I simply cannot stand how cute these things are. Egg Pants! That’s right, now your hard- or soft-boiled egg can wear PANTS! I want to boil some eggs, just so I can dress them in these cheerful three-legged trousers and trot them around my kitchen table. They were dreamed up by Liz Kinnmark and LIZKIN Design. One size fits all, as the material is surprisingly flexible. One more time: EGG PANTS!
Archive for Kitchen Gadgets
Kitchen Gadgets: Egg Pants
Kitchen Gadgets: Brown Sugar Saver
Tell me if this sounds familiar: You have a free afternoon in front of you. Maybe it’s cold and rainy outside, maybe not. In any case, you have decided to spend the afternoon in the kitchen, making a pie or some cookies from scratch. You think to yourself, “What a relaxing and productive way to spend the afternoon!”
All of the ingredients are ready to go. Until, that is, you reach for the box of brown sugar, and notice that the crystallized granules have hardened into a solid rectangular mass.
A gentle knock of the box against the counter doesn’t seem to help. One more time? Bang! Nope, nothing.
You reach for the rolling pin and hit it against the sugar brick a few times. When that fails, you pull out the mortar and pestle and try to grind some sugar off the block (yes, a mortar and pestle does come in handy sometimes). You start to wonder why the hell you ever wanted to cook anything today. Out comes the metal hammer. OK, now you know you’ve lost it. The sugar has won.
I have enacted this scene more often than I can count. (Should I be telling anyone this?) But now I am hoping to leave it behind with the help of the Brown Sugar Saver we bought at Sur La Table the last time we were in Pittsburgh. Made by JBK Pottery in Canada, these ceramic disks come in a variety of designs, such as hummingbirds and maple leaves. Ours is a cheerful sun. Supposedly the Brown Sugar Saver keeps all sorts of foods from drying out (dried fruits, cakes, marshmallows, popcorn kernels) and can even soften already-hardened sugar.
It’s hard to believe that a small ceramic tile will keep our brown sugar from hardening, but after reading some reviews, I am feeling hopeful. Last night we followed the instructions and soaked the disk in water for 15 minutes. Then we added it to our jar of brown sugar. The instructions state that the Brown Sugar Saver needs to be re-soaked after three months. By writing this post, at least I’ll remember how long it has been since we placed it in the sugar jar!
Does anyone else have experience with this simple kitchen product?
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