Some believe that eggs are nature’s perfect food, although the Mayo Clinic recommends you limit your eggy intake due to their high cholesterol content. Hard boiling is one of the easiest ways to prepare this nutritious and delicious protein source, and it’s so easy that even kids can easily learn how to heat water in a pan and boil up a batch. But the makers of Eggies believe they have a better method. Ditch Mother Nature’s container and boil your egg in an Eggies plastic shell. There’s no more messy peeling, and you get flat-bottomed uniformly shaped hard-boiled eggs that stand up on their own. Too bad Eggies don’t come in colors, or they’d be perfect for Easter. Here’s where to buy.
Savvy Shopper here, back again to gaze in disbelief at the never-ending parade of countertop cookers. Never satisfied, Americans are constantly seduced by new grills and ovens that promise faster, more energy-efficient and healthier cooking than can be accomplished with pots and pans and conventional gas or electric ranges. Today’s candidate is the Sharper Image Super Wave Oven, which seems suspiciously similar to the Morningware Halo Oven. But we know that direct marketers would never copy their competitor’s product, right? Anyway, the Super Wave Oven claims to cook virtually anything 3X faster and with up to 80% less energy than other methods. Plus you get a “free” blender and knife set, just pay extra shipping. Let’s add up the S&H. $19.95 for the oven, $19.95 for the blender, and $14.95 for the knife set. That $54.85, just in shipping. When you add in the 3 payments of $39.95, the total price is $174.70. This may still be a great deal, especially since The Sharper Image claims it’s a $500 value. Learn more at the official Super Wave Oven website.
Why are Americans so fascinated with countertopelectricgrills? Makes you wonder if there are a lot of homes with non-functioning stoves. The Sharper Image folks go so far as to suggest you use their new Super Grill to prepare all your meals, breakfast through dinner. Maybe that’s not such a wacky idea, since the 1500 watt Super Grill can grill both sides of a steak at the same time, plus use the interchangeable plates to perform cool culinary tricks like making panini sandwiches and waffles. Read the full specs here.
Ba’Noodle promises to be a good test of Anthony “Sully” Sullivan’s pitchman skills. Everyone wants to keep bagged foods fresh after they’ve been opened, but would you consider buying these multicolored pipe-cleaner-meets-twist-tie strips to do the job? When I first heard the name Ba’Noodle, I swear I thought it was one of the infomercial parodies from Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job! That name is pure Cinco.
The Boardwalk Tater Tornado Maker is a hand-cranked countertop kitchen device that lets you make this tasty treat at home. You can even bake them for a healthier treat. Tater Tornado can also quickly transform other fruits and vegetables into tasty spiral snacks. This would have been a perfect product for the late Billy Mays to pitch, but instead it’s ably demonstrated by his PitchMen partner Anthony “Sully” Sullivan. “Tornado watch” the commercial spot below.
One thing’s for certain when it comes to As Seen on TV products: what’s old will someday be new again (or presented as such). Back in 1982, my then-girlfriend’s mother gave us her old microwave when she purchased a new one. One of the accessories she included with this generous gift was a round plastic microwave crisping tray with raised ribs and a channel around the perimeter to capture grease. It worked pretty well to cook bacon and reheat pizza. In fact, it was very similar to today’s “new” product, the Magic Crisp. That’s not a bad thing, because useful products are always welcome in the home, even if they’re not newly invented.
BTW, my girlfriend let me keep the hand-me-down nuker when she moved out after our relationship fizzled. It reheated pizza for several more years, until the morning your Savvy Shopper awoke to no clean underwear. I washed a pair in the sink, then wondered how I would get them dry so I could get on the road and not be late for work. You know where this is heading. My bright idea was to dry them in the microwave. This plan probably would have worked, had I stayed in the kitchen and monitored the progress closely. I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth when I heard the sounds of fail. I rushed to the kitchen to discover my tighty whities on fire and a lightning storm taking place inside the microwave. I pulled the plug, opened the door, grabbed the undies with tongs and flung them in the sink. The microwave was fried, but luckily I didn’t set my apartment building on fire.
Disaster averted, I dressed and left for work. I’d be going commando.
For my birthday last year, my husband bought me a very up-scale Japanese chef’s ceramic knife (I don’t know exactly how much he paid, but it’s the three-figure one). Now along comes the YoshiBlade ceramic knife at the more modest price of $19.99 (plus shipping and handling, as usual) – what to do, what to do? I’d love to try it on this summer’s tomatoes after seeing the demo – but it feels like culinary infidelity. I’m tempted; just like my expensive ceramic knife, the YoshiBlade is made of diamond-hard, stain-proof zirconium oxide, it’s rust- and stain-proof, easy to clean, and will not affect the taste or smell of food. It never needs sharpening, and it has a lifetime warranty. Damn, a professional-quality ceramic slicing knife at a fraction of the retail cost… well, as Oscar Wilde said, "The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it." I can resist everything but temptation. After all, you can never be too rich, too thin, or have too many knives.
If you’re a fan of Transformers, you’ll love the Big Boss Grill. This grill has interchangeable cooking plates that let you transform it into a grill, a griddle, waffle maker, panini smasher, omelet maker and uranium enrichment chamber. Just wanted to see if you were paying attention. The other uses are all true, but the Big Boss Grill does not have any nuclear capability. Still, it is one versatile countertop appliance.
Before there was Billy Mays, before there was Anthony Sullivan, before virtually all the pitchmen and women opertating today, there was Ron Popeil. The man behind classics like the Pocket Fisherman is still pitching at age 74. Here’s his latest product, the Ronco Chef & Go Cooker. It looks like an oversized Japanese rice cooker. Your Savvy Shopper owns a rice cooker, and the perfect rice it cooks every time means it is the most useful countertop appliance I’ve ever purchased. If I could own a multi-funciton cooker that also baked muffins, steamed veggies and cooked chili, I’d be in culinary heaven. And now I can has! Thanks, Ron!
Big Top Cupcake is a new product that requires little explanation. Here’s the sitch: It’s a pair of non-stick silicone pans in which you separately bake the top and bottom of humongous cupcakes bigger than your head. From toddlers to centenarians, everyone at the table is going to exhibit extreme gleefulness when a giant cupcake with sprinkles is served for dessert. Except for anorexics and dieters. Depending on choice of mix, filling and toppings, I’m guessing 8,000-12,000 calories in one Big Top Cupcake. And that’s why you never bake a Big Top Cupcake just for yourself, especially on a Saturday night when you’re home all alone feeling sorry for yourself because you’re not in a relationship and you’re sure you’ll remain all alone for eternity. Don’t bake it then.
