Kitchen Tools.

Here are some things I really love recently. One I bought for myself, and the other was a Christmas present.

This is the Kitchen Spritzer from Pampered Chef.

You just pump the top to build up pressure, then spray. It's endlessly refillable, and I can always tell how much is left. And I never have to go to the store to buy Pam or figure out how you properly dispose of aerosol cans. I have one for olive oil and one for canola/vegetable oil.

Most recent cooking success: I've made oven fries several times lately, and I just spray the baking sheet, slice up the potatoes, place the slices on the sheet, and then spray the slices and add seasoning. Yum!

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This is my new pan. I've been using a great set of Calphalon hard-anodized pots and pans that we received as a wedding gift, and they've been wonderful. However, recently the nonstick surface of the saucepan I use most often has started to come off, and I thought it would be a nice opportunity to try stainless steel.

Hence... this pan. This is the 3-quart version.

It's not a super-de-duper expensive pan (at least I don't think it is), but it works wonderfully so far. Yes, things cook differently than they do in a nonstick pan, but I don't have to worry about scratching the finish when I wash it. I also don't have to worry about someone dropping metal utensils in it. And it has a cool little grommet in the lid that seems to allow enough steam to escape that it hasn't boiled over on me yet.