I am a lover of things that are useful. I do also love the decorative and if they are both all the better for me. For years my husband balked at buying cooking things for me because it just wasn’t right. Now I give specifics, and he sometimes follows through because it’s what I want.  I have been trying out a bunch of stuff and I’m here to review and recommend. I’ll probably have other recommendations, but since you’re list checking now we want you to know what we think. These are the best of the best.  I still have a few more things to put out, including a book round up with some great choices, and some quality products to use when making gifts.  Those reviews are on the way.  I like to thoroughly try out my products before I give a review, I want Cookerati to be the place you can trust. 

 Cooking Tools:

Calphalon  ReNew –  Fantastic idea.  You buy the new pots, and send them back the old to recycle for you.  I’m sending back the pots my son stuck inside each other that will no longer separate, which is the reason I needed new pots and pans.  I never tried Calphalon before, but I wasn’t thrilled with my previous non stick pans because they scratched off so easily. I now have the Calphalon Unison Nonstick 10-Piece Cookware Set  and this is my number one recommendation. Nobody should deal with macaroni and cheese stuck to the bottom of the pot.  If you have teenagers, you have stuck macaroni, let me tell you, but not with my new Calphalon.  The rivets are a love/hate thing.  They’re nice and big – which means the handles won’t come off like they did on the cheapo pan my husband bought last year, but on the downside you’ll have to be careful to clean them well.  It’s not really that bad, I like that the handles won’t unscrew. Another great point, you can start your eggs or food on the stove and pop them into the oven – up to 500 degrees. I’ve done that with my eggs and roasts – better than using two pots or doing all on the stovetop. They’re heavy enough that they don’t wobble on my glass top stove, like some of my older pots.  Cleaning is easy with a washrag. Some of the pans are made for searing, and others for the food (like eggs) to just slide off.  I love , love, love this set. You can find it online or instore.  My grade A+++ And give it another plus or two for recycling the old pots! In addition, approximately 35 percent of Calphalon cookware is made from recycled aluminum, another wow.

WMF Trend Ceramill Empty Grinding Mill – I bought this at the North Market. Kay Davenport , the proprietor of North Market Cookware helped me pick it out. She pointed out that ceramic does better over heat and steam. This pepper grinder is so much better than those prefilled pepper grinders you find in the spice section of the grocery store. A couple of turns and you have a nice fine pepper sprinkling over your food instead of big pieces that take over your food. I really like this grinder. My Grade A.

 

Microplane Classic Series Zester/Grater–Soft Handle – Kay also pointed this out to me. We were talking about whole nutmeg which she didn’t have, but I also needed a way to grate the nutmeg. This is a terrific item. I’ve been asking for a zester in my Christmas Stocking for years now and no one in my family could figure out what I needed. I’ve used this to grate cheese, and to zest lemons and oranges. It was so fantastic; I was gushing about it and my family thought I was nuts again. Last night, I let them use the microplane to grate parmesan over their spaghetti and they were dually impressed. Kay – if you’re listening, I’m sending my husband back for an herb grinder. Please help him, he knows nothing. My Grade A.

 

 

Crypton Dog Doodle Apron – I always thought I wanted a pretty apron (these are cool don’t get me wrong – The Crypton Doodle Dog Apron features the artist William Wegman’s signature dog doodle) something frilly and womanly.  I received one of these to try out and I’ve changed my mind.  Give me something that I can wash my pots and pans in and never get wet.  I can move my roasting pan, and if it sloshes, I’m still okay.  This is a good work apron, that looks good too.  My husband has said he’s going to use it doing the dishes too, because he’s tired of sitting around in wet clothes afterwards.  It’s a hard worker, that repels stains and water, so it still looks good afterwards.  Just wipe it off and let it dry. 

The apron is made of eco-friendly Crypton fabric, which is not only odor and bacteria resistant, but also includes a built in moisture barrier that prevents grease and liquids from penetrating the fabric and staining clothes.

My Grade A  – I love it.

Teas:

1st Flush 2009 Organic Fair Trade Certified™ Green & White Tea – This is a great gift set, especially if you have a friend who appreciates fair trade and organic. 

This Taste of Origin comes from one of the oldest tea-producing gardens in the world. Located in the birthplace of tea-China’s Yunnan province-Mannong Manmai is an ancient tea garden where wild tea trees occur naturally, grown from 1,500-year-old seed stock.

Two Rishi Teas come with this set: Ancient Emerald Lily, Organic Fair Trade Green Tea & Ancient Moonlight White (2009), Organic Fair Trade White Tea – and not only are they delicious but beautiful to look at also. You put a tablespoon of tea leaves into the glass pot, and fill with hot (not boiling) water.  Let the tea steep for 4 minutes.

The glass teapot is fun to fill, but when you pour the tea into your cup, the tea leaves stay behind (something I was concerned about).  I also love that it all comes stored in a really nice bamboo basket with lid.   If you order this, order extra tea because it doesn’t come with a lot of tea.  There is enough for a few cups of each, but that’s it.  My Grade is an A. Available at www.rishi.com, Williams-Sonoma and Whole Foods

Zhena’s Gypsy Tea – If you like flavored Tea, this is a great place to get find the perfect fair-trade organic tea to suit your friends individual taste. These teas are infused with different flavors, so they’re not overpowering, but more of a light taste. My favorites – Chocolate Chai, Caramel Apple and Pumpkin Pie Spice.  Actually all of the chais were pretty good.  The tea bags look like round pillows, and come in a really nice tin. I hope the website comes back up so you can get a good look around. In the mean time, here’s a nice page showing all of the teas. Zhena’s Gypsy Tea.

My Grade A-. It just needs a touch more intensity, but otherwise, is really tasty.

Chocolate:

Scharffen Berger is my number one pick for chocolate taste. Scharffen Bergen is Artisan chocolate, used in a lot of baking, but I’m talking about gifts, so if you are buying a chocolate bar, or buying a gift of chocolate, Scharffen Berger has some great tasting stuff. I loved the milk chocolate. Don’t buy the cheap stuff in the grocery store. Get this, it’s worth it and would be a great stocking stuffer.

 

 

 

Theo Chocolates – Theo is the only bean to bar chocolate factory in the United States.  Cool, eh? Theo is an Artisan Chocolate also and fair trade.  Theo has such great combinations of flavor.  My daughter loved the Almond Cherry Chocolate bar and took it back to college.  Hazelnut crunch was my favorite.  Who thought of putting sea salt in chocolate?  I salty sweet chocolatey bite – fantastic. I’m not sure I tasted the bread in the Bread and Chocolate Dark Chocolate, but I got a little butter flavor. The only one we couldn’t finish was the Chile Dark Chocolate.  We would take a bite, and after a minute you got the heat, a lot of heat.  Maybe it would be great for a Mole – or my niece that makes the cayenne chocolate cake. 

My grade for both chocolates A. 

 

 

Disclosure – Some of the products were provided to me for review – while I bought a couple myself.  I gave all items on the page an A (of some sort) because they were all great products worth a great grade.  This was my honest opinion, I liked them all.