Deluxe 100% Cotton Damask Stripe Mattress Pad

Having purchased numerous mattress pads (because most of them are utter garbage) I was very impressed when I received this. The actual padding is very nice and a lot thicker than most pads I've seen and also doesn't look like you picked it out of a dollar store (it has a quality look to it, 300 thread count, I believe).

Now, where this really shines is the part where it isn't padded (the fabric that goes on the side of the bed that you tuck in). Most pads have this weird filter-looking material that you can easily poke your finger through. This pad has a very nice quality material thats quite stretchy but very durable. This is a quality pad and I expect it will last me a long, long time.
Deluxe 100% Cotton Damask Stripe Mattress Pad, Queen

Dream Supreme Plus 100% Gel Filled Pillows

I am not normally the type to get really excited over pillows. I wonder if there's a kind of person who can. After far too long, I had to eventually come to the realization that I needed some new ones. I have to throw in my two cents about these pillows as I go to purchase a second set (for my guest room). They are really quite lovely. I've owned them for a few months at this point and they are quite comfortable. They are quite fluffy. They are quite comfortable, like sinking your face into an artificial cloud. I don't know what other criteria to judge a pillow on other than this and price. At least than $15.00 each, I don't know what more you can ask for in a pillow.
Dream Supreme Plus 100% Gel Filled Pillows

Lodge Logic Pro 20-by-10-7/16-Inch Cast-Iron Grill/Griddle

I absolutely adore this griddle, and I use it almost every day.

At first, I wasn't sure that I wanted a cast iron griddle. They are HEAVY and not dishwasher safe . . . so I tried a few nonstick brands first --top dollar brands with high ratings.

I hated them. The nonstick surface was inferior. On a reversible griddle, the underside became sticky and difficult to clean. The heat was distributed unevenly. One claimed to be dishwasher safe, yet when I put it in the dishwasher, some of the nonstick surface came off.

I am extremely health conscious, and I use very little oil when I cook. Food often stuck to the "non-stick" surface -- go figure.

I wanted to find a great griddle that I could use for many things, including cooking like the chefs in Japanese Steak Houses -- I dreamed of using a small dash of my favorite oil and flinging shrimp, chicken and veggies on the griddle like a pro. No, I didn't think I could toss my tools in the air or catch the shrimp in my pocket . . . I just wanted the flavor and the ease of cooking.

By this time, I was on a quest, and the non-stick stuff just wasn't cutting it. I did a little research, and I learned that pros recommend the Lodge griddle, so despite my apprehension, I thought I'd give it a try.

Wow! The pre-seasoned surface is perfect and better than any non-stick surface I have ever used. Just a tiny bit of non-stick spray is all I need, and everything from pancakes to eggs flip with ease. Grilling Japanese style works perfectly.

On the grill side: whole steaks, chicken, fish -- fabulous, fast, and everything has those beautiful grill lines. Nice for grilled vegetables, too.

The griddle is indeed heavy, but it's okay. I wouldn't recommend lifting it if you have serious muscle or joint problems, and I wouldn't want to drop it on my foot, but otherwise, go for it. I'm a softie, and if I can handle it, so can you.

As for not being able to put the griddle in the dishwasher: I don't believe I'm going to say this, but I don't care about having to handwash it. The griddle cleans so easily, a few swipes and I'm done. If I forget to clean it and wake up to it the next morning (okay, so I'm not Suzy Homemaker), I just lay it straight across the top of my sink -- not IN the sink, but rather, balanced from edge to edge, on top . . . and I run a little water over it, let it set for a few minutes, and it's easy to clean.

A word of advice: Just as it says in the instructions, you need to clean the griddle without soap (water only) to preserve the pre-seasoned finish. However, should you want to use soap, you can. There are instructions included in how to re-season the griddle -- it's easy.

I frankly didn't like the idea of not cleaning with soap. I didn't feel as though the germs were destroyed . . . but soap doesn't really kill germs, it merely works as a surfactant that makes water wetter so things become easier to clean.

If you want to kill germs, heat is one of the best ways to do it. Every time you use the griddle, you preheat it on the range for about five minutes or so -- you're killing far more germs than if you had used soap!
You can also rub your griddle with a very light coating of oil, stick it in a hot oven and disinfect it that way (this is also similar to how you reseason it).

This is one of the easiest, most wonderful kitchen tools I own. It is a breeze to use, I feel like a pro flipping all that food around. Everything comes out great, and it is very easy to use, and food does not stick.

I have since added six more pieces of cast iron to my collection, one triangle cornbread/scone, a round muffin/biscuit, and four cast iron skillets. Two of the skillets are antique -- talk about well-seasoned! I do not use the bread/muffin bakers as much as I thought I would, but I use the skillets almost every day. I love them.

PS: I remember reading somewhere that using cast iron also adds iron to your diet. A nice extra, yes?
Lodge Logic Pro 20-by-10-7/16-Inch Cast-Iron Grill/Griddle

EatSmart™ Precision Pro - Multifunction Digital Kitchen Scale w/ Extra Large LCD and 11 Lb. Capacity

I would prefer to write this review after some time has passed, but I want to make sure I get my thoughts out here early on.

This is my third kitchen scale. I bake all my own bread at home and good baking requires weighing the ingredients rather than volume measuring.

