Nordic Ware Microwave Egg Steamer

I included this egg cooker in my holiday wishlist, and then I decided to make my wish come true. I mean, it was under $10, so it wasn't that much of a splurge.

This microwave hard-boiled egg cooker lets you cook the eggs without piercing the egg or yolk (which can explode in a microwave). The deal is that the egg compartment is shielded with aluminum, so the eggs don't actually get micro-cooked. The water in the bottom gets heated to boiling and the eggs are steamed, just like what I normally do on the stove.

I cooked my first batch of 4 eggs right after the cooker arrived. The instructions said to cook the egss for 8 minutes for in 1000 watt oven, which is what I did. But that doesn't account for high altitude, so my eggs weren't quite done. Oopsie.

The eggs were cooked through enough to eat, but the center wasn't that flaky yellow like you'd want for deviled eggs, which is what I usually prefer. They peeled just as easily as other steamed eggs.

This thing is a lot smaller than it looks on the amazon page, so it's not like a giant soccer ball. Cleanup is basically a rinse unless an egg cracks - which can happen no matter how you cook them.

So far, so good. I'm going to be experimenting until I get exactly the right cooking time for hard-boiled and soft-boiled eggs, which will take just a few more tries. But at least this is faster than my usual steaming method. I'll still steam eggs on the stove if I need a dozen, which doesn't happen often. Four or fewer eggs are pretty much all I ever need. Yup, I'll be keeping this for sure.

Who's it for: People who like cooked eggs that are easy to peel.

Pros: Works really well. Fast.

Cons: It cooks 4 eggs at a time, maximum.

Wishes: I wish I found this sooner!

Source: I bought this.

Cherry Blossom collection from Charles Viancin

Let's face it, cherry blossoms are pretty. Charles Viancin has created a set of cherry-blossom-themed silicone covers (for bowls and such) as well as some cute bottle stoppers in the same design.

While these evoke spring, they'll work just as well in summer. And, hey, when winter comes along you can pretend they're poinsettias.

Of course, if you're using them in the kitchen for cooking and storing, it doesn't matter if they match the season or not, right? You might want a bit of springtime in the midst of winter.

But here's the thing. They aren't just decorative - they're functional. For the covers, the protruding bit in the center of the flower makes a nice handle. And there's a hole for hanging the covers, should you want to do that.

Since these are made from silicone, they're flexible, heat resistant, dishwasher safe, and microwave safe. Like other covers of this type, they create a bit of a vacuum seal on bowls, but they remove easily when you grab an edge.

The small covers would be lovely for outdoor dining, to cover drinks.

Who's it for: People who have bowls and things to cover.

Pros: Pretty. Useful.

Cons: Sort of seasonal.

Wishes: None really.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

CoolGrip Caddy from NewMetro Design

I know some people hate using a microwave, but I actually get a lot of use out of mine. I love it for steaming vegetables and for cooking hard squashes.

But, to be honest, the thing I use it for most is for reheating food. Few recipes are sized for just one person, and that's actually fine with me. I like having leftover dinner for lunch, and I don't mind having dinner re-runs. It gives me time to do other things, like make crazy desserts, breads, cocktails, and salads.

The problem with cooking or reheating anything in the microwave - for me, at least - is getting the hