Williams-Sonoma

I'm not about to deny Williams-Sonoma their right to sell what's essentially an empty jar for $29.95. But there is something, I don't know, slightly disingenuous about calling it a "Butter-Making Kit", even if they include a pair of cute "hand-carved teak butter paddles", two porcelain butter crocks, herbs, fancy salt and instructions, the contents of which I imagine shouldn't be a mystery to anyone who's ever been to kindergarten.
More »

Edwin Goei

​You don't know how hard it is for me to keep a straight face as I write this because, c'mon, I'm sure you're also chortling at the very idea of buying your loved ones (or even your not-so-loved-ones) gifts from the 99-Cent-Only Store.

I could justify such a list as you're about to read with the usual spiel about the economy, yadda, yadda, but I won't. Here's a more compelling argument: Most of the products that I feature here are actually being sold elsewhere for significantly more than 99 cents.

Are you still laughing?

More »

​
More »

Flickr user stop_that

​The Anaheim outpost of OC Weekly's test kitchen is a tiny place, an apartment-style galley in which it's hard to fit even two people. To say that storage is at a premium is quite an understatement; tools are only permitted if there is no other way to accomplish a task.

Originally, the title of this article was going to be "Five Useless Kitchen Tools," but that's not quite accurate. The tools below have their uses; they aren't necessary to a fully functional kitchen, however, and if you're scrimping for space, you can easily do without them.

More »

Flickr user coffeegeek

​A friend of mine, browsing the ThinkGeek catalog earlier this week, came across the Mypressi Handheld Espresso Machine.

More »

So you're at a lovely summer barbecue and you spy a plate of scrumptious chips and hot dip. Not wanting to be that person--the one who dives into the untouched sections of chips when there are a few left in the section that's already been started--you reach in to get the last couple of chips, your fingertips brush the plate, and...

amazon.com

​
More »