Serious Eats Gift Guide: Stocking Stuffers, $20 and Under
Yesterday we began our annual Serious Eats Crazy Good Gift Guide run up to the holidays with $10 and Under Stocking Stuffers. Today, the $20 and Under Stocking Stuffers edition.
Swissmar Peelers: For the herbivore in your life, this trio of veggie peelers can accomplish any task. The straight blade peels ordinary vegetables or scrapes them into a garden of ribbon confetti. The serrated peeler scalps tomatoes and mangoes without so much as a bruise. And the julienner makes spaghetti of zucchini for the perfect primavera. $15 for a set of three colorful peelers, from Amazon.com
Bacon Press: For that Waffle House-perfect, flat and crisp bacon, give the pork a press with this hog-shaped bacon weight. $10.95, from Amazon.com
Corn Zipper: Breathe a breath of summer into the stocking of your farmstand friend. As insinuated by the name, the corn zipper zips the kernels off the cob BEFORE you cook it. Rip off the husk, tear off the silk—and now, with all defenses down, corn no longer stands a chance. $12.95 for different versions, from Williams-Sonoma, Crate and Barrel, and Amazon.com.
Olive and Cherry Pitter: They say life is like a bowl of cherries; wouldn't life be better if it was a bowl of pitless cherries? Extract the stones from olives and cherries with class, using this tool instead of your teeth and a spittoon. $10, from Amazon.com.
Related
Stocking Stuffers, $10 and Under
Coming Wednesday: Stocking Stuffers, $30 and Under
Coming Thursday: Stocking Stuffers, $40 and Under
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6 Comments:
Those peelers are kind of cool.
A pitter would be nice if I was going to need to pit a lot of cherries for say pie filling or something. But for eating cherries, I rather like eating around the pit and spitting them out.
wunami at 3:34PM on 12/02/08
I've tried a couple corn zippers after I bought vast quantities of corn at the farmer's market, and I never found one that was better, easier and faster than a knife. Or less messy.
Bacon press? I like my bacon squiggly.
The cherry pitter, however...it's what I use for olives. The olives with pits always look fresher than the already-pitted ones in the olive bar. But if I'm cooking with them, sometimes I need to have the pits out. Cherry pitter works just fine.
As far as eating cherries or olives, I have no problem eating around the pits.
dbcurrie at 5:07PM on 12/02/08
I love my bacon press. I use it for lots of things besides bacon. It makes a nice sausage patty and when you heat it before use it cooks the top while the bottom cooks so it is faster. It also works for chicken or to make paninis.
love2cook at 6:59PM on 12/02/08
Warning! That WS pitter is trash. Very deeply flawed design. The piece that holds the fruit is poorly secured to the handle. With glue. FAIL.
sailordave at 9:10PM on 12/02/08
Aw. Cute bacon press!
BrooklynBrownie at 1:54AM on 12/03/08
Best stocking stuffer for cooks on your list (and I get no vig): Sugar Bear
http://www.sugarbearsinc.com/
This little terra cotta wonder keeps your brown sugar from getting hard. It really works. I have one in each of my brown sugars.
SailorDave may be right, my cherry/olive pitter is a diff design. That one in the photo looks dodgy.
Another addition: the Zyliss peeler. http://tinyurl.com/6bdqno
Better than Oxo, the little WS or Chinese ones, the fancy pants stainless one received years ago...
- Jacqueline
jacquelinec at 12:54PM on 12/03/08