Pitchers, faucet, and refrigerator filters have been in our homes for years. Our first home together had a well and the water had a really off taste, so we used large filtration pitchers to clean up the taste of the water. We’ve also had faucet mount and refrigerator filters, which work well to a point, [...]
Hog Wild Chopsticks for Kids
My chopstick collection began innocently enough, just a bag of cheap restaurant-style wooden chopsticks to use and reuse at home, but I had long admired the heights of functional artistry that some chopsticks achieve: the sleek design of metal chopsticks, the colorful surface of lacquered chopsticks, the Zen feeling of carefully smoothed wooden chopsticks. They [...]
Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker
Back to Basics Electric Ice Shaver
When Michael and I went to Hawaii last year, I had my first opportunity to try Hawaiian shave ice, a favorite treat of locals and visitors alike, and we returned home with hope that we might find a machine that could replicate the shave ice we had on that vacation while staying within a family [...]
KraftMaid Floating Kitchen Island
Our house came with a pantry which really wasn’t anything more than a tiny closet between the garage and the kitchen, and it barely held my baking supplies never mind any canned goods. In desperation we converted the coat closet into a pantry and installed some heavy duty shelves in there to hold canned goods, [...]
New West KnifeWorks Santoku Knife
Scanpan Professional Grill Pan
We like to grill year round, but occasionally it’s too cold to grill outdoors, even for us, and we find a grill pan for indoor use very useful. We’ve had our share of grill pans, many of which were disappointing. I recently had the opportunity to test a Scanpan grill pan courtesy of the company, [...]
Senseo Coffee Pod System
A few months ago I received a weekly email from BlogHer with their picks for great deals and fabulous freebies, and one item caught my eye: the Share Senseo program. For just the cost of shipping, you get a free single-serve coffeemaker, free bag of coffee pods, and free pod canister. Since I’m the only [...]
Lodge Logic Pro Cast Iron Grill/Griddle
With five mouths to feed, having some oversize cookware can come in handy, especially when trying to crank out breakfast. Sunday mornings the kids are swirling around the kitchen proclaiming how hungry they are even though I’ve just given them a banana and milk to tide them over until the pancakes or waffles are ready. [...]
AeroGarden Part 3
The basil was doing great until the whiteflies that had moved indoors with my overwintering mint found the AeroGarden. Believe me, we did battle for several weeks. One nice thing about the AeroGarden is that you can lift the growing platform off the tank, turn the plants upside down over the sink, and rinse the [...]



























