Some of my favorite kitchen gadgets this summer….

Some of these things I’ve told you about before, but since I have a lot of newbies to the site, they’re worth a repeat.  Or, if you’re like me, you read about them and forgot them…. So if you’ve seen these before, just ignore this post.

I’m loving my Wolfgang Puck  Electric Pressure Cooker.  I bought it on HSN after Hooterville gave me a heads up that it was on introductory sale one Sunday for $119.00.  It’s a 7 quart, the size is great.  I bought Ry a Cuisinart 6 quart last year for his birthday, but it’s a bit small  This one is wonderful, I use it several times a week, I have dried pinto beans cooking it in this morning. My fresh green beans that I normally cook on the stove for a couple of hours only took me ten minutes after it reached pressure, and that was with new potatoes mixed in the pot.  Even though it’s a bit more expensive now, it’s still well worth the price.  This isn’t your mama’s pressure cooker, girlfriends, you set it and forget it, and don’t have to worry about it exploding!  You can check it out here…

I’ve blogged about this KitchenAid Garlic Press before.  I liked it so much I bought it for the kids, I got one for Hooterville, too and she will also tell you that it’s the best garlic press EV-ER.  If you’re like me you’ve bought several over the years, none of them ever really work, but this one is a powerhouse and it completely pulverizes the garlic cloves.
This exact style is hard to find, but you can buy it on Amazon.  But then you can buy pretty much anything on Amazon.  Here’s the click if you’re interested.


This chopper from Williams-Sonoma is the hands down BEST thing I’ve bought in years.  Actually, it’s my second generation, I bought an earlier model, but they updated it and I bought this one.  I’ve told all of you about this several times, and if you haven’t bought one, do yourself a favor and order it.
They have an even newer model available now, Ryan bought it and brought it to show me on his last visit home.  While it’s a super one, I still think I like this one best.  Here’s the Click for my model, and if you want to see the one he bought, you can access it HERE.

And since it’s summer, I’m going to talk about ice cream makers.  Three years or so ago

I decided that I needed the Cuisinart ice cream machine, the one with the built in compressor.  I seldom use it, the family teases me relentlessly about it, and was it a waste of money, or is the family wrong????


Well, first of all, the family is seldom wrong, and I must admit, it was an oops.  It cost way too much money for the use I get out of it.  I should have just bought this snazzy little red model for a fraction of what I paid for the super duper one.  But it’s sitting on my shelf in the garage, it’s there when the ice cream urge strikes…


Cooking.com has this red one on sale right now for $50.00 – what a deal, and it looks great.  I just love anything red in the kitchen.
If you already have a ice cream machine and you want to try a new cookbook, The Perfect Scoop is an awesome ice cream book.
Here’s the link to it on Amazon.  It’s the best homemade ice cream book I’ve found.

And finally, I have two more absolutely wonderful “keep the kitchen cool” things for you.  Both I’ve talked about before, so if you’ve heard me rave about these, just ignore this, but perhaps some of you are in the market for new equipment this summer, and it helps to know what works for people, and of course, what doesn’t work.  Both of these are spendy, but good kitchen equipment IS spendy, and it’s well worth the investment because you have it for years.  I probably don’t spend any more on kitchen equipment than some of you spend on outfits with accessories.  It’s whatever floats your boat and I adore gadgets….

So first, this is my Cuisinart Convection Toaster Oven.  I got this a couple of years ago, and I was never a fan of toaster ovens, but then the only ones I had owned were the run of the mill ones that didn’t work very well.  Well, I have used this practically daily since I got it.  It only takes 2-3 minutes to come to temperature, it bakes to perfection, it’s roomy inside, the convection is super and best of all, it doesn’t heat up the kitchen.
You can check it out HERE if you’re interested.  I think this stainless model runs a bit more, you can get it in white or black for less.

And last, but not least is this All-Clad Deluxe Slow Cooker from Williams-Sonoma.  I adore slow-cookers, and I’ve had many through the years.  This one I didn’t buy, Ryan and Lindsay got it for me last year for Christmas.  Oh my, it’s wonderful.  The teflon liner is removable and you can bring everything to boil or brown in it on top of your stove, and the food cooks so much better than the other model’s I’ve had.  No hot spots, nothing dries out – it’s a good thing…  But actually, my very favorite slow-cooker is long gone now, but it had a ceramic divided insert.  It didn’t cook nearly as well as this one does, but I loved the idea of being able to cook two things in it at once…  It was really nifty…  You just can’t beat a slow-cooker in the summer though for keeping your kitchen cool.

I have tons more of my favorite kitchen things, including my beloved Zojurushi Bread Machine that’s in retirement right now because I’m trying to cut the carbs, and have el zippo willpower with homemade bread. I’m the gadget queen, but even I’m not as obsessed as Ryan is.  Oh that son of mine has every kitchen gadget there is.  He’s totally mezmerized by kitchen equipment.

So that’s my summer kitchen reviews.  I do this periodically as I like to share my “finds.”  I’ll be back with more this fall, I’m sure….