Lora (2)

Oh, for the love of a really good milkshake. By really good I mean thick and chunky. And by chunky I mean Mint Chocolate Chip, Cookies and Cream, Coffee with chocolate covered espresso beans-- Oh my.

Oster's 6627 Drink Mixer is a solid milkshake-making machine. Its die cast chrome construction ...

If you're looking for versatility and affordability, look no further than Cuisinart's Classic 6-Slice Toaster Oven. The Toaster Oven offers 1/2 cubic foot cooking capacity which means you can use it to bake a chicken, broil meat for the whole family, or toast 6 slices of bread (or 6 thick ...

Do you know any cheese lovers? Anyone who loves to host a good party? Maybe someone who fits both categories?

Rachael Ray's Cast-Iron Fondue Set would make a great gift for such a person. Or for yourself.

The cast-iron pot boasts even heat distribution and excellent heat retention. It ...

It slices. It dices. It... Oh, wait, that's something else. But it does slice (thick and thin slices). And it shreds, too (fine and coarse). And I believe in today's slang, when something "shreds" that means it's really cool. So, I'd have to ...

Versatility in the kitchen is key, especially if you have limited cabinet and/or counter space. When you can get one appliance to do several things, it's usually a big plus. The George Foreman 360 Electric Grill is no exception.

The round-shaped electric grill boasts a 106-square-inch cooking surface. ...

It slices. It dices. It chops and purees. It even kneads dough. No, really, the KitchenAid 9-Cup Food processor does all these things. And what's more, it also comes with a 4-cup mini bowl and mini all-purpose blade to zip through smaller jobs such as ...

Oh, look. It's another black and brushed stainless steel kitchen appliance. How nice. I'm not sure what is retro about the Cuisinart DCC-1200's appearance. The boxiness, maybe? Certainly not the color. Brushed stainless steel is very modern. All the newest kitchens come with ...

When I first saw SmartShopper's Grocery List Organizer, the gadget-girl in me went, "Cool. I want one of those." I love making lists, too, so I was especially jazzed by the Grocery List Organizer.

Then, the little angel on my left shoulder, the one touting a green halo and recycled wings, ...

There's a place for the KitchenAid stand mixer, and there's a place for KitchenAid's new 9-speed hand mixer. Some folks may think I'm old fashioned because I'm not head over heels in love with the stand mixer. It keeps me a little too distant from the food I'm preparing.

Of ...

There are so many cookware sets out there that it's hard to distinguish one from another. These days, you'll find a lot of cookware sets made from stainless steel and with stay-cool grips that are oven-safe. Most sets include the same pieces- 7-inch and 9-inch skillets, 1 1/2-, ...

Take the pressure off the cook and put it in the cooker. With Fagor's Duo 8-quart Pressure Cooker, you can have dinner in less than an hour, which is especially nice when you haven't given dinner a thought until about an hour or so before you'd like to be ...

It's too bad the Better Chef's designers didn't think to make the IM550V black and white. If they had, it would have looked like a penguin. How could would that be? A penguin on your kitchen counter? But, perhaps, unlike Lyle Lovett, the Best Chef designers don't "go ...

Toasters are so yesterday. I mean all they do is toast and take up counter space. Breville's CT70XL is 8 inches high, 5 inches long, and has a depth of 11 inches. That's a fair amount of counter space for an appliance that only does one thing.

To be fair, ...

Ah, the foam. The froth. Sweet to the tongue, yet light as air. Whether it's on a vanilla latte, a spicy chai, or steamed milk, the froth makes all the difference. Or, at least, it's the difference between a chai at the coffee shop and home-made version ...

Here's a great way to get a young person (or anyone of any age moving out on their own) off to a good start. The Farberware Enhanced 10-Piece Cookware set includes all the basics by a maker with an excellent reputation.

The set includes 1-, 1 1/2-, and 2-quart saucepans, a ...

Does the old adage hold true for coffee grinders- if you've seen one conical burr grinder, you've seen them all?

Well, it's hard to say. There are subtle differences- the Breville Conical Burr Grinder has a variable timer with 10 to 30 seconds of grind time while the Capresso Burr Grinder's ...

Ever wonder how those beautifully imprinted, wafer thin cookies were made? It's easier than you think. So get ready to wow your friends.

All you need to do is scoop a spoonful of batter (recipe booklet included) onto each round nonstick surface, close and latch the lid, and in only ...

If the KitchenAid Heavy Stand Mixer is the Hummer of stand mixers, then Cuisinart's SM-55BK is the Volvo. At least aesthetically speaking anyway. And if we're talking about looks alone, then I guess all KitchenAid Stand Mixers are what? Mercedes?

The Cuisinart Stand Mixer is very boxy (like an old ...

Like most things in life, there are pros and cons to plastic. To further complicate matters, there are choices even among plastic. On the one hand, you could buy a set of plastic storage containers. On the other hand, you could re-use all those containers that you ...

Here's what I love about glass. It's see-through. I'm all about recycling plastic containers -- they work especially well for leftovers. But unless you have some sort of special power, you cannot see through plastic. This means they're not so good for storing things like lentils, popcorn kernels, cotton ...

The KitchenAid K5SSWH is the mother of all stand mixers. It's one tough cookie, the Hummer of stand mixers- a powerful machine that is built tough and meant for heavy use. Just as I wouldn't advise someone to buy a Hummer for an around the town vehicle (how about ...

Cupcakes are taking the country by storm, and I don't mind.

No longer reserved for children's birthday parties, cupcakes are truly in vogue. They're especially trendy as a wedding cake alternative. But we're not talking about your typical boxed cake mix and overly sugary frosting. We're talking gourmet.

Imagine: chocolate cake filled ...

Forget those little brown lunch bags. Bring some culture to your lunch with Zojirushi Bento Lunch Jar. Bento is defined as a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine.

Traditionally, bento includes soup, rice, an entree such as teriyaki chicken, and vegetables. If you're used to a ...

I don't often see bread boxes in people's homes anymore. I don't know why. I doubt that people are eating any less bread. Some bread can be kept in the refrigerator, of course, but most breads will dry out that way.

Since we got our KitchenAid stand mixer, my ...

Oh to have an organized kitchen. It must be every cook's dream, right? It was certainly my husband's dream, which is why we bought dozens of square storage containers with gift money given to us during the holidays.

Oh to be square! There is a distinct advantage to square containers. ...

This collection of four glass apothecary jars would make an elegant addition to any kitchen. Or bathroom. Or living room. They're elegant and versatile. Ranging from 4.5 inches tall to 12 inches tall, these beautiful jars could house any number of treasures- candies, cookies, sugar, cotton balls, bubble ...

I must confess, I don't fully understand the appeal of a stand mixer. If you bake a lot of bread, then a stand mixer is your new best friend. The dough hook makes mixing and kneading an absolute breeze. In fact, it may be my husband's favorite kitchen ...

Pro Logic items, including this cast-iron wok, are pre-seasoned with a proprietary "electrostatic" vegetable oil spray system. This readies the wok for cooking right out of the box, saving you time by pre-seasoning the wok for you. The oil spray system also creates a nonstick finish that helps preserve ...

Cuisinart's Classic Stainless 14-inch Stir Fry is part of its new variety of specialty pieces offered in their Chef's Classic Stainless Cookware series. These specialty pieces make everyday cooking tasks a pleasure.

You may wonder how a stir-fry pan is different from a skillet. First of all, the gently ...

It's natural to be suspicious of a product that costs less than half the cost of its competition. The price difference usually means one of two things- either the product isn't up to snuff, or the other brand's version is over-priced. It's sometimes hard to know which might be ...

Stir-fry pans are similar in shape to a salad bowl allowing for easy tossing of vegetables. For example, Circulon's 14-inch Stir-Fry pan has rounded, sloped sides which make it possible to quickly rotate or stir vegetables or other stir fry ingredients while they cook. This way of cooking is ...

Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?

You just might be able to figure that out with this glass and stainless steel cookie jar. No, it's not bewitched. It's made of glass and it holds sweet goodies that could potentially be sticky or chocolatey, which sounds to me like a ...

Apples, apples, everywhere. Gravensteins, Honeycrisps, Pippins, Pink Ladies, Romes. The reds aren't the only delicious ones.

Apples are a symbol of fall. Reds and greens and golds. The all-American apple pie, apple crisp, apple strudel, apple butter. The possibilities are endless. Baked apples, apple sauce, apple ...

Here's what the Ariete Cafe Prestige Coffee Maker has: a sleek, but sturdy, heavy-duty stainless steel body; 950-watts of power output; a ThermoBlock 15 bar pump-driven system that provides uniform and constant pump pressure; a 2-1/4-quart removable water reservoir that can be removed anytime; a cup warming area that allows ...

