Last month when I discovered that one of my favorite brands, Built, now makes oven mitts, I may have actually squealed with excitement. I tote their stylish and practical lunch bag back and forth every day and am always on the lookout for what cool things this brand is going to do next. Their new line of oven mitts and pot holders is made with the same colorful and fun material as the rest of their products (plus, Built uses wetsuit material, which somehow makes their products extra cool). And, while I do like to look fashionable while taking cookies out of the oven, the best part is that the oven mitt is the best I've found in years. Built smartly designed it to hold the shape your hand is in when grasping a pan. No longer do I have to contort my wrist and hand to make those old-style quilted mitts actually grip a searing hot pan. Also, and I don't know if you've ever noticed this, but those classic mitts have seams right where you hold the pan and the heat seeps through after just a few seconds. No more! Now I'm protected and prettified!
My next find of late is not exactly an essential, but it's a fun tool that gives your plating of meals and desserts a little special flair. If you've been to "fancy" restaurants, you've probably noticed that the mashed potatoes don't come heaped on the plate. No, the kitchen takes special care to dollop them on in perfect ovals. And ice cream or gelato? You know it tastes better when presented in smooth ovals rather than commonplace spheres. Piazza's oval gelato scoop comes in handy for all these instances. While I do primarily use it to fancy up ice cream for dinner guests, it's also fun for artful presentations of wilted greens or pretty mounds of rice. Again, not exactly essential, but definitely fun for the home gourmand.
The last gadget I added to my arsenal recently is the Contigo double-wall travel mug. I first saw it in an industry magazine where it touted a lid that is "100-percent leak-proof and 100-percent spill-proof." Now that I had to try! I bring my coffee to work every day and generally have too few hands for all the work necessities and toddler paraphernalia (and toddler) I need to lug out the door. I'd been dreaming of a mug I could fill up and just throw in my bag without worry. THIS is the mug. Not only has it never leaked even a single drop, even when laid horizontally in my Built lunch tote and jostled for miles, but it also has kept my hot coffee hot and my cold coffee cold for hours on end. I've noticed when I make iced coffee at 8 a.m. that when I leave at 5 p.m. the ice isn't even melted. But still, the tumbler had me at "leak-proof"...
Got any essential kitchen gadgets that have recently come into your life? Add a comment and let me know!
--KitchenMaus
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