The great minds behind Modernist Cuisine are expanding into kitchenware for the first time ever. They've released a trademarked baking steel (not stone, mind you) they say will forever change the way you make pizzas.

Suki Bitters Bottle from Chubo Knives

• $26
• Chubo Knives

Need a gift for a cocktail aficionado who has everything? How about a bitters bottle? This tiny Japanese bottle is designed to hold bitters, like those homemade fennel bitters your cocktail-mad friend is brewing up on the weekends.

All week long we've been helping ourselves to the liquor cabinet. It's Cocktail Week, after all, and we'd be remiss if we didn't try out some of these 3-ingredient cocktails or one of these party-friendly pitcher drinks. (All in a day's work, friends! Thank goodness we have a hangover cure.) But now we're taking a step back to revisit the basics. Tell us: if you were building a home bar from scratch, which bottles would you choose?

I don't think I have been appreciating green olives nearly enough, either inside the martini glass or out. I'm talking about the pitted green olives from a jar, the kind that often come stuffed with a sliver of pimiento or garlic. Nothing fancy. Making those Cheddar Olives this week reminded me just how much I love these salty little things with their meaty texture and slight tanginess. Have you made anything with green olives recently?

Last week I was in San Francisco and received a tip from a new friend that the grits with a poached egg at Cowgirl Creamery in the Ferry Building were a must-have. Realizing I'd just finished working on a whole grain cookbook, she grabbed my arm and asked: How are grits any different than polenta? 

I made one of my favorite springtime cheese dishes on Sunday evening: cheese soufflé-stuffed artichokes. And in the process, I found my new favorite cheese. If you like Gruyere or Comte or Appenzeller or Emmenthaler, you'll love Scharfe Maxx. It's a mountain cheese, to the maxx.

I remember the first time I saw these Simon Pearce pitchers. My heart skipped a beat. Is that ridiculous? Probably. But my mind immediately went to the homemade lemonade my children would love, the cold martinis my friends would sip, and the gorgeous sangria that would be the centerpiece of my next porch party. Some people see glass pitchers; I see parties. These pitchers would change my life.

A good knife is any cook's most important tool. We've shared our favorites, but it's always cool to see what the pros use. Six rockstar chefs recently shared their top knife picks with Details magazine, and interestingly enough, they all had one thing in common:

Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao Ancienne Methode

• $26.99

Orange curaçao is often considered a low-end liqueur, overly sweet and sometimes garishly colored. This bottle, however, is a curaçao that got the artisanal, historical treatment. It was developed to an old recipe by Alexandre Gabriel and cocktail historian David Wondrich. As the official description says, it is complex and bittersweet, tasting of bitter orange peel and adding something a little wonderful to any cocktail so lucky to have it.

It's Cocktail Week at The Kitchn, and we are reaching back into the archives now to bring up some great intelligence from our readers. Last year during Cocktail Week we polled our readers on their favorite brands of gin, rum, whiskey, vodka, and other spirits. Here's a look back at the results and some of the most frequently-mentioned brands. More

OXO Good Grips Cocktail Shaker

• $29.99
• OXO

I've had several cocktail shakers pass through my kitchen, but I finally found the one I'm holding onto. OXO sent me this shaker last year to try out, and it's been barely put away since. Why? It's truly leakproof (unlike one of my previous shakers), and double-walled, so you can shake until your cocktail is well and truly chilled - without freezing your hand off. (So this is the right shaker for making that Ramos Gin Fizz you've been meaning to try.) When the cocktail is shaken, press the button on top and pour; unless the button is pressed it's airtight. The shaker is generously sized; I make double and even triple batches in it when serving a group. It has a removable gasket that's dishwasher-friendly, too. Great performance; easy cleanup. It's doesn't have the cred of the old-fashioned Boston shaker, but for this cook with small hands and a tendency to spill things, this gets the job done better than anything else.

Do you have a favorite bargain spirit? Something with a lower than average price tag that delivers great value every time?

We recently posed this question to 7 cocktails and spirits professionals — writers and bloggers, a spirits sommelier, and a store buyer — and found their responses fascinating. Here are 7 of their top picks: More

For serious mixologists and cocktail kings and queens, Cocktail Kingdom is the dream. From high end Japanese barware to exotic and unusual bitters, this New York store (which also has an online shop) offers an impressive selection of beautiful, functional, and high-quality bartending tools and supplies. The store also carries its own line of tools and ingredients, designed by founders Don Lee and Greg Boehm: