If you are looking for the pot for any and all seasons as well as any and all holiday meals, the Mario Batali 6 qt. Italian Essentials Pot is the way to go. This pot holds 6-quarts and has the strength to take on everything even if it is filled to the rim.

Measuring 13 x 13 x 7 inches this pot is made with a cast iron base and the inside and exterior are coated in a porcelain-enamel finish. The base of cast iron creates a great cooking environment, able to sustain low heat over long periods of time and heating evenly and consistently. The performance of this pot will far outdo that of aluminum and stainless steel.

One of the unique aspects of this pot is within the lid. The lid is adorned with self-basting spikes that will continue to add juices back into the meat or other items you are cooking inside.

On the stovetop this pot can cook anything from a major family pasta meal to that famous stew that you only cook for special occasions. Additionally, this pot is oven safe and can be used to cook anything from bread to roasts.

What We Like:

• The size of this pot is enough for everything you need, even if you have a large family to prepare a feast for.
• This pot can be used on any and all stovetops, which is a nice step over some that are not as versatile.
• It comes with a small cookbook to give you a few ideas on new things to create.

What We Don’t Like:

• You have to wash it by hand as it is not recommended that it be put in the dishwasher.
• The weight. With a cast iron core, this is a very heavy pot. If you have a tough time with heavy things you may want to look for another pot.

The Mario Batali Essentials Covered Pot comes in four lovely shades, the color of the pot pictured at the top of the page is called Chianti. It also comes in a number of lovely shades including Espresso and Penne. The colors that are available do vary from time to time.

Where Can I Buy the Mario Batali 6 quart Essentials Covered Pot?
Amazon.com

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Who doesn’t like having popsicles on hand in the freezer when the day is long and hot?

But if you are a parent or a little health conscious where your treats are concerned, you may not like the amount of sugar that are in the store bought freezer pops.  So now, you can use the Tovolo  Shooting Star Pop Molds
to make your own  shooting star popsicles out of more natural and sugar free ingredients.

This set measures 7 ½ x 8 x 5 inches and will create six popsicles in a shooting star shape. All you have to do is pour your favorite juice into the set, push the tops in, which have a built in stick, and in a few hours you have a set of healthy pops waiting for you.

The design of these pops is also something to be appreciated. First, you can remove the popsicles individually or six at a time. Additionally, the tops and sticks are attached as one piece with the top of the container doubling as a drip-guard when you remove the popsicle from the tray. If you like variety, you can even choose to make different flavors at the same time as each popsicle is self-contained.

What We Like:

• These are very easy to use and make.
• The shape is a fun one that the kids will like.
• The pops are pretty easy to remove from the container if you follow the instructions.
• You can remove just one pop at a time instead of having to pull them all out.
• These offer a healthy option for making frozen treats.
• It’s something the kids can get involved in making.

Other Things to Consider:

• The pops will not come out easily if you don’t follow the instructions and can be frustrating.
• The set is a little large and will need a good amount of space in your freezer.

Check out the reviews at Amazon.com to see what other health conscious moms have to say about the Tovolo shooting Star Pop Molds.

Do you always look for an excuse to go to your favorite deli and order a piping hot Panini. There is nothing like the bread and hot meat that is held together with melted cheese and just melts into your mouth in a wonderful explosion of flavor. With the DeLonghi CGH800 U Retro Panini Grill you can create that same sensation at home.

This Panini maker measures 14 inches x 12 ½ inches and is 5 inches tall. It can handle regular bread from your kitchen or artisan bread that you may select to create a culinary sandwich masterpiece. Just open the hinged top, put your ingredients inside, close the top and let the grill meld them all together. And with nonstick grilling surfaces you don’t have to worry about any nightmare cleaning jobs should some of the cheese or other ingredients fall onto the grilling surface.

Unlike many Panini grills that have no adjustability, this grill has an adjustable temperature setting so you can make sure to get just the right amount of heat to melt your sandwich and brown the bread without burning it.

This is also a healthier way to make sandwiches. Unlike a flat grill where any grease that comes out of the items in the sandwich will just keep soaking back into the bread, this Panini grill is at a slope so the juices will drain off of the grill and into a reservoir, keeping it away from your bread.

It also comes with a recipe book to give you a few ideas for how you can begin to create great tasting sandwiches.

