Tag: flexible cutting mats

Here are some holiday gift ideas from inexpensive stocking stuffers to luxuries for a special person's kitchen. A couple of years ago, we posted a piece about a few things we use everyday and are happy to have. That was so well received that we are adding to that collection of great gifts every holiday season. 

We still love, and put to daily use, our Breville Cafe Roma Espresso Maker and Capresso Burr Coffee Grinder. You can read about why we love them in this post –

Gift Ideas: 5 Little Kitchen Luxuries We're Glad We Bought

This year, we added a simplehuman Slim Canister (we use the small size) as a waste can for our coffee grounds. Unlike the open knock boxes, it looks neater and our kitchen doesn't smell like coffee grounds all day. 

Also, we love using this Tovolo Scoop & Spread Multi-purpose Spreader to clean the spent grounds out of the portafilter after we pull an espresso.

And, Penny still adores her little Kuhn Rikon 4th Burner Multi – Pot. Here are a few posts featuring that hard working kitchen favorite –

Loving This Odd Little Cooking Pot

My Silly, Little 4th Burner Multi – Pot Scores Again!

Another Trick from My Favorite, Little Cooking Pot

Ed continues to love our Sodastream even though he doesn't drink seltzer. He explains here –

How Sodastream Set Me Free!

Stocking Stuffers & Small Gifts 

Sometimes it's the little things that make life easier and that make you smile when you use them.

If you have a smooth cooktop, you want a way to scrape up cooked-on spills without damage. Our answer is a Fantastic Ice Scraper with Brass Blade. It was originally meant for windshields but works great on a smooth top stove. Notice that you can buy these by the dozen if you choose. That's because you may want to give one to every friend who has a car or a smooth top!

 

You'll see two of these Cuisipro Foam Pump Soap Dispensers side-by-side at our kitchen sink – one for hand soap, one for dish soap. We have another in the bathroom. They are the best we've found. The suction cup holds it in place and it leans out over the sink so you are not cleaning up soap drips on the counter.

   

We have two sets of flexible cutting mats that we use for many purposes. The thicker set is Tovolo Flexible Cutting Mats and the lightweight set is Norpro Cut-N-Slice Flexible Cutting Mats. We plan to do an upcoming post on all the ways we use these. But, we don't really cut on them at all. We use them to contain messes. We'll peel vegetables, sweep off counters, and put them under the porta-filter for our espresso machine as we fill it. And, we even use them as placemats to protect our furniture and the large cutting board that sits on our kitchen counter.

 

Another great item, Chobs 2-Inch Board Protectors are on that big wood cutting board. They make it non-slip and easy to dry while sitting on the counter.

Do you have favorite kitchen items we should add to this list?

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2011-2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino, SodaStream photo Used under   this creative commons license, Some rights reserved by kenworker

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