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!
I was recently sent a box of Covermate Stretch to Fit Food Covers. The deal was for me to tell you about them if I liked them or found them to be useful.
How about this? I loved them and am wondering how I ever lived without them. So, yeah, I do believe I’ll tell you all about this ingenious way to deal with leftovers.
Picture it: You’ve covered the leftover Easter ham, Thanksgiving turkey, Christmas casserole, cupcakes, cookies, or buffalo wings with plastic wrap or foil. Each time you or a hungry loved one gets under the foil or wrap, it loses its grip a little bit more. It isn’t long before more of the leftovers are exposed than covered and all of your brilliant culinary craftsmanship goes right out the door. You swear up and down that the cupcakes were once moist, but watch as everyone washes down each bite with milk.
I’ve been using the Covermate Food Covers and the scenario above (or should I say the end to the scenario above) is what I love most about these stretch to fit covers. I also love that they’ll fit any shape of dish, plate, pan, or bowl.
Covermate covers allow you to easily cover plates and bowls of food. You simply stretch one of the clear covers over the dish and allow it to snap securely into place. Thanks to the brilliant built-in FlexBand™ technology, uncovering and re-covering are just as easy. So you won’t have to tell anyone that your cupcakes were once moist or that the wing’s weren’t dried out when you made them!
Another plus as spring and summer finally roll into the neighborhood – flies won’t be able to find a way into your food, after all they don’t care if the cupcakes are dry or not!
Covermates also keep your food fresher: They’re made from heavy-duty clear plastic material that is twice as thick as standard plastic wrap. A micro-sealed edge and FlexBand™ combine to form a tight hygienic seal around all dishware to keep food as fresh and fabulous as you want it to be.
I also just happen to love the way they look. SO chic.
My box is the Variety Pack which has had (told you I loved them!) 10 covers: 4 medium, 4 large, 2 extra large, and a bonus Small Can Cover – I used it on evaporated milk… washed it off and used it again on sweetened condensed milk. What is it with me and cans of milk?
If you head over to Covermate Covers.com, you can actually sign up for a free sample pack. Would it be tacky of me to do…. Oh, don’t look at me like that, I’m only sort of kidding. I will be checking my grocery store for these today, though. Oh, I almost forgot another favorite use: I always have a few bowls of dried fruit, candy, and nut combinations sitting around the house. I like to put covermate covers over them to keep our cat Alexa out of them – she loves to dig them out and swat them to the floor. I try reasoning with her, telling her how much cashews cost but she just doesn’t care.
Now Covermate has me and my cashews covered – and Alexa perplexed. Go grab your sample pack and look for these in your store!
by Joi on February 20, 2010
You knew it was just a matter of time before my inner cookie monster started talking about Easter cookies. I swear, I could bake and eat cookies all day, every day. The cookie cutters below are beyond adorable and would create some real works of art. I can’t figure out which one I want most, so you know what that means! I think I just heard my husband groan…
These premium cookie cutters are made of copper, meaning they’ll be around for years and years and years. As a matter of fact, copper cookie cutters make gorgeous, thoughtful heirlooms to be passed from generation to generation – along with the memories of using them. But we’re getting way ahead of ourselves, let’s focus on this Easter and spring! I’m from the school of living out loud and making every moment count double – maybe even more so on holidays. Taking extra special time in the kitchen to create beautiful treats for your family makes every holiday extra, extra special and memorable.
In fact, when you get right down to it, taking special time and effort in the kitchen makes any day feel like a holiday. The kitchen is more than just a room, after all, it’s the heart of the home. It’s the place where we write beautiful love letters to our family – one meal and treat at a time!
Hatchling Copper Cookie Cutter
Lamb Copper Cookie Cutter
Bunny Copper Cookie Cutter
Egg Shaped Copper Cookie Cutter
by Joi on February 6, 2010
by Joi on February 1, 2010
One of my beloved culinary gifts this past Christmas was from my daughter Brittany: Fajita Plate Set with Wood Tray and Hot Mit
. I’ve used it, and loved it, quite a few times since December 25. In fact, if it hasn’t totally been used to death by December 25, 2010, it’ll be a miracle. Love it! Before the meal (about 20 minutes before plating begins), I place the fajita iron skillet in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Then, when the meat and/or vegetables go onto the skillet, their moisture cause a heavenly sizzle that I’ve become somewhat infatuated with.
For supper tonight, I made steak fajitas and shrimp fajitas (indecision often leads to a varied meal and always leads to a large grocery bill). I also made guacamole, of course, and a tossed lettuce and cilantro salad. I made a dressing for the salad by using avocados, lime juice, salt, and sour cream.
I marinated the strips of skillet steak for an hour. I would have preferred skirt steak, but Kroger didn’t play along with that game plan, so I compromised a wee bit.
