Tag: multi-use

  • Opinel Knives Are Perfect for Picnic & Vacation Season

    We love our Opinel Knives! If you have one (or more like us), it's time to take it out and take it with you. 

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    Here is our oldest Opinel, a traditional #8 with a carbon steel blade. Yes, we have to make sure it's clean and dry when we put it away but it has provided a sharp edge for years and years with just routine home maintenance.

    If carbon steel is not right for you, they now make these knives in stainless steel. You'll also find some specialty blades made for gardeners, fishermen, mushroom foragers, and wine lovers! 

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    Because Opinel knives are inexpensive (considering how well they work), we keep a few of them packed and ready to go (in the travel kit shown above) for cooking in other people's kitchens. There's one in our roof deck dining bag so we always have a knife to share a bit of cheese with friends. Back in the days when we had cars, we had one of these in each vehicle. 

    They make great gifts for anyone who loves to enjoy an impromptu bit of food and fun.

    What's on your Food Lover's shopping list?

        

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    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: ©2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

  • A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

    Here are a few of our favorite gifts for the wine lovers in your life. Of course, you could start your shopping list with wine.

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    We have a bit of advice for anyone buying wine as gifts. As a general rule, don’t buy any wine you see in an ad on television. We have an earlier post about this that includes a great suggestion for the holiday season. Buy a great value wine by the case for gift giving, entertaining, and for your own enjoyment.

    On a recent visit to Bauer Wine & Spirits, we noticed additional half bottle offerings in the sparkling wine section. As those who follow along with our resolution to start each month with a glass of bubbles know, we love sparkling wine and enjoy trying many types. Having a few half bottles means you are always ready to celebrate major or minor victories! And, these little bottle make wonderful gifts.

    Our Favorite Wine Chiller

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    We told you about this in September in our post, “This Wine Chiller Works for Both Champagne & Skinny Bottles.”  We highly recommend it. It’s called a Rapid Ice Champagne Cooler and has become a popular item on our Amazon buyers list. Someone recently bought eight of these, perhaps for holiday giving. We have two of them!

    Quirky Wine Opener with Hidden Assets

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    Here’s our Quirky 4-in-1 Wine Opener. The 4-in-1 in the Amazon description is because this opener has hidden assets.

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    The two silver colored items on the top of the handle come out, and you have a pourer and a plastic cork for your wine bottle. Opener, cork, pourer, and number 4 is a couple of tiny circular blades in the base that cut the foil on the bottle. Cut, open, pour, and seal all in one sturdy, easy to work cork remover. We may add a second one to our travel kitchen bag. 

    The Food Lover’s Guide to Wine

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    It’s been quite a while since we reviewed this book. It has stood the test of time and we still love The Food Lover’s Guide to Wine and pull it off the shelf for help in matching food and wine quite often. It’s a staple for our food writing research. 

    Cilio Campagne Sealer

    The other day a friend said she doesn’t drink as much sparkling wine because you have to finish the bottle or lose the bubbles. And, most wine bottle stoppers don’t work all that well for sparkling wine. 

    We use the Cilio Champagne Sealer to cap the bottle and save the rest for another day. While you can stick the cork back into a bottle of still wine, these folks make one for that size as well. 

    Friends often ask us for gift suggestions and we keep meaning to turn some of these ideas into posts. We’ll try to fit in a few more in the days ahead. If you have a question about something we’ve featured or just want to ask about our favorite books, kitchen items, photography equipment, or dog gift ideas, you can write a comment below or add @BostonZest to your question on Twitter. 

    Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

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    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino