Shoeless Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 What are your favorite "This really does make my life easier" kitchen and household gadgets? I'm drawing a blank on what to put on my list for Christmas and relatives are starting to nag about it. We could also use new towels, but reviews for every brand of towels are hot and cold. "They were the best of towels, they were the worst of towels..." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 I love, love, love my Roomba. Yes, I do have to empty it. Yes, I have to protect the piano from it (it tends to scrape furniture legs as the plastic slides across). Yes, sometimes I have to rescue a curtain or a charging cord I forgot to move before starting it. Still, I love it. We have Liz Claiborne Egyptian Cotton towels from JCPenney and really like them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 I love my micro plane graters. I have a box grater and a rasp one, and they are infinitely better than normal graters. Pampered Chef stoneware is also a fave. I love the pizza pan with the white glaze on the outside especially. The oval bakers are great. And the pie pans are the best I have ever tried, without exception. Also, their salad spinner is the best one I have ever used, bar none, hands down. I am liking cookie stamps because I don’t have to roll out the dough to use them. In the expensive category, All Clad Essential pans come in two sizes and are my favorite, most versatile pans ever. They work as pots or as fry pans. They are deeper than frying pans and wider than pots so they don’t spatter. I basically stopped using most of my other pots and pans once I got these. Also, they have a two quart pot with a ceramic double boiler insert that has saved me a lot of scorched chocolate. Also great for making egg yolk based pie fillings that have to be cooked. We like Costco towels. There are limited colors but we found that we like champagne ones. They hold up really well. However, I’m trying not to buy stuff from China and have not vetted all this for that. In the ‘buy American and organic’ category, there is now a company called American Blossom that has colorgrown cotton sheets. All American, no chemicals, not even dye. I’ve just ordered a set. I hope I like them, but I sure do like the IDEA of them. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamanthaCarter Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 I make homemade pizza almost weekly, so a pizza stone. Also nice would be a large cookie scoop for portioning muffins and giant cookies. I have no idea about kitchen towels. Every one I own was given to me, and there are a lot. The waffle-weave ones seem to work the best. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 This isn't a big or expensive gadget but I love my apple slicer. With most slicer type gadgets I find it easier to just use a knife. Not so with this. It has to be the one with the cover that pushes the slices and core out. Plain slicers still you to push the slices out but not so with this one. You just close the cover and it pushes out all the slices. https://smile.amazon.com/Prepworks-Progressive-16-Slice-Apple-Slicer/dp/B00EZQQO9Q/ref=sxin_3_ac_d_rm?ac_md=0-0-YXBwbGUgc2xpY2Vy-ac_d_rm&keywords=apple+slicer&pd_rd_i=B00EZQQO9Q&pd_rd_r=8a686978-f71b-48af-bf0c-e1b4207189ad&pd_rd_w=Jl6xd&pd_rd_wg=lDU14&pf_rd_p=6d29ef56-fc35-411a-8a8e-7114f01518f7&pf_rd_r=J63Q1QS7HQKZ4MKX40HT&psc=1&qid=1574259117 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 Griddler by Cuisanart Aroma Rice Cooker These are bigger than gadgets but I got them both in 2019 and wish I had them for the last 20 years 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 8 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said: I love my micro plane graters. I have a box grater and a rasp one, and they are infinitely better than normal graters. Pampered Chef stoneware is also a fave. I love the pizza pan with the white glaze on the outside especially. The oval bakers are great. And the pie pans are the best I have ever tried, without exception. Also, their salad spinner is the best one I have ever used, bar none, hands down. I am liking cookie stamps because I don’t have to roll out the dough to use them. In the expensive category, All Clad Essential pans come in two sizes and are my favorite, most versatile pans ever. They work as pots or as fry pans. They are deeper than frying pans and wider than pots so they don’t spatter. I basically stopped using most of my other pots and pans once I got these. Also, they have a two quart pot with a ceramic double boiler insert that has saved me a lot of scorched chocolate. Also great for making egg yolk based pie fillings that have to be cooked. We like Costco towels. There are limited colors but we found that we like champagne ones. They hold up really well. However, I’m trying not to buy stuff from China and have not vetted all this for that. In the ‘buy American and organic’ category, there is now a company called American Blossom that has colorgrown cotton sheets. All American, no chemicals, not even dye. I’ve just ordered a set. I hope I like them, but I sure do like the IDEA of them. Carol do you have a link for the specific pans? TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 I haven't used these but just bought them for my sons for Christmas. https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-UNITG0100SW-Uni-Tool-Utensil-Slotted/dp/B002STMD0Q/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 I also love my Ove Gloves (not really a gadget, but so useful!). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 Instant Pot! I can completely forget about supper til 5:30, pull out some frozen meat, throw it in and walk away and do other things and it's done by 6:30. It's like magic 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 9 hours ago, unsinkable said: Carol do you have a link for the specific pans? TIA! I can’t link from my iPad but you can find them if you go to the Williams Sonoma website, and search on ‘All Clad Essential Pan’. The ones I have are the stainless steel D5 line, the 4 quart and 6 quart ones. I see that now they have a 3 quart, but I don’t have that one and honestly the 4 quart is a nice size even for only 2-4 people so I wouldn’t want a 3 quart one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoeless Posted November 24, 2019 Author Share Posted November 24, 2019 Thanks, everyone! I have no idea how I've lived this long without the apple corer/wedger thing. DS11 eats sliced apples several times a week! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaBelle Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 Herb scissors. I have an herb garden and it makes things much easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 (edited) You could check out "Mighty Nest" - a company that carries a lot of "green" or eco-friendly items. Check on where it's made if you care about dyes, etc. When it comes to towels, I have towels with which I dry dishes which are usually the old fashioned white cotton towels (flour sack towels) and then different towels for wiping your hands off in the kitchen. I just remembered another site: Sarah Pope's Healthy Home Economist. She had a page dedicated to "Kitchen Gadgets." Edited November 24, 2019 by Liz CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 I keep seeing “kitten gadgets “. ☺️ Instant pot and extra inner IP pots and gadgets (steamer basket, pot in pot cooker...) kitchen scissors 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 I learned about this for squeezing lemon wedges at a restaurant. I tracked it down . . . . https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WHC9Y9M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noreen Claire Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 I have a full set of really nice metal measuring cups and spoons, including odd sized ones (think 2/3 cup, 1.5 cup, 2 tsp, & 2 tbsp). They are really really useful, and I've hung them prominently in my kitchen because I love them. 🤣 These aren't exactly the same (I bought mine a few years back), but you get the idea: https://www.williams-sonoma.com/m/products/williams-sonoma-stainless-steel-nesting-measuring-cups-spoons/?pkey=s|odd size measuring cups|4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valley Girl Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 Digital meat thermometer. Very handy. Knife sharpener that has a slot for ceramic knives, too. Cookie dough scoop. A time-saver. Rectangular measuring spoons that actually fit the spice jars. GOOD spatulas. (I hate the flimsy kind.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree Frog Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 2 hours ago, gardenmom5 said: I learned about this for squeezing lemon wedges at a restaurant. I tracked it down . . . . https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WHC9Y9M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I have to laugh that "free Amazon tech support is available" for this item! Wonder what kind of tech support it is... Looks like something my dd would like. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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