Treehugger.com issued some timely advice on storing those spring and summer vegetables. Harvesting tips from Ecology Center, the secondary benefit from following the tips is a reduction in plastic bags and containers often used for storage.
Readers may be surprised by some of the suggestions, which include washing berries and cherries only when ready to eat (to prevent mold growth), storing basil in an airtight container and putting carrots in a closed container with plenty of water.
Although Cauliflower will last for a while, did you know it's best eaten immediately to get the best taste out of it?
Check out the whole post, which includes some cool hanging sand storage boxes for carrots and asparagus that would look cool in any kitchen.
What are some tricks you use when storing vegetables?
GE recently announced the recall of their Monogram Pro Rangetop with Grill due to an explosion hazard. The burners on the rangetop operating on liquified petroleum can fail to ignite or light if the gas control knob is left in a position between OFF and LITE, which can pose a risk of delayed ignition or explosion.
There have been six reports involving explosions in units that are operating on LP gas. Fortunately no fires or injuries have yet been reported.
Consumers who own one of the recalled units should stop using it immediately, turn off gas supply to the unit and contact GE to schedule a free repair.
Go to the CPSC recall site for more information on Model and Serial Numbers.
Our good friends over at the Eco News Network are going to be reporting while in Toronto at Greenbuild 2011, the yearly gathering of green-minded manufacturers, builders and consumers.
To prep for Greenbuild, Eco News has been pointing their blog spotlight on some of the exhibitors they'll be visiting at the show. In this post they feature Curava, a countertop option that is made from 70 percent recycled glass. The surface contains glass, cement, sustainable seashells and pottery fragments from kiln waste.
The manufacturing process of Curava saves 180 tons of waste a year from going to landfill and results in a pretty vibrant product, if you ask me. I'm in the market for a new countertop, and this one just made my list of top options.
As a New Englander I'm not exactly living in a seismic hotspot. Sure, we felt a slight tremor from a distant earthquake earlier in the summer, but I feel heavier vibrations when the garbage truck rumbles by.
Californians, on the other hand, live each day with the possibility of The Big One hitting without warning. And so it is no surprise that it was a Californian who came up with the Seismolatch, a device designed to keep cabinets closed during -- and only during -- an earthquake, preventing dishwater from cascading onto unprotected heads.
Unlike other cabinet safety latches -- which must be engaged and disengaged with every entry into the cabinet -- the Seismolatch only engages in the event of an earthquake. Otherwise it stays out of the way and keeps access to the kitchen cabinets as easy as it should be.
I have no personal use for the Seismolatch…for now. Who knows, though? I did read a piece about a strange fault line on the East Coast that runs from New York to Alabama and has many geologists scratching their heads. Could be some Seismolatches are in my future after all.
It's nice to see some companies taking a stance against the single cup (AKA K-Cup) brewing craze that is sweeping the nation. I lived in a house with a single cup brewing machine for two years, and never have I felt more wasteful.
Jura is hoping to tap into that guilt with their new IMPRESSA C5, a higher end single serve brewer system that does away with the disposable plastic cup. Rather, the Jura uses fresh whole coffee beans and grinds, tamps, brews and discards the used coffee grounds within the machine, all in about 60 seconds per cup.
No plastic. No guilt.
And if that doesn't do it for you, Jura was kind enough to do some math on our behalf, finding that use of a single cup pod or capsule system costs about $.52 per cup, which adds up to $760 a year for those who do two cups a day. Using the Jura system would set the same drinker back $.19 per cup or $138.70. Just think of what you might do with that $600 saved! Oh, but wait. The C5 sells (on Amazon) for about $900. So you'd have to use it for a year and a half before you realized true savings over a k cup brewing machine.
Still, coffee just tastes better without the guilt. Or the plastic aftertaste.
No one needs to sell me on induction cooking. I currently use an induction cooktop and there's no question it heats a pot of water faster than you can say "al dente." I've done the gas thing before and I do like it, but it takes a little getting used to and there's always something disconcerting about having a semi-open flame flickering away. I'm the forgetful type, you see…
So Jenn-Air has just introduced a new induction cooktop with the "most powerful induction element available." Sounds serious.
The 36" model has five induction elements, including the industry's most powerful 12"/9" Dual Zone Induction Element with a maximum output of 5,000 Watts. That probably doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot to the average homeowner. But this might: it also has a Sensor Boil feature which can automatically bring water to a boil with the touch of a button. It also lets you know when the water reaches boiling (probably through a chime of some sort, I'm guessing) and will automatically adjust the power to prevent boil-overs. That is what I need more than anything. I'm constantly guilty of multi-tasking while cooking and the water stains on the cooktop are proof.
It's time to visualize. For some this is an easy process. Blessed with an designer's brain and an active imagination, the final product is easy for certain people to see in the mind's eye. For everyone else, however...
Choose your kitchen layout, select from among 6 Preset Color Combinations and you'll be off an running, hand picking cabinet styles, cabinet colors, countertops, appliances and more. It's not wasting time. It's making a dream come true.
Take a tour through the tool and see if it lights that remodeling spark inside.
