Wishing you all a Happy and meaningful Easter!!
Monthly Archives: March 2013
Product of the week…The Santoku Knife
Kitchen Essentials from Calpahlon at Target. $29.99
San.. what? Santoku knife. A great, well balanced knife that everyone MUST have. It slices, dices AND minces. There are small indentations the length of the blade to create small air pockets when using the knife. This prevents sticking and reduces cutting friction. Making all your cutting tasks easier. If you want to get into the history of the Santoku, here is a link for more info:
This has definitely been the ‘it’ knife for the past few years. If you don’t have one, I highly recommend you invest in one. Every major brand has a santoku option. Short options (5″) to longer 8″ options. From J.A. Henckels to Hampton Forge to Chicago Cutlery. This list could seriously go on and on. Prices range from $6.99 – $99.99. The difference in price ranges depends on the type of steel used for the blade, the comfort of the handle and the warranty behind the knife. Basically, you get what you pay for. A $6.99 Santoku knife will do well initially but may end corroding or breaking over a shorter life span.
Product of the week….The OXO Good Grips Pizza Cutter
OXO Good Grips Pizza Cutter.
This isn’t just any pizza cutter. This is a pizza cutter with a tapered plastic wheel that is perfect for non-stick pizza pans or pizza stones. It doesn’t damage the surface its cutting on, the cheese doesn’t stick to the wheel and it’s dishwasher safe. Need I say more?
This pizza wheel can be found under the OXO SoftWorks line at Target for $8.39 or under Oxo Good Grips on Amazon or Bed Bath and Beyond for $11.99.
That’s a Wrap!
Another Houseware’s Show has come to an end. The show continues on today but I am back in the land of suburbia watching the beautiful snow fall.
I will end my series of Show blogs with some final thoughts and a glimpse of blogs to come…
- Color – The overarching trend of the show continues to be color. Color everywhere. From the can opener to the fry pan. While this is not a new trend in kitchenware, it has been around for the last five years or so, it still never ceases to amaze me. It is eye-catching. It’s fun. It’s limitless. The two colors that really jumped out at me this year was yellow and green. Think lemons and emerald-green (Pantone color of the year by the way). So fresh and quite honestly, it made me happy looking at it.
- Old is new – Much to my delight, vintage ‘looking’ is everywhere. Mad Men-esque if you will. Vintage colors (ala MincedReviews look and feel). Vintage styling. I couldn’t get enough of it. I was drawn to it all!
Elite Americana Collection
Good Cook Sprinkles Bakeware
The Cake Boss!
- Family – Another common thread continued to be products that had the mission of making moments together as a family easier. From Wilton to Duff Goldman to The Cake Boss. Fun, inspiring, easy to use products that would help you create fun edible projects with your children. As I test some of these products in the coming weeks with the boys, I will blog what worked, what didn’t and help you find where to buy all the good stuff so that you can start on the family fun too!
Buddy Valastro
- Eco – There is still a push towards ‘eco-friendly’ interiors. Ceramic fry pans were EVERYWHERE. Ceramic hit the show last year in a small way and this year become the year of the ceramic pan. The jury is still out for me on ceramic. I have a ceramic fry pan. I do use it occasionally but I have had my reservations about this trend for while. After meeting with nonstick leader DuPont yesterday, I am even more compelled to research ceramic further . I will be doing a blog on all fry pan interiors in the next couple of weeks.
IMUSA Ceramic Fry Pans
- Favorite Products (at first glance) – I say at first glance because I do not like recommending a product without trying it first.
– The Top Chef Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl Set w/Graters, Slicers and Lid. With its silicone bottom and interchangeable blades for the bowl cover, this is a unique, functional product that I am incredibly excited to buy/try.
Top Chef Stainless Steel Bowl w/Interchangeable Blades
-Treat Pops by Wilton. These fun little tubes of endless possibility are so flippin’ cute. With every sprinkle and cake dec. that you could imagine, you really could let your imagination run wild. Such a fun activity to do with your children, surprise them with these instead of cake, use for a baby shower, bridal shower… the list could go on and on. Check out these pics!
– The Cake Boss Cake Carrier- How cute are these!!! No more bulky plastic. These are made of a light weight metal with a locking lid. Plus, they have my essential retro vibe requirement. Sigh. When can I buy these? Not sure I can wait until Fall 2013.
In the coming weeks, I will get into the details of my most favorite finds at this years show. I am going to be testing a few products and giving you feedback. So… more to come.
I, admittedly, am a kitchenware geek and borderline obssesive foodie so the last three days have been a slice of heaven for me (well, for all of me minus my feet). Until next year….
It’s Show Time!
Well, it’s the last day of the show and what a day it has been already!
I started the morning off with breakfast and a booth tour with the Cake Boss! Buddy Valastro has partnered with Meyer Corporation to launch a HUGE bakeware/cake making line of products! His excitement about his latest venture was evident from the moment he spoke. One of my favorite quotes from him this morning is that he ‘wants people to feel like their own Cake Boss at home.’ That appears at first glance to be a tough task. However, when you start diving into the details.. the tools, the bakeware, the cake inspiration…your brain starts shifting. Can I do this? Maybe I could do this? I can totally do this! Who needs a bakery? Pretty amazing stuff. I truly am excited to try these products. Share them with my boys. Make it a fun baking moment with my boys.
More details and pics to come! Enough blogging. I’m off to find more fun finds! Although this may be my fave. 🙂
Houseware’s Show 2013
Greetings from the International Home and Houseware’s Show! I’m sitting in the press room patiently(im) waiting for the show to start. I will be taking pics, videos and blogging away so that you can have an inside view to all this kitchenware excitement! So, stay tuned for more updates!
12:00pm – Update…
Taking a quick break for a media lunch and wanted to take a minute to blog about the morning.
Three main trends so far:
1. Color- Bringing color to the kitchen via cookware, bakeware and fun gadgets.
2. Eco- Keeping it ‘green’ with chemical free coatings such as ceramic and of course PFOA free surfaces.
3. Family Fun!- I found one of my favorite trends in the Wilton booth… Treat Pops!! Fun and MUCH easier than cake pops (for me anyway).
Here are a few pics of my favorite things.
5:00-Update…
Wrapping up today. What a great day at the Show! The highlight was meeting Duff Goldman. Such a huge fan of his. I am amazed at his level of talent! He showed me a pic of a full size Nascar cake that he did last week for Nascar. FULL SIZE!! CAKE! Stop and comprehend that for a moment. Amazing. He is continuing his quest to take professional level cake decorating to the masses. Fun stuff. Details to come on that in a future blog. Now off to dinner with old friends from my Kitchenware buying life. More Houseware’s Show madness and mayhem to come!
Menu Plan – 19.0
Menu 19:
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- Sunday – Nacho Chicken
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- Monday – Sausage Stuffed Manicotti
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- Tuesday – Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onion and Spinach Quesadillas.
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- Thursday – Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice
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- Friday – Salt and Vinegar Fish Sticks
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- Friday- No cooking for you!
Sunday – Nacho Chicken. I found this recipe in last month’s Food Network Magazine. It is actually called Nacho Chicken Drumsticks. If you know me at all, you know that I don’t ‘do’ chicken on bones. Therefore I prepare this with chicken breasts or chicken tenderloin. Such a yummy, creative way to do a breaded chicken.
Monday– Sausage-Stuffed Manicotti, This recipe from Cooking Light is one of my faves. I love it because it freezes well. I like to double the recipe, freeze one of the casseroles and have it again in a couple of weeks. Or you can make this on the weekend, freeze and bake during the week. Anything to save time. Sidenote: I cannot stand green peppers, so I either omit or replace with red peppers.
Tuesday– Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onion and Spinach Quesadilla. Um. Yeah. This recipe (from Fitness Magazine) had me at goat cheese! Flippin’ fantastic and so easy. Plus, you can just make plain quesadillas for the kiddos. Serve with black beans and Spanish rice. Yum!!
Wednesday– Cheater Chicken Parm – This is my easy go-t0 mid-week recipe (from the kitchen of MincedReviews :)). Cook frozen breaded chicken patties according to package instructions. Make spaghetti noodles as directed while the chicken cooks. Warm a jar of your favorite sauce then layer as follows: spaghetti (tossed w/a little olive oil and garlic salt)/chicken patty/slice of mozzarella cheese/ladle sauce over/sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese. Not the healthiest of recipes but sooo good and sooo easy. Serve with a salad and garlic bread. The whole family loves this recipe.
Thursday– Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice. Sigh. I love the slow cooker. I love red beans and rice. So excited about this recipe (minus the green pepper of course). This will be a new one for me. I found this on Cooking Light when I was looking up the Monday recipe that I love. I am going to serve this over jasmine rice.
Friday – Salt and Vinegar Fish Sticks. So, now that we are in Lent, Fridays will become meatless Friday. I am all about using creative choices for coatings (i.e. not just boring old bread crumbs all the time) so I was immediately drawn to this recipe by the Food Network. Seriously. Doesn’t this sound amazing! It is! Serve with The Pioneer Woman’s Crash Hot Potatoes. (i.e. my latest obsession).
Saturday– Dinner and a movie night?!
Don’t forget to click on the link below to use the printable grocery list! This will help keep you on track as you shop. Hope this helps streamline your grocery store trips! The goal is for you to go to the store ONCE this week. Save time. Save $$.
and as always, here is your menu planning template to print out, write your menu and stick on your fridge. It is super cute!!
Happy cooking and have a great week!
MincedReviews 