This scale feels very light which made me nervous at first, but I've used it for three weeks now, through a lot of baking over the holidays, and my concerns seem out of line.
This scale fits all my needs. Here is what I look for:
1. CAPACITY - AT LEAST 10 LB (this has 11 lb, or 5 kg). This is required to be able to tare out a glass bowl which can weigh near 5 lbs empty. 11 lb is still borderline when I'm making bread in a 6 qt kitchenaid bowl, but I just weigh ingredients separately in another bowl if it becomes a problem.
2. PRECISION - DOWN TO 1 GRAM - Another scale I have was only good to 5 grams and, although this was probably good enough, it drove me nuts not to be able to go down to 1 gram
3. STABLE PLATFORM FOR VESSELS -- My previous scale had a platform that sat on top of a pillar and eventually came detached. After that it was a balancing act to weight anything

4. ORDINARY BATTERIES -- I liked my old scales fine, but it drove me crazy that I had to keep buying overpriced CR2032 batteries for the things. These batteries don't last long and cost too much to replace. I can't figure out why they use these "button batteries" rather than the more common higher capacity AAA, AA, C, D, etc cells. It's not like these scales are micro-sized. In any event A BIG BIG PLUS for this scale is that it uses standard batteries! Don't sell this point short.

5. PRICE -- $50, $30, $70 for a scale to do this is crazy. the circuitry in these things is cheap. It's not rocket science. All these scales that have "features" are a waste of money. This scale does what needs to be done for $20.
6. FEATURES -- Zero the scale, read negative numbers, switch between metric and English weights, tare a bowl....that's it...that's all you need. All the rest of it is a waste of money and a further chance for failure. this does what is needed and no more.

7. EASY TO READ -- big numbers. this scale is good....Not so good about this scale (and the ONLY problem I have so far) is that big bowls tend to cover the read out a little and make it hard to pick up the weight. So far it hasn't been a big deal, but it can be a slight annoyance.

BOTTOM LINE:
This scale gets 100% on items 1-6 and about 50% on item 7 for a 93% grade overall...enough for me to give it 5 out of 5 stars.

The only remaining unrated item is DURABILITY....I'll report back in a year. My old, $50 scale only lasted 3.5 years. I'm betting this one goes at least that long...plus I won't be forking over for new button batteries every month and a half.
EatSmart™ Precision Pro - Multifunction Digital Kitchen Scale w/ Extra Large LCD and 11 Lb. Capacity

Oxo Good Grips Cherry Pitter

I previously owned 2(!) Leifheit Pro Line cherry pitters because that's the only pitter of this kind the local stores carry. With each, the plunger fell out at the first use. Finally I got this OXO cherry pitter at Amazon, where I could see on the picture that the plunger cannot fall out. I just used it, and it's really nice to use, the splatter shield helps reducing the splatter, it's easy to clean and store. It very efficiently takes the pit out of medium size firm cherries. When cherries are very big or softer, the pit might stay connected with the cherry and it's a little harder to get it out when the splatter shield is attached. This is a minor inconvenience though and not a complaint. Altogether the OXO did it's job very well and I did not have to hammer the plunger back in only to find it go out with the next cherry again.

Oxo Good Grips Cherry Pitter

Sterilite 29308001 3-Drawer Wide Cart with See-Through Drawers and Black Casters, White

I use this to store clothing in (and my roommate has one too, also with clothing inside). We both have all 3 drawers filled with t-shirts, other shirts, jeans etc. This stuff is thick and totally fills up the drawers, as well as puts lots of weight in them. I have my set up on an old wooden desk, and it does not move around at all, and even takes my cats jumping on it with no evidence of them having done so. In my roommate's room, he has the drawers sitting on the floor in front of a window (in between 2 taller wooden dressers) and the cats (we have 4 young adults about 10-15 lbs each) all jump on the set of drawers as well on the top of the dressers, and like to sleep on the LARGE pile of extra blankets that are sitting ontop of the drawers. This set shows no dramatic bending of the plastic top, though it does obviously get it to bend slightly under all that weight and stress. Top drawer can still be easily opened even with this slight "damage" to it.


I must say that I actually LOVE these drawers as they are just the perfect width for use with larger items (like clothing) and not just craft items or other small things, and the height of each drawer as well as the depth seem great as well. The only thing I could think of to ask for, would be to have them in different colors (like black) and maybe have the drawer plastic be a little bit more opague... I guess the frame plastic could be a bit thicker, but the 2 sets of drawers that we have in this apartment seem to be holding up pretty good with what we have so far tested them with.
Sterilite 29308001 3-Drawer Wide Cart with See-Through Drawers and Black Casters, White

Pyrex Storage 10-Piece Set, Clear with Blue Lids

A passionate home cook that has been honing her cooking skills for the last 25 years writes this review. My favorite cookbooks are "The Professional Chef" by the Culinary Institute and "Culinary Artistry. Cooking is my form of therapy. I have owned my set of these for at least 5 years, and possibly longer. I have not broken a single piece in that time. This may not sound like much but I am hard on things, and for all of them to still be intact is a minor miracle in my home. The glass is very tough.

Pros:
1. Glass is very tough, seems almost indestructible
2. I like that they are not plastic, so I feel safe about reheating food in them
3. The lids fit well for the first 4 years or so
4. Replacement lids are available at the Corning and Revere Factory Outlet stores
5. These containers fit well into lunch bags so that you family can take your healthy home cooked food to work or school.
6. The containers stack well inside each other for space cramped kitchens
7. You can bake in these and then cool the food (I place the entire container into a roasting pan filled with ice water) put on the lid and slide the pan into the refrigerator.
8. You freeze can food in these containers

Cons:
1. The lids do stretch and warp over time, I recommend buying extra lids before you need them. My lids lasted approximately 4 years.

Overall, I would recommend these to anyone that likes to cook in quantity and doesn't like to reheat food in plastic. I use these everyday in my kitchen.
Pyrex Storage 10-Piece Set, Clear with Blue Lids