easy to grab when it’s turned upside down.
This food blog LOVES the Food Network and is obsessed with brownies, so this Baker’s Edge Brownie pan has sent us over the proverbial edge… get it, edge. Sorry, I get kind of goofy when my thoughts are centered around kitchen gadgets or chocolate.
Seriously, the only drawback to making brownies is the tedious cutting – and trying like the devil to make sure they’re evenly cooked – from the innermost brownies to the outermost brownies. This brilliant brownie pan seems to have that all taken care of. And, according to the reviews left on the Food Network Store’s site, this pan is every bit as great as it appears to be.
Read more about the Edge Brownie Pan from Baker’s Edge by clicking the link.
I was recently sent a new kitchen gadget to review – which means I’ve been walking a little straighter, smiling a little more, and continually humming, “What a Wonderful World.”
Yeah, this gal loves kitchen gadgets.
The source of the humming this time around is the Amco Tomato Slicer
. Ingenious!
We eat a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of tomatoes – year round, really, but never more so than during the summer. We eat the ones from our own garden and we buy regularly from local farmers’ trucks. Our farmers and their families feed our country and tend our land – the least we can do is buy from them on a regular basis.
We also love cheese in our home – so a Tomato Mozzarella Slicer was a perfect fit for our kitchen.
It’s fantastic! I’ve used it for red tomatoes, green tomatoes, and mozzarella. It keeps my hands clean and gives my knives a day off. Giving knives a vacation day is just a good managerial strategy – keeps them sharp, you know.
My oldest daughter (Emily) has a fierce allergy to touching tomatoes – her hands break out when she comes into contact with the juices. This kitchen gadget would be ideal for anyone with such an allergy. They could slice tomatoes for their family and give hydro-cortisone the day off as well.
The Tomato Mozzarella Slicer creates uniform, attractive tomato slices for sandwiches, burgers, and salads. It also allows you to slice green tomatoes perfectly for fried green tomatoes – a staple in my kitchen.
Here’s a fresh, quick, delicious, and easy recipe to try for a change of pace from traditional salads:
Quick & Easy Tomato Mozzarella Salad
Slice a couple of tomatoes and a ball of mozzarella. Lie them on a platter in an attractive manner – fanning them out mozzarella, tomato, mozzarella, tomato, etc. Then drizzle (or mist) lightly with extra virgin olive oil. Now, sprinkle fresh basil over the mozzarella and tomatoes. Outstanding!
This type of quick salad is as healthy as it is good – it adheres to the basics of the Mediterranean Diet, which is always a great way to eat. It’s perfect served alongside soup, spaghetti, lasagna, manicotti, or any Italian recipe you can think of. It also makes a healthy snack for watching television or playing games.
Product Description for this Kitchen Gadget
Slice tomatoes into uniform 1/4-inch thick slices with one easy motion. Create perfect slices every time for hamburgers, sandwiches, salads and more. Simply position tomato in holder, center slicing blades above tomato and press down. Slicer can even cut mozzarella for perfect caprese salad. ABS with stainless steel blades. By Amco. With unique, patented kitchen products Amco’s devotion to innovation has driven new industry standards and redefined categories. They continue to revolutionize the market with ingenious gadgets that simplify and enhance the culinary experience. With a team of in-house designers whose sole purpose is to conceptualize and design new kitchen tools, Amco continues to be at the forefront of innovative, efficient and timeless kitchenware products.
Head over to Amazon for a closer look and to order your’s today: Tomato Mozzarella Slicer
Holy cats! Two things I’m most passionate about in the world are cats and cooking. So I’m flipping completely out over a the Country Cats Kitchen Decor Theme. I actually just came across this website this morning – while looking at blog designs. I saw a picture (on a blog theme page) of a lovely, smiling young woman praising one of the themes. I clicked through to see what she had going on.
The lovely one has plenty going on, thank you very much.
Her main website appears to be the one I’ve linked to above and it is just exceptional. Honestly, when anyone asks what I want for my birthday or Christmas, I’m pointing them to the cats!
Other kitchen collections include:
Coffee House Kitchen Decor Theme (my oldest daughter, Emily, collects coffee-themed decorations – me, I just collect coffee)
Rooster Kitchen Decor Theme (colorful, vibrant, beautiful)
Grape Kitchen Decor Theme (beautiful – perfect if you love French Country)
Sunflower Kitchen Decor Theme (bright, cheerful)
Fat Italian Chef Decor Theme (always extremely popular and fun)
There are many more gorgeous collections covering every decorating style imaginable. Take roosters, for example. In addition to the kitchen rooster collection I linked to above, there are also Country Roosters, Farm House Roosters, Provencal Roosters, and Rooster Floral Decorations.
Having collections in your kitchen is a heck of a lot of fun and allows you to express yourself and your personality. I think the kitchen should sort of set the mood for the whole home. Kitchen collections, such as this one, allow you to do just that.
I’m completely blown away by these collections and I promise they’ll have a similar effect on you. If you come away from Theme Kitchen without wanting at least 100 different decorations – you just aren’t doing it right.
I recently had the good fortune of reaping the benefits of being a food blogger – goodies! I was sent a handsome little gadget called the Oransi Ionic Fridge Air Purifier
to review for Get Cooking. I love few things more than kitchen gadgets, so I opened the box like a 12 year old would a birthday present.
Cool beans!
I’m one of those people who always, always, always has a box of baking soda in her refrigerator. I cook as often as a Food Network chef on a caffeine high, so there’s always a steady stream of food traffic into and out of the refrigerator. Some foods don’t exactly smell as good as they taste (seafood, garlic, and onions – I’m looking at you). Since I keep fresh fruit and fresh vegetables in my refrigerator, I don’t want them running with a stinky crowd… picking up any of their foul habits.
That’s where my new beloved kitchen gadget – the Oransi Ionic Fridge Air Purifier – comes into play.
Product Features
- Patented, exclusive piezo-electric air purifying technology
- No fan, no noise, no filters to replace
- Easy to use
- Small size will easily fit within any refrigerator or small space
- Operates on 2 AA batteries
With nothing to clean and nothing to replace aside from the batteries, this is an effective, efficient, and economical way to keep your refrigerator smelling as fresh and clean as a breath of fresh air. This Ionic Fridge Air Purifier is perfect for the removal of odors and bacteria. It keeps your refrigerator smelling fresh and your food fresher.
Fresh. Clean. Removal of odors. Removal of bacteria. Can you tell how important my food and its well-being is to me?! The fact that you’re reading a food blog tells me that you feel the same way about the food you eat and feed your family.
Visit Oransi Ionic Fridge Air Purifier for more information and to purchase your own. You’ll love this very affordable and efficient little guy!
One of my favorite candies is also one of the funnest to eat: M&M’s! I love the plain and peanut equally. Not only do I eat them straight from the bag like there’s no tomorrow, I LOVE to put them into my popcorn – whether at the movies or home. They’re also remarkable in cookies, cupcakes, and brownies.
Basically, there’s no wrong way to eat M&M’s.
I adore the personalized M&M’s too. How freakin’ clever! If you have a special graduate in your life, you’ll want to impress them to the moon and back with their own personalized bag of M&M’s. Click through the banner below to learn more and to place your own order. It’ll earn you instant hero (or heroine) status with a lucky graduate who’ll show them off to everyone they know!
You can also personalize your M&M”s to flaunt your favorite sports team – beyond cool. It’d make a perfect gift for Father’s Day, in a bag along with a jersey or hat featuring his favorite team… maybe even tickets! View Show your team support with personalized MY M&M’S® candies.
for more details. They even have GORGEOUS M&M dispensers featuring your favorite team’s logo. Father’s Day, nothing, I want the St. Louis Cardinals one!
The Reisenthel Mother Child Shopping Bag (Red)
, above, is one of the most ingenious, clever, and downright adorable things I’ve seen in a while. I’m addicted to shopping bags because I’m addicted to the prospect of living green and saving our world and animals from the evils of plastic and wastefulness.
I’m addicted to straight-up adorable things because I’m a girly girl.
This Mother-Child shopping bag speaks to every corner of my heart. Available in 4 colors (red, sand, navy blue, and kiwi green), this would make an outstanding gift for any and all mothers you know.
Product Description:
Because the little ones are always proud to give the grown-ups a hand, the MotherChildBag by Reisenthel® is equipped with an extra handle to allow allow them to help Mom or Dad carry home the shopping. Another bonus? They’re so engrossed in the task that they stay close to their parents in jostling crowds.
Features:
• Safe shopping for parents and children
• Tear-proof polyester fabric
• With extra handle to grip and help carry
• Eye-catching front print
• 1 inner pocket with zip fastening
• 1 interior mobile phone storage pocket
• Bag can be slung over the shoulder with 2 long handles
Size: 17 1/3″tall x 17″wide
Reisenthel Mother Child Shopping Bag (Red)
The Grind & Brew™ 10-Cup Automatic Coffeemaker
from Cuisinart automatically grinds the beans to produce the freshest, most flavorful pot of coffee imaginable.
This brilliant coffeemaker is fully programmable and struts such a sleek, European design that any kitchen will welcome its beauty.
Cuisinart Grind & Brew Automatic Coffeemaker Features
- Elegant Italian styling
- Automatically grinds whole beans before brewing
- 24 hour fully programmable
- Brew Pause™ feature lets you enjoy a cup before brewing has finished
- Adjustable auto shutoff – 0-4 hours
- Grind off feature
- 1-4 cup feature
- 10-cup (5 oz. each) carafe with ergonomic handle, dripless spout and knuckle guard
- Charcoal water filter removes impurities
- Separate grinder chamber and filter area make for easy cleanup
- Limited 3-year warranty
Chalk this little beauty as another great potential Mother’s Day gift!
Coca-Cola, more than just about any logo or brand you can think of, symbolizes true Americana. That’s why (along with the upbeat attitude and great taste) so many people are drawn to Coca-Cola collector’s items. My mom collected Coca-Cola metal trays, bottles, and a whole host of other products and when she suddenly and unexpectedly decided to move on to Heaven, I gave all of her beloved Coca-Cola products a place to call home.
I’ve fallen in love with the logo and collector’s items, myself, and now consider myself a collector of all things Coca-Cola. I think it’s a great image, a great logo, and a big, beautiful slice of American history.
What’s not to love about that?
Red ‘Enjoy’ Pot Holder
Good with Food Replica Metal Coca-Cola Sign
Sign Of Good Taste Placemat
Retro Coke Napkin Dispenser
Click through any of the links for LOTS more. You’ll find vintage metal signs, tumblers, towels, and things you never even thought of. The website also features Sprite, Diet Coke (a personal favorite!) and Fanta.
By the way, speaking of Coca-Cola, have you ever tried Coke Zero? In my opinion, it tastes just like regular Coca-Cola… fantastic! For some reason (probably has a lot to do with baseball games and picnics), Coke tastes like summer to me. A hot dog and an ice cold Coca-Cola… it’s always the right time for that combination.
For a great Coca-Cola Cake Recipe, click the link!
