Cooks who work on marble countertops already know that marble is great for working with pastry and chocolate. When chilled, a marble surface is ideal for keeping dough from sticking -- particularly when you're not keen on adding too much extra flour. If you're an avid baker, it's an essential tool to have in your kitchen. And you can get one for around $30!

A beer that's fit for our Easter table! Indeed, this rustic Belgian-style ale is specially crafted to match both the season and its celebrations. It's snappy and tart, fresh and light, and it's the perfect match for everything from glazed ham to Peeps.

Could there be anything better than a handful of pistachios? They're a snack on their own, they're a dessert when mixed with ice cream, they're a savory addition to our salads — I wouldn't be surprised if they could leap tall buildings and move faster than a speeding bullet, too. They're basically the superhero of nuts. Except they're not actually nuts. And with that bright green color, they're not exactly fooling anyone with their low-profile disguise. 

Imagine you had a tiny expert baker who you could put in your apron pocket and take with you into the kitchen. This baker would offer helpful tips at appropriate moments, "It's ok that your sauce separated — just keep whisking!" and nudge you toward new recipes, "Try the Jammy Lamingtons. Trust me." Short & Sweet from Dan Lepard won't quite fit in your apron pocket, but it will almost certainly become the voice you trust when you step into the kitchen to bake.

Certain desserts — a fruit crumble, a smooth pudding, a scoop of homemade ice cream — are best served in a bowl, one that's not too big, not too small. Here are 5 that are just right:

Item: Hurom HH Series Premium Slow Juicer/Smoothie Maker
Price: $399.95
Overall Impression: This excellent juicer has gotten even better.

The Hurom Slow Juicer became one of my favorite kitchen appliances a few years ago, so I was curious to test out Hurom's new Premium Slow Juicer/Smoothie Maker. Would I want to ditch the old one in favor of this latest and greatest model? And what's this about making smoothies, too...? 

Sometimes buying the unsweetened version isn't always better. I don't want to say who, but someone thought it would be a good idea to buy unsweetened coconut for a batch of macaroons last week thinking that this was the less-processed "better" choice, and that someone was very disappointed with her cookies. This week's public service announcement: sweetened and unsweetened coconut are two very different ingredients, and both deserve a spot in your pantry.

Monk fruit is the latest darling of the alternative sweetener world, but what is this exotic fruit, and how does it compare to sugar and other substitutes? 

Never underestimate the power of cake. Or perhaps more accurately, the process of baking one. Novelist Marian Keyes discovered this while in the midst of a crushing depression and hasn't stopped baking since. The glitter-topped, rainbow-tinted, frosting-filled baked treats that came from this time in her life are the absolute opposite of depressed — they are joyful, full of life, and just plain fun.

Item: The Spiegelau IPA Glass 
Price: $24.90 for a set of two
Overall Impression: A fun splurge for hopheads and beer geeks

You know a beer has made the big time when it gets its very own glass. There are slender pilsner glasses, snifters for your quads and barleywines, and now a specially-designed glass to maximize the hop-tastic experience of drinking your favorite IPA. Pint glasses and beer steins are so yesterday, people.