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When I saw the Fred Twist and Spout Kitchen Pour Spout, I thought, “what a cool idea.” It attaches to any twist open bottle turning a throwaway bottle into a pitcher or watering can. Great idea, but at the price, why not just buy a pitcher or watering can. It’s not as if all the stuff you pour out of a bottle needs a holder with each new bottle. In the end, it’s just one more gadget in the drawer. Thought I had to have it, but cooler minds prevailed. Thank you Super Ego!
We really like pop molds. They are great way to give the kids an ice cream-like snack, while letting us modulate the sugar intake. And, we make our home-made popsicles out of regular juices and yogurts, so it’s cheaper and greener since there is no extra packaging, say nothing to preservative my kids definitely don’t need.
Previously, we’ve said we like SiliconeZone Popsicle Mold. It makes popsicles in a cool castle-like shape. But, here’s another idea I like even more: Cuisipro Sailboat Pop Mold . Not only does it create a cute-looking popsicle that looks like a sailboat with its keel as a popsicle stick, but the deck of the “boat” also collects the inevitable drips. Only drawback is that these are plastic where we now prefer silicone.
Another simple product for catching ice cream and popsicle drips is the Dripstick for only $3.99.
At our house, we don’t drink a lot of Coke or Sprite. The kids know that they can really only get these as an ingredient in a Shirley Temple (or Roy Rogers for my boy) when we’re out for a fancy dinner. The only carbonated drinks they get at home are Root Beer on random pizza nights and Pellegrino poured into their juice when we’re having people over for dinner.
An unintentional benefit of keeping all these sugary drinks out of the house is fewer glass bottles to lug up the double staircase of our San Francisco Victorian. And, we have that many fewer bottles to toss in the trash or send to recyclying.
The other night though, we saw a no-guilt and no heavy lifting solution to how to have carbonated water, flavored if desired, easily at home. You may have read an article in the New York Times on carbonated beverages at home that covers the options out there. Some of these machines cost up to $2600. I can’t say the Club Soda version is the hottest design, and maybe even it’s bubbles aren’t as “delicate” as others (could that even be true?), but it worked well enough for our kids and made a pretty good Pelligrino/Perrier stand-in. It’s only $79.99 at SodaClubUSA.com, which should pay for itself in a fairly short amount of time, and also cut down massively on throw-away bottles since it comes with two reusable bottles.
Enrico Cheese Grater – This is a Great gift for the cook who is also green-conscious. This beautiful tool is hand crafted using incredibly hard, renewable Moso bamboo, the hardest bamboo species available. $47.95.
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