Useful, beautiful, and tasty finds for the kitchen and table.
• $3.80
• Amazon.com
I needed gluten-free graham crackers for a recipe project I was working on a few months ago, and Shauna of Gluten-Free Girl recommended these. They're totally delicious - nutty and gritty the way a good graham cracker should be. They're a little heavier than regular graham crackers, but still a sweet and satisfying gluten-free substitute.
• $19.40
• Amazon.com
Popcorn is such a homey, simple snack - but a Whirley-Pop makes it even better. This old-school popcorn pot has a built-in whirley-wheel that stirs the popcorn and keeps it from burning on the stovetop. It makes super popcorn but, more important, it makes a simple snack a fun event.
• $38 to $69
• 2Modern
I'm kind of a sucker for anything shaped like a little house, and these stylized cutting boards from Ferm Living, inspired by the rooftops of Copenhagen, are so charming. The perfect cheeseboard.
• $199
• CB2
As I said last week, I'm always on the lookout for sharp modern lighting at a good price, and it occurred to me to point out this light, which I've had over my dining room table for the past four years. It's gorgeous - huge and sleek, with a soft warm glow. People often remark on it. It transformed our rental house dining room from dark to glowing and bright, with a sleek modern flair. And all for an extremely good price. A superb piece of lighting for an open kitchen or dining space.
• $8.50
• Tweek
Designer David Weeks makes some of my favorite lighting. He also designs smaller whimsical toys and items for the kitchen, like these sculptural animal chip clips, which come in white or red, and have a strong magnet backing so you can stick them to the side of the fridge.
• $13.99
• Sears
I bought just one of these plates a long time ago at a discount store like Marshall's or TJ Maxx. I use it frequently in photos at The Kitchn (like here), and I often get questions about it. It finally occurred to me to track it down. It's a lovely salad plate - very organic yet modern, with a soft gray glaze. It looks like the pricey plates one finds at Anthropologie and ABC Home, but at a fraction of the price.
• $61
• All Modern
I'm officially embarked on a quest for lighting. More specifically, good-looking, well-priced modern lighting that will help transform our fixer-upper without breaking our very modest budget. These pendants are one of the options I've considered. A simple, classic white kitchen pendant - and at a great point. Hard to go wrong.
• $1.99
• Whole Foods Market
While I like strained Greek yogurt's thick texture for use in recipes, I rarely eat it straight. All that straining sometimes makes it chalky and squeaky. But I recently tried Olympus' Greek yogurt (they sent me some samples to try). It was totally different - thick, yes, but extremely creamy, almost like ice cream. I'm on the lookout for it now - I'm hooked. I especially like this variety with a separate well of Greek honey for stirring into the yogurt. Delicious.
• $36
• Etsy
It's summer pie season, and I'm so smitten by these handmade stoneware pie plates from Edith at Art & Manufacture. Each piece is a little different, with a soft beauty that sets it apart from mass-produced pie plates.
8" diameter. Microwave, oven and dishwasher safe.
• $329
• Amazon.com
I'm on the hunt for a big, deep, hard-working sink for my new kitchen, and right now I have my eye on these Silgranit sinks from Blanco. Silgranit is a composite granite product (Elkay and a couple other brands also make sinks out of a similar material). These sinks are praised for their durability, scratch-proof nature, and easy cleanup.
• $312
• GSelect
The pitch on this scale was: "Scandinavian design meets Swiss precision." This is all too true, since this charmingly old-school scale is also a clock. You can turn it one way and see the time, and then turn it around and weigh your summer fruits and vegetables.
• 19.00€
• Finnish Design Shop
Bright fluorescent yarn colors and the punchy, vibrant design of these tea towels turned my head. Juicy and bright, just right for summertime. Cotton mix
• $7.30
• Amazon.com
Like the Prepara ice ball I featured last week, this tray from Tovolo makes HUGE square ice cubes. They are so big that they don't even fit in my smallest Duralex glasses. They are perfect for a glass of Scotch (if, of course, you believe in ice in your Scotch) and for summer cocktails, the ones where you don't want that cube of ice to melt for a long, long time.
• $34 for 8 ounces
• Sabatino Tartufi
I bought a little tub of this highly fragrant white truffle butter last month as a birthday present for my husband. White truffles are the most aromatic and powerful, and this butter delivers the goods. It was shockingly good in sweet corn risotto and smeared on vegetables. It's an amazingly delicious splurge, and 8 ounces is quite a lot of butter.
• $48
• Etsy
All of us here at The Kitchn love Skinny laMinx's line of bright, retro-inspired towels and kitchen linens. Here's her newest charming invention: A miniskirt-length apron that keeps you clean while still looking cute. Comes in three colorways of her Flower Fields print. Love the pockets in front!
• $26.95
• Williams-Sonoma
I've gushed about this olive oil before, and it is still such a favorite. If I could choose just one specialty oil, after my essential bottle of extra-good olive oil, this would be it. Just a tiny drizzle adds depth and smoke to grain and pasta salads and other summer foods. It's expensive, but a bottle lasts a long time.
• $9.05
• Amazon.com
Yesterday Megan mentioned one of my all-time favorite books in her discussion of picky eaters. Laurie Colwin's essays on food and cooking are short, funny, bracing, helpful, and never sentimental. She died far too young, and her essays deserve to be read widely by anyone who loves food, cooking, and good writing. Each chapter is a short essay (most originally published in Gourmet) on a single topic. My favorites include her meditations on potato salad, nursery food, feeding the multitudes, fussy eaters, and of course the classic: "Repulsive Dinners: A Memoir."
• $5
• Umbra On-line Store
Like lemon or lime in your water? Here's a handy style of juicer: It fits right in the neck of a bottle, so you can squeeze the citrus juice right in! Available in yellow (lemon, currently out of stock) and green (lime).
• $2.99
• IKEA
I was at IKEA over the weekend and picked up a little jar of this vegetarian caviar look-alike, intrigued by its little black pearls. It turned out to be unexpectedly delicious - a refreshing topping for toast or eggs. I've been eating it with yogurt and lemon zest on (what else?) rye crispbread.
• $9.99 for set of 4
• Prepara
A good cocktail often requires a good hunk of ice. I keep these ice balls in the freezer year-round, because they are an easy, inexpensive way to turn out perfectly round, solid ice balls for cocktails. These come 4 to a pack, and you fill up each ball with water then seal it with a silicone cap. To unmold, carefully open and release the ball of ice.
They are not the sturdiest things ever; you have to carefully run water over them in order to get the ice balls out without cracking the plastic hinges. But they are convenient and can be tucked into smaller unused corners of the freezer - unlike an ice tray which often seems to take up an entire rack.
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