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| Foto Feature |
Don Ho Book Signing plus GH Survey Winners |
| Adventures of a Middle-Aged Editor |
| Is music really the food of love? |
| Bon Appetit… |
| GH Food Correspondent Lauren Conching
leads you into Temptation… and out of it. |
| Have No Fear, Super Luau Is Here! |
| Poi Suppers are the latest food trend in Hawaii. Find out why, when, who… and how. |
| Alan Wong: The Pied Piper of Freshness |
| Lynn Cook profiles Hawaii’s top chef. Don’t miss Alan’s Fish Fry cooking tip! |
| The Search for Hawaii’s Outstanding Older Worker |
| Read about last year’s winner, Dr. Robert Spicer, Honolulu’s amazing 90-year old psychotherapist. |
DEPARTMENT:
Kitchen gadgetry 2007
By Dianne Glei
Generations Hawaii Editor
Silicone has a new use — this time in the kitchen. It’s used for spatulas that can take up to 800 degrees of heat without melting. It’s used for colorful colanders that collapse and take up less storage space.
The spatulas are lightweight, easy to hold and lift and won’t scratch nonstick pans. Plus, they come in a variety of colors. Le Creuset of cookware fame makes these and they range in price from $11.95 to $14.95 for the Super Size ones.
Color – that’s another new kitchen gadget trend. It started with the mixers and toasters, color coordinated to match the kitchen. Now, it’s spatulas and other kitchen ware that are offered in an array of bright colors.
I guess if your kitchen has stainless steel, black or all white appliances, these new utensils add that splash of color.
Speaking of stainless steel…We all know living in Hawaii that stainless steel is the answer to anything metal except for knives. Stainless steel doesn’t hold its sharpness, so it has to be combined with carbon steel and that rusts. So, one answer is the new ceramic vegetable peeler.
Ceramic holds its sharpness and doesn’t rust – the best of both worlds. Of course, this doesn’t come cheap at $14.95, but if it doesn’t rust, there’s no replacement cost.
Wandering the aisles of Executive Chef in Ward Center and City Mill on Nimitz Highway, I found a variety of new kitchen gadgets that any Baby Boomer would appreciate in the kitchen.
Besides the collapsible colanders which carry a $35.95 price tag at Executive Chef, there also are collapsible storage containers in three sizes from Rubbermaid at City Mill. Both of these would be useful to people with limited storage in the kitchen.
City Mill carries the Simple Human line which includes functional and stylish stainless steel items for the kitchen ranging from sleek trash cans and plastic bag storage bins ($16.99) to sturdy paper towel holders ($21.99).
Executive Chef which just celebrated its 25th year also carries the Good Grips kitchen creations. These were among the first to deal with the fact that older people get arthritic fingers and hands that make using regular utensils painful. These have comfortable, easy-to-grip handles and are lightweight. They range from baking and cooking utensils to jar openers and can openers. Prices range from less than $10 to more than $25.
Here are my choices for other innovative and/or necessary kitchen gadgets:
If you like to make guacamole at home, there are two things that will make the job easier – an avocado masher $9.95 (similar to the metal potato variety only smaller) and a slicer-pitter ($19.95).
Speaking of potato mashers, the new versions are not the ones found in your grandmother’s or even mother’s kitchens. The new ones come in a variety of looks and styles ranging from Mr. Potato at $6.95 to a Good Grips version at $20.95, all at Executive Chef.
Hate trying to get rid of those tiny seeds in melons? There’s help in a colorful melon seeder-slicer ($15.95).
Tired of basting brushes that get hard and are difficult to clean? The new Sili Gourmet brushes solve that problem. They’re made of silicone with beads on the end so washing is a snap. There are three sizes – small, $16.95; medium, $18.95 and barbecue, $23.95. These should last for years, and they’re dishwasher safe.
EvriMeasure is a plastic container that moves to measure liquids or granules in tablespoons, cups, milliliters or ounces, $5.99. There’s also the EvriHolder which is an opener with four uses from bottle tops and jar lids to pop tops and pull tabs, $3.99 – both at City Mill.
And, for a little bit of whimsy: there are the Orka silicone egg cooker, $37.50, and a fruit/vegetable hammock, $35.95.
The egg cooker features four removable, snap-in silicone egg cups attached to a heat-resistant nylon stand that fits any saucepan. The silicone timer is digital and sits atop the stand or attaches to compatible metal surfaces magnetically. When the eggs are done, simply lift out the entire stand and run under cold water.