Here’s the marinade I used:
4 TBS vegetable oil
3 TBS freshly squeezed lime juice
dash of salt
dash of pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
I added sliced onions and whole garlic cloves to the ziploc bag along with the meat and marinade. In hindsight, I wish I’d added more garlic cloves – they wore the marinade beautifully PLUS garlic is ridiculously good for you. Oh yeah, should have added more.
After an hour, I cooked the meat, onions, and too few garlic cloves on my George Foreman grill (which needs to be replaced with a new one, by the way). When the steak strips were just the way I wanted them, I transferred the whole shebang to a dish and covered it with Reynold’s 100 % Recycled Aluminum Foil (GREAT STUFF! 4 Stars out of 4 Stars). I put it on the stove to keep it warm.
I thawed some beautiful big, juicy, tailless cocktail shrimp and tossed it with lime juice and a little bit of seasoning – Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy Seasoning Blend. When the laid back Mrs. Dash gets all spicy, it’s a beautiful thing. The shrimp cooked really fast, so I didn’t leave its side for a minute. Again, with the Reynold’s 100 % Recycled Aluminum Foil (again, I love this environmentally friendly foil).
Finally, I sauteed an onion and three beautiful bell peppers in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil – one red, one yellow, and one green. I didn’t allow them to get too tender, as I always want them to show up to the party sort of crispy tender. While they were making the kitchen smell like a Mexican kitchen in Heaven, I warmed the flour tortilla shells in the oven – - – - wrapped in what? Yep. See why it’s so important to me that this foil is 100 % recycled – I use the heck out of it!
I carefully… oh so carefully….. removed the fajita skillet as well as a larger iron skillet that was impersonating a fajita skillet from the oven. Then I put the shrimp and some of the pepper and onion blend onto the fajita skillet. Sizzzzzle! Then, I did the same with the steak strips and the rest of the pepper mixture – I poured them into the large iron skillet. Sizzzzzle!!!!!
While we’re at it, something else you’ll want to invest in before you make another Mexican-inspired meal is a Tortilla Warmer
(pictures above). They’re perfect for keeping your tortillas perfectly warm and soft. Before Britt hooked me up with all of these wonderfully perfect accessories, I just assumed soft, warm tortillas were something you could only get in a true, authentic Mexican restaurant. Ha! I can have them anytime I want now in my own kitchen. For some reason… the type of reason only Alton Brown could explain… tortillas keep their personality much more intact with a tortilla warmer than they do with anything else.
If you don’t have a fajita skillet or a tortilla warmer, please repent and see the error of your ways. Furthermore, you must try the Reynold’s 100% Recycled Aluminum Foil – it’s brilliant!
by Joi on January 18, 2010
I guess we’re pretty much continuing Guy Fieri Day here on Get Cooking…. I just came across these drop-dead gorgeous knives that my kitchen simply must have. This
Ergo Chef 2-pc. Knuckle Sandwich Exclusive Guy Fieri Cutlery Set
is freaking gorgeous. And, come on, the knives have Guy’s name on them.
“In 2007 I met the designers of Ergo Chef at a gourmet show. I used the cutlery on stage during my demo and was given a set to take home. After a year of wear and tear in my kitchen – trust me it can be a knife gauntlet – I was hooked on the quality and design of Ergo Chef’s product. Before I knew it, I was teaming up with them to develop my own collection. We sketched a range of designs lookin’ for the select few that really rocked technically and aesthetically! I’m a Hot Rod guy who knows that in order to do car-building right, you need high quality performance parts. The same idea applies to cooking, so the right knives are key. My product features a combination of the best materials with a design that will blow your mind! As a chef, restaurant owner, and TV personality, I have high expectations for my equipment and these knives meet and exceed all of them.” – Guy Fieri
Product Description:
This 2-pc. Cutlery Set offers a savings, versus buying these pieces individually. It includes the 8-in. Chef’s Knife with Crisscross Crusher and the 5.5-in. Dragon Dagger Utility Knife. The 8-in. Hollow Ground Chef’s Knife is perfect for cutting veggies, fruits and meats with ease. It has a special crisscross knurl on the end to pulverize garlic, nuts, etc. The 5.5-in. Serrated Utility Knife was designed for slicing small fruits, veggies, cheese, breads and sandwiches. It has fork prongs on the tip to pick up food. Flames and Guy’s Knuckle Sandwich logo are stamped on the blades. The red and black handles also boast a flame-waved design, and the star is added to complete Guy’s signature look.
Knuckle Sandwich Knives Run Down: The blades are precision heat-treated to keep a great edge. Patented ergonomic design is created to be an extension of your hand for natural comfort. Made of high-carbon German stainless steel for stain resistance. Full tang and abbreviated bolster adds strength and balance. Hollow ground ovals in blade promote less stick and smoother cuts. Flames and Guy’s Knuckle Sandwich logo are stamped on the blades. The red and black handles also boast a flame-waved design, and the star is added to complete Guy’s signature look. Includes two free Black Universal Edge Guards with flames.
Can you guess what’s sitting at the top of my Must Have list right about now?!
by Joi on January 10, 2010
This is one of the coolest, slickest, and funnest things I’ve come across in a while. The Goodbye Detergent Spaghetti Scrub
is a spaghetti-like cleaning scrub that doesn’t even require detergent to clean! If you’ve gone all out (say, baked on barbecue sauce, meatloaf, or lasagna), it would require just a tiny amount. Can you imagine how much could be saved on detergent?
The Spaghetti Scrubs are completely natural – made from corn cobs and peach pits. They’re from Goodbye Detergent and can, best I can tell, only be purchased online. Fine by me, I love shopping online. My husband would say that I loved shopping, period. And I’d have to say that my husband knows his wife. Period.
From the Website:
Spaghetti Scrubs last for months and because of their unique shape, they’re pliable enough for trickier cleaning jobs and tight spots such as corners, whisks, and behind faucets. The best part is they dry quickly and completely so there’s never a stinky or moldy sponge in your sink. After you’re done cleaning, just rinse them, and hang on the faucet to dry.
- Reusable scrubs last for months
- Unique pliable shape
- Great for peeling vegetables
- Lack of mold and bacteria
- No smell or rust
- Save money and the environment by reducing the need for soaps
Click the following link to purchase one of these ingenious scrubs from Amazon – Goodbye Detergent Spaghetti Scrub.
by Joi on December 29, 2009
Le sigh. My apologies for the ridiculously tiny picture in this post. I came across this insanely wonderful 25 Pc. Cutlery & Gadget Set
(25 pieces!) and wanted to share it with you. But, alas, the website only offers a “zoom” view of the product – leaving me with no other option but this minuscule picture.
It looks like something Barbie would have on her shelf.
If I weren’t so terribly impressed with this set, I wouldn’t have even bothered – who needs a tiny Tim image in a post?! Unfortunately, I’m wild about this cutlery and gadget set, so please overlook the small fry.
The 7-Pc. cutlery features full tang and ergonomic grip, plus poultry shears. I love that everything’s in a black color scheme – that’s always so chic and classy.
You’ll have to click through the link (or the tiny picture) and then zoom in to see everything that’s included in the 15-Pc. gadget set. I’m just wild about the thought of everything being so organized and tidy. A set like this cuts down on the time (and mess) that comes from searching drawers and cabinets.
Get this: The hardwood cutlery block has a built-in 60-minute timer! The whole shebang resides in a great-looking steel wire organizer. It’s all dishwasher safe, which is another plus.
by Joi on December 27, 2009
R527 – RAM Lighting Kitchen Decor
If you’re anything like me, you spend a great, great, great deal of time in the kitchen. Not only do I spend a great deal of time cooking, my home office is right actually right off of the kitchen. So, I see this room more than any other in the house. This is why I make sure to surround myself in here with everything I love. You know, things that make me smile. While I do this throughout the house, I take extra special care in my sanctum sanctorum!
R525 – RAM Lighting Kitchen Decor
Sometimes it’s fun to mix things up a little and totally re-do your colors, your accents, and your theme – your vibe, as it were. I’m really loving the Bistro-type of decor, featured in this post. They’re so classy looking!
These particular lovelies are from one of my favorite online stores: Lighting By Gregory. Click on those that catch your eye and learn more. I guarantee the price of each will be less than you’d expect.
R308 – RAM Lighting Kitchen Decor
And quite possibly my favorite (and proof positive that my favorite decorations are those that make me smile)……
R116 – RAM Lighting Kitchen Accessory
by Joi on December 18, 2009
What’s not to love about the Calphalon 4-pc. Nonstick Contemporary Nonstick Skillet Set with Lids
? These are from Cooking.com – one of my favorite places in all of the online world.
From the website:
Perfect flips, and no flops! Calphalon’s Contemporary Nonstick omelette pans feature a thick, flat, wide bottom for quick, even heating and cooking with little to no oils. The gently sloping sides and nonstick surface allow the omelet to glide freely, flip in one quick motion and slide easily from the pan to your plate. Plus, cleanup is easy. The rolled stainless steel Cool Touch handle conducts heat more slowly than cast iron handles, so it stays cool on the stove top. It’s sure to bring out your sunny side. Features: Hard-anodized exterior and nonstick interior. Versatile vessel shapes that accommodate several cooking techniques. Long handles that stay cool on the stovetop for hours of comfortable cooking. Sparkling glass-and-stainless covers give you a clear view of simmering soups and sauces, too.
Set includes: 10-in. Nonstick Skillet and Lid 12-in. Nonstick Skillet and Lid
Ladies and gents, to break it down: These are must haves!