What We Like:

• This is an easy to use Panini maker that takes little time to figure out.
• It is easy to clean up after you’re done cooking.
• It’s a sturdy kitchen appliance.
• It cooks the sandwiches very fast so you don’t wait too long to eat.

Sounds too good to miss! Then you can purchase the DeLonghi Panini Grill at the following online stores:
Cooking.com
Amazon.com

How would you like to be able to have the perfect pizza shop flavor in your own home?

Well, thanks to the All-Clad 3-pc. Stainless Gourmet Pizza Stone Set you can. This stone gives you the secret recipe to that perfectly crisp crust.

The key to cooking the perfect pizza is cooking it on a stone that radiates the heat intensely and evenly throughout the dough. That is exactly what this will do, as the stone slab will touch all parts of the pizza surface. In comparison to other pizza stones that are available, this one has been designed for portability. Instead of just being a stone, this stone has a metal edge with two handles to make it easy and convenient to get the pizza in and out of the oven and on to the table.

While you may think this will make it harder for the stone to thoroughly cook, but that is not the case. The frame to carry the stone literally hugs the edge of the stone, not the middle, so the stone is free to heat up and cook.

This also makes this piece available for double duty. When you are not cooking pizzas, it still makes an attractive stone tray for serving hors d’oeuvres.

Additionally, this pizza set comes with an ergonomically designed pizza cutter so you can be serving up pizza after pizza for the entire family without ever getting tired.

What We Like:

• Made from durable natural soapstone with a stainless steel rim.
• This set makes a wonderfully crisp crust on your pizza
• It can go right from the oven to the table as a cutting and serving surface.
• It comes as a set, which means you have the stone and a cutter and all you need is a pizza to get cooking.
• There are double handles on the platter to make it easier to carry.

Things to consider:

• It is quite a heavy stone. After all it is stone. If you are not a fan of heavy, you may want to avoid this.
• You have to wash this carefully. The stone does not like soap so it is recommended that you only use water on it.

Just What I Need to Make Crispy Crust Pizza’s – Where Can I Buy This All Clad Set?
Cooking.com
Amazon.com

Just take a look at the Bodum New Kenya 34-Ounce Coffee Press and tell me that this isn’t a stylish, modern looking press.

Bodum  are renownned for their coffee presses  and using a press is one of the simplest ways to make yourself a flavorsome cup of coffee.  Mind you at 34 ounces, the Kenya coffee press will make enough coffee for 3-4 people.

Making coffee is just so easy, all you need to do is pop in some coarse ground coffee and add approximately one 7 gram scoop to every 4 ozs of water.

Next, you simply fill the beaker  to about an inch from the top, with hot water making sure that the water is just off the boil.

Then mix the coffee grounds into the water by stirring  it with a plastic or wooden utensil making sure it mixes thoroughly.

Close the  safety lid and leave your coffee to brew for approx 4 mins, then press. Open the safety lid and serve.

The Kenya Coffee Press from Bodum has a durable, heat-resistant glass beaker which is partially surrounded by a modern looking black plastic frame which has round cut outs on the sides and covers the bottom so that you can safely use it directly on the table top without having to put down a trivet or coaster.

And because it has a 36 part stainless steel filter system built into the press you don’t require any additional filters, so ithe whole thing is easy to clean up with a minimum of fuss.  All you need to so is scoop out the grounds with a rubber spatula, and rinse the beaker and filter. The parts are all dishwasher safe.

The  coffee press has a stay cool handle  built right into the sturdy New Kenya frame.

The New Kenya is also available in 3, 4, and 6 cup sizes.

One thing that consumers did comment about was that this coffee press has a plastic nut to hold all the filter pieces together and they felt that a metal nut would have served better and be less likely to break.

Where Can I Read the Reviews & Buy Bodum’s New Kenya 34-Ounce Coffee Press?
Amazon.com

Making baguettes at home is not easy. You want to get the right shape and that nice crispy crust and that is where  having the right bread pan ensures that you end up with a pleasing result.

The Chicago Metallic Professional Nonstick Perforated Baguette Panwill give you such excellent results that you will wonder how you ever managed without it.

The pan has three troughs that make sure the dough keeps its shape and the pan has perforations that ensure that the bread is evenly browned.

Simply spray the pan with Pam just to ensure that the dough doesn’t stick or oozed through the holes as some customers have commented.

The  solid aluminum steel baguette pan measures 9-by-17-inch and has a nonstick Silverstone surface and a solid support bars that prevent the pan from warping.

What We Like

• You can store the pan neatly in the cupboard as it is inly 1-inch thick
• Bakes three baguette-shaped bread loaves
• The non-stick  surface has been developed to withstand the extreme environment of professional kitchens.
• Heavy-gauge aluminum steel with nonstick Silverstone surface
• Safe to use in dishwasher
• Comes with 25 years limited warranty

Virtually everyone who purchased the Chicago Metallic Professional Nonstick Perforated Baguette Pan is absolutely delighted with the way it turns out buns and baguettes.  You can read the reviews at Amazon.com

So if you want to make beautiful french bread to serve with lashings of butter and your favorite spread this is one pan you need.

Chicago Metallic are well known for their quality bakeware products, so you know you are going to get a product that will stand the test of time.

Where Can I Buy the Chicago Metallic Professional Nonstick Perforated Baguette Pan ?
Amazon.com

No matter what type of mixing job you need to get done in the kitchen, the Oxo Good Grips 3-Piece Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl Set will get the job done for you. This set of three bowls will make sure you have the size you need for whatever cooking project you are undertaking.

Included in this set are:

• 1 ½ Quart Mixing Bowl
• 3 Quart Mixing Bowl
• 5 Quart Mixing Bowl

Many mixing bowl sets top out at a 4-quart bowl, but this set gives you an extra quart capacity for those larger cooking projects or big family meals. Additionally, if you are trying to do two or more things at once in the kitchen, you will appreciate that you can do a one-handed stir job with these bowls. They have a rubber bottom that will keep them from skidding and hold the bowls in place, instead of sliding across the counter or spinning out of control if you let go of the side.

The construction of these bowls is to make life easier for the cook. They have completely rounded interiors that will make it easier for scraping and mixing. And after the mixing is complete these are a cinch to clean up, as they are dishwasher safe.

What We Like

• These are nice solid bowls that you are not going to worry about getting the job done.
• While they are heavy duty, they are not too heavy, so you won’t be weighed down while mixing and moving items around the kitchen.
• They stack inside one another so they will take less space when it comes time to put them away.
• Thanks to the rubber bottom on the bowls, they will not skid across the counter when you are stirring.
• They have an attractive finish and look good in the kitchen.
• The 5 quart bowl is larger than most mixing bowls and will help you through those meals.

You can buy this set of 3 OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls at Amazon.com

If you cook a lot, but are not a fan of a kitchen full of pots and pans, you may be on the lookout for one pan that will do everything you need. You’ve found it. The  Calphalon Tri-ply Copper Everyday Pan is prepared for all the cooking requests you can toss at it.

This 12 inch pan is 2 inches deep and has plenty of room inside to hold full casseroles as well as anything else you can think of to cook up.

On the construction front, the exterior is made of brushed copper with an inner core of aluminum and in interior of stainless steel. This is the best of all worlds. This means the pan will heat up quickly and evenly, allowing you to get cooking sooner and save time in meal prep. At the same time, the stainless steel interior will keep looking like new, as it will not stain or tarnish. To keep them looking this way, they should be hand washed and hand dried before you put them away, making sure to wipe away any spots.

This pan comes with a matching lid and is oven ready and can handle either baking or broiling.

What We Like

• This is a good size pan that will let you cook small to large portions.
• It heats evenly for better cooking results.
• It has a nice weight that lets you know it’s durable without being overwhelming.
• Double handles make it easier to carry when full.
• It has a very attractive brushed finish.

Other Things To Consider

• The handles can get very hot to the touch.
• These have to be hand washed and can spot if you don’t make sure to dry them thoroughly.
• The pan is easy to scratch, marring that beautiful image.

Where Can I Buy Calphalon Tri Ply Copper Everyday Pan?
Cooking.com
Amazon.com

Until June 30 2009 or while stocks last, Cooking.com have a DOUBLE BONUS OFFER promotion:

Purchase $299 or more on selected Calphalon cookware and receive a Bonus 7-pc. Utensil Set.
Purchase $399 or more on selected Calphalon cookware and receive the Utensil Set and a Bonus 6.5-qt. Soup Pot.

The offer Excludes Simply Calphalon Nonstick, Simply Calphalon Stainless and Simply Traditional cookware.
Limit one per order.