These colorful tapas bowls are really making me want to throw a tapas party, or at least put together a few small appetizer servings. I love the design and the clear glaze. How great would they look spread out on a table?

Turmeric and Mace Yogurt from Snowville Creamery

• Varies

This product is super local to those of you in the Ohio distribution zones for Snowville Creamery, a wonderful dairy in Southern Ohio (see my tour of Snowville here). They just began producing yogurt as well, to my delight. They do a terrific plain yogurt, but their 6% butterfat flavored yogurts, in smaller sizes, are kind of blowing my mind. Their flavors are so fresh: Lemon-Ginger is a favorite, and next I'm going to try Coffee-Cardamom. But their Turmeric-Mace flavor was the latest, and most interesting. I was skeptical but so intrigued when I bought this. The yogurt has a shocking neon yellow color from the turmeric, and a subtle, perfectly balanced note of spice from the mace. It's just sweet enough, and the spices complement the tangy yogurt far better than I could have believed. Amazing stuff. I practically licked the carton clean.

Whether I'm serving hummus, baba ghanoush, or even onion dip, I often top it with a sprinkle of red sumac. It makes a plain dip prettier and has guests asking, "What is this?" (in a good way, of course!). 

The price of silver keeps rising. What's a southern girl to do if her pattern will never be completed? Go to eBay, of course. Sterling looks better with age, like you've had it for a while and you know how to use it. But the prices on eBay aren't really any better than anywhere else... unless you aren't afraid of monograms.

I love washed linen napkins. They are incredibly soft and absorbent and their rumpled look suits my casual style. They can be ironed if you want a crisper look, but they are truly beautiful if you just smooth and fold them when they come out of the dryer (or off the line). Their only downside is the price, which can run as high as $30 each. But if you're like me and also appreciate frayed edges, then you can have six linen napkins for half that price, with no sewing involved. Read on for how to make this happen.

Q: I'm going to college soon and looking to buy my own knives. Should I buy a knife block with knives or buy the knives separately from the block? I'm looking to spend around $100 total. The three knives I use the most are a paring knife, a chef's knife, and a bread knife.

Sent by Heejung

Oversized Artwork from ixxi

• $58 to $175
• Ixxi

ixxi is a Dutch company that lets you make huge yet affordable pieces of art. I love having art in the kitchen, and I hung a big print of Vermeer's The Little Street in my space. Huge pieces of art are often prohibitively expensive, but ixxi has this ingenious method of printing on small square tiles, that you then snap together with "i" and "x" plastic connectors (hence their name, ixxi - get it?). I was turned on to this company by Janel, who stumbled on them in the Amsterdam airport. I love having a way to do huge prints for a very reasonable amount of money. You can order from their image bank, like I did, or upload your own photographs for the ixxi treatment.

Q: We go through a fair amount of cheese at our house, and recently we started freezing the rinds. I know that we can simmer these in tomato sauce to give a nice flavor, and we've done that, but the problem is we go through WAY more cheese than we make homemade tomato sauce. 

Utility Stool from Schoolhouse Electric

• $130 to $180
• Schoolhouse Electric

You can't beat welded old-fashioned stools like these. Rubber feet protect the floors and keep them from skidding, and their square, classic shape is always in style. Really love the colors on these too! They come in 18-inch and 30-inch heights, and in persimmon, a military green, blue-gray, and white.

Q: I would like to buy a pair of solid fruit and vegetable reference books. I am debating between Chez Panisse Fruits and Vegetables and Nigel Slater's Tender and Ripe. Do you have any suggestions or thoughts on how they compare? Are they unique enough that it's worth owning all four books?

Silicups from Williams-Sonoma

• $24.95
• Williams-Sonoma

I've been making egg bakes in muffin cups for breakfast, and I've learned the hard way that they do best in silicone pans or in cups like these. I like these cups a lot, as they are versatile and can be used for many things. And of course they are reusable, which means less paper in the trash.

Item: Espro Press
Price: $79.95 from Amazon
Overall Impression: An elegant way to make an excellent cup of coffee.

An Aeropress has long been the preferred coffee maker in our household, but it's not the best choice for brewing multiple servings. Many a dinner party has ended with one of us stuck in the kitchen, pressing cup after cup for each guest. So we like the idea of having a large Espro press, which is sort of a new-and-improved French press. Not only does it make an excellent cup (or cups!) of coffee, but it looks quite elegant on the table. 

Hario Coffee Hand Grinder Skerton

• $39.99
• Amazon.com

This little hand grinder is a very effective way to get your French press coffee ground in the morning - wherever you are. It travels really well, so if you're a coffee addict and want to tote your coffee gear with you, this is a great grinder. It's good for the home, too, especially if you're OK with a little bit of a workout in the morning.

If the only time you think of pulling that jar of balsamic out of the cupboard is when it's time to make a salad, you're missing out. This sweet and tangy vinegar is one of my favorite secret ingredients, and I've found all sorts of ways that its presence will perk up my everyday cooking.

Hemp seeds. Yes, they're legal and, no, you won't get high. More importantly, these little nutritional powerhouses are rich, nutty, and delicious.