kitchen

It's always nice to have the right tool for the job. Anybody who has ever tried mashing potatoes with a spoon or mincing garlic with a fork can certainly attest to that. While it might be obvious that a peeler is a necessary tool for the kitchen, sometimes it's the little things we overlook.

The Kai Ultimate Wide Peeler available for $19.95 at Williams-Sonoma is an oversized utensil designed for specific tasks. Capable of producing buge slices of cheese, chocolate, or vegetables, this peeler is more versatile than the average standard-sized variety. Additionally, the extra-wide 4.25-inch … Read more

Thanksgiving is approaching fast, and if you're the one hosting this year's dinner (like I am), it's coming at light speed. While I look forward to spending time with the family and musing over what we're thankful for, I'd be thankful to have the help of at least one of these gadgets.

Sanitizing wand: Though I'm not a germaphobe, I've heard one too many salmonella and e-coli stories. This CleanWave Sanitizing Wand actually gets rid of bacteria, germs, and dust mites. Dust mites?! After de-germing my cutting boards, countertops, and towels, I can … Read more

Sometimes it is simpler to think small. The size of my kitchen necessitates a certain amount of nimbleness to achieve delicious results when cooking. Everything must be laid out and a plan of attack formulated. Not thinking ahead sets up a potential domino disaster if I forget to check something off the list. For example, if I forget to chop the celery, plates and knives will have to be scattered and cleared to backtrack a few steps. The potential for burning whatever is on the stove at the time is too great. It is better to embrace the quirkiness of … Read more

Here's one way to weather the economic downturn: Stop paying restaurant prices for wood-fired pizza and artisanal bread, and instead invest that money in a Kalamazoo Outdoor Artisan Pizza Oven.

Made of stainless steel for safe outdoor use, the Kalamazoo oven echoes the classic dome shape of Italian wood-fired ovens. The cooking surface is a crust-friendly professional composite baking stone, while the low, arched top reflects heat back at your food for even cooking. Using your choice of liquid propane or natural gas, the oven heats to temperatures ranging from 250 degrees to 800 degrees Fahrenheit; an integrated wood … Read more

There are some places an LCD screen makes no sense, like on a vent hood. But there are other places where the inclusion of an LCD screen is so natural that it practically seems obvious once you see it. Like on the fridge.

Samsung isn't the only one to come up with this idea, but it is a nice addition to the company's new French door fridge, announced on November 3. The RFG299 has a 7-inch LCD screen just above the ice and water dispenser. The screen offers one-touch access to calendars, schedules, showcase photos, nutrition facts, and … Read more

A kitchen remodel takes an enormous amount of planning. Measuring, re-measuring, and losing the sheet with the measurements, browsing tile and appliance shops for hours on end, even more hours spent trying to draw your kitchen layout on graph paper--it's not easy. And if you're in the early stages, you may not really want to put in all that time just yet. Or, you might really want to, but you're not even sure where to start.

A nice place to plunge into kitchen design is with a virtual kitchen planner like this one from LG. Experiment with … Read more

For generations, the kitchen was the focal point of any domicile. Friends and family would gather 'round and relax, share tales, perhaps even help out with the cooking.

While the kitchen is certainly still a major destination in any home, it evolved away from social interaction as living room entertainment exploded. Understanding the trend, conceptual kitchens now integrate screens, monitors, and interactive features into their designs. The advancement of technology has certainly made for some interesting concepts, but there is at least one more thing besides community to consider about the kitchen of tomorrow: the environment.

The Green Cuisine kitchen … Read more

In the sleek and shiny world of food gadgetry and kitchen kitsch, it can be easy to overlook one spot: the kitchen walls.

You know how sometimes how you look away from something just for a second, and by the time you look back, you are asking yourself, "What just happened?" Well, that is exactly how you will feel if you turn away from Abbey Ryan's Painting a Day series. The Philadelphia-based artist has been keeping up with her self-imposed timeline for the past year.

Focusing mainly on food, her paintings tend to measure on the small … Read more

While I'm making my breakfast, I generally turn on the radio. I like hearing the morning traffic report, a little news, and some music to start my day--and the radio doesn't suck me in the way the television can. Options for a kitchen radio, however, seem pretty limited: you can drag in a clock radio or blast the news from your living-room sound system. But, if anything spills on your bedroom clock radio, clean up can be problematic--not to mention the fact that your radio might be ruined.

Agata Norkroos' Ceramic Kitchen Radio is kitchen chic, in stylish … Read more