Item: The Ultimate Spatula from GIR
Price: $22.50
Overall Impression: Great for getting into the nooks of pans, ergonomic design, super easy to clean

Maybe you are wondering if the world really needs another spatula. This was certainly my first thought, too! But over the past few weeks, this spatula has slowly edged out the competition when it comes to my crowded utensil jar. I find myself reaching for it again and again, and annoyed when I realize it's in the dishwasher being cleaned. There's something about this slim little spatula. It may just be what it claims to be: the ultimate spatula for all our cooking needs. More

Low on drawer space in your kitchen? Repurpose a vintage card catalog into a handy kitchen storage piece! The drawers are perfectly sized for flatware and other cooking utensils, and you can even label them so you remember what goes where. Love this idea! More

If the title of this post makes you think we're being a little nit-picky, we beg to differ. One may think a ladle is a ladle is a ladle, but if you make a lot of soup, you know that's not true. If the ladle is too short for your pot, it sinks; if it's too long, it can be heavy or awkward. If the handle has no bend in it, it's very hard to get a clean scoop, but if it has too much bend, then it's hard to dip the ladle into a tall pot. So what to do? Consider the following tips: More

Where did the whisk come from? In the US, the whisk's debut and resulting popularity can be traced to Julia Child's 1963 television appearance (her first ever) when she brandished a whisk and furiously whipped egg whites into a fluffy frenzy. But naturally, the tool had been around long before Julia. More

Your homemade pizza dough has rested, risen, been punched down and formed into a disk. You've preheated your oven, prepped your toppings, made your famous tomato sauce and at last you've created your famous homemade pizza. You've even managed to remove it from the oven at the exact moment when the curst is crunch/chewy but not too overly black and blistered. Now you are at the final stage: cutting your pizza into wedges and whisking it off to your eaters before its moment of perfection is over.

Where would we be without our vegetable peeler? It's definitely on our list of essential prep tools and utensils. If you cook a lot from scratch, your vegetable peeler probably gets a lot of use! So, you need a good one: sharp, easy to maneuver, and effective. Here are 5 great ones: More

Mitts or grannie squares, silicon or quilted batting. There are a lot of choices when it comes to potholders, also referred to by some as hot pads. What do you prefer to use when you want to protect your delicate porcelain skin from the ravages of a hot oven?

Last week I was in Portland and got to visit one of my favorite stores, Canoe, for the first time. Since I was on vacation, I splurged and bought myself a Health Ceramic mug ($34). Like many of my other favorite home and kitchen stores (Brook Farm General Store, Kaufmann Mercantile, Herriott Grace, to name a few), I found myself eyeing far more than I could afford to buy at that time. Which has me wondering: how do you determine whether or not a kitchen tool or accessory is worth the price? How important is the item's aesthetic appeal and backstory? More

Item: GarlicCard
Price: $7.99
Overall Impression: A handy tool that grates the garlic, not your fingers.

For those who love strong, garlicky flavor, finely grating it is the way to go. Here's a tool that quickly and easily grates garlic (and ginger) without harming your fingers in the process. More

I have a beautiful wooden spoon, one of my favorite things in my kitchen. It was carved by hand and because of that, it was expensive. Totally worth it, in my view, but a once in a lifetime purchase for me. Every now and then I wish I could afford to give one as a gift but cost prohibits. So when I stumbled on an old article from Mother Earth News on how to carve your own wooden spoon, I was intrigued. More