Is the Wenger 4-Piece Cook's Set really a good buy? Well, that depends on many factors- your needs, your bank account balance, etc....

Wenger has an excellent reputation as the makers of the Genuine Swiss Army knife. From start to finish, Wenger's kitchen knives are also made in Switzerland. ...

I'm not sure what it is about having animals in the kitchen. Maybe, maybe farm animals make sense. A dish towel with a goose applique. Little piggy salt and pepper shakers. Cow-shaped cream pitchers. Not that any one kitchen has all of these animals adorning the walls. ...

There's a reason why people register for gifts for their wedding. I just wish someone had told my aunt that before my wedding this summer. If you really know the couple well, you might venture away from the wedding registry. But don't assume you know the couple's taste. Everyone ...

I'm sorry but somebody has to say it: The Sanseo HD7832 Supreme is supremely ugly. What's with the futuristic, stream-lined, silver phallic symbol? Is this some kind of George-Jetson-meets-Mr.-Coffee wet dream? It's plain and simply ugly.

Why is it that the style for the future is always ...

If nothing else, the Cuisinart PowerBlend Duet Blender and Food Processor looks sharp. Its chrome base sparkles.

How long that polished chrome will shine depends entirely on how often you use the machine, And, of course, how often you wipe clean the chrome base and its easy-to-use LED indicator.

But it ...

First off, I don't believe in microwaves. I know that may offend some. Perhaps you may even think I'm a heretic of American culture and values. But the truth is microwaves scare me. All that stuff leeching out of the plastics and into your food. Yikes!

That being said, microwaves ...

Without a Nonna to help you along, I'm not sure that making fresh pasta can be easy. But it can be easier with the KitchenAid KPRA Pasta Roller Attachment for Stand Mixers. With everything else you can use your KitchenAid Mixer for- kneading bread dough, juicing, grating, making ice-cream- ...

Sometimes you just have to take things from the top. And KitchenAid's new 5-speed blender is no exception.

The 56-ounce, commercial-grade, polycarbonate pitcher that sits atop the die-cast metal base has a drip-free pour spout and a textured lid with a 2-ounce cap for adding ingredients while blending. The pitcher ...

Bunn's new reservoir-style home brewer makes up to 10 cups (50 ounces) of coffee in just 3 minutes. That's faster than the Tassimo. Of course, the Tassimo can brew 10 different drinks in a little over 10 minutes. But the BUNN has a key feature which the ...

There's a reason this wonder brewer has such a long, convoluted, scientific name; if Dr. Frankenstein had made a barista it would have been Bosch's TAS4511UC.

This isn't to say that the beverages that Tassimo brews for you aren't faster than what your neighborhood cafe will serve up. Or that they ...

The chef in Nicole Mones' The Last Chinese Chef would not approve of Breville's Electric Gourmet Wok. Of course, she was going for authenticity and not convenience. So, unless you're competing in a fictional Olympics of Chinese culture, you're probably safe with Breville's electric wok. And you won't ...

Presto's Pressure Cooker and Canner exceeds USDA recommendations for safely canning low-acid foods such as vegetables, meats, and poultry. Made of heavy-duty aluminum with plastic handles that stay cool, this pan also serves as a large pressure cooker, making it possible to cook healthy, delicious meals- including fish, chicken, and vegetables- in ...

The Presto 05466 brings Southern comfort to your home. It's a professional-style, dual-basket deep fryer that can accommodate family-size quantities. And the beauty of it is that with two baskets you can fry two foods at once. Fried chicken and JoJos? Popcorn shrimp and hush puppies? Crullers and ...

A Hand Blender or Immersion Blender is a handy, time-saving tool. This KitchenAid Hand Blender can be used in any number of cooking projects from blending smoothies, to pureeing soups, to making your own, fresh baby food. You can use it directly in your soup pot, smoothie glass, ...

I love the smell of coffee. In fact, I'd rather smell the coffee beans at the perfume counter than any bottle of perfume on the market. It's a rich, mouth-watering smell that tricks me time and time again. I say 'tricks' because 9 times out of 10, when ...

I don't know about you, but I don't have any problems cleaning my cookie sheets. Simply wipe them down with hot water and dish washing soap, then put them in the dish rack and let them dry. It's not very complicated, so I'm not sure why the ease of ...