By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
A girlfriend of mine, Isabel, is having a major love-affair with a knife. Not just any knife but a Kyocera Ceramic Knife (Yes, THAT Kyocera, the makers of cell phones and printers, among other things…). Isabel was enjoying her knife so much that she bought one for each of her girlfriends! I can see why she is so enthralled. I first used my Kyocera knife at our monthly Dinner Club gathering which was hosted at our house this time.  Although the food was amazing, I must say the focus was really on this [...]

I’m a huge skeptic. I blame my marketing background where I’ve observed one too many mediocre products being spinned as life-changing in beautiful, glossy print ads and commercials. Riiiiiight. But when I saw the Clef du Vin (which “ages” wine by the second) featured in the latest Cambria Cove gift catalog, I knew that there had to be substance to this product: I trust that Cambria Cove would only choose products that they can stand behind.
So I tried the Clef du Vin (a French product by Peugeot, translates to “Key of Wine”) and am back, skepticism vanished, to tell you [...]

As if my schedule was not crazy enough already these days before Christmas, I’ve also been planning a wine & cheese event for 40 in January. Then, I remembered that our dearly beloved (being entirely facetious here) movers lost the box (among many others in this highly frustrating experience, the only stain on an otherwise very happy move to Chicago) which held my ClinQs, my favorite way to help my guests keep track of their drink glasses. ClinQs are reusable “sticky plastic” drink stickers that come on a peel-off sheet. Just place them back on the sheet when you’re done. [...]

I love kitchen gadgets. Almost as much as I love shoes. And isn’t this foodpod by fusionbrands the most adorable thing? I love fusionbrands products: the sleek look, cool silicone, fun image… and they make kitchen gadgets (love the foodloop). But this latest arrival, the foodpod, a rubbery yellow sea urchin like contraption, is something that you never knew you really needed… It’s great for boiling, blanching steaming anything that needs draining. No more fishing around the pot trying to get out the eggs unbroken and your fingers intact… Here’s the video. Not because you don’t understand the concept, but [...]

I know, it doesn’t take much to get me excited, but I do love kitchen gadgets. And take a look at these … For anyone who has spilled the beans, literally, when trying to pour out of plastic bags, you know how useful these bag caps will be. I’m really thinking of bulk or raw foodist shoppers who know that trying to pour anything from the flimsy bulk-foods-department plastic bags is an accident waiting to happen. These are also fun for the kids who might now have incentive to actually close the darned chip or cookie bags.
Here is a list [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Contributing Editor
I was visiting a friend of mine just before Christmas. I had not seen her in ages.  We love to catch up over a bottle of wine. She was very excited about the Breathable wine glasses that she had just purchased. She proposed a little taste test. We opened the bottle of Merlot and poured some wine in a regular wine glass and then some in the Eisch Breathable wine glass.  After a recommended four minute time lapse, I tasted the same wine from both glasses.  All I can say is “what a difference”.  The [...]

Although this is called the Cheese Knife, I bought this knife for my 10 year old daughter who loves to help out in the kitchen but is very afraid to work with sharp blade knives. I remember being morbidly fearful of knives at her age as well.  This “Cheese” knife is perfect. It allows her to merrily cut through veggies, tofu , fruit, bread and… cheese with ease. This will allow to perfect her knife wielding techniques so that she’ll be a pro when the time comes to use the real thing.
The Cheese Knife website actually sells the benefits of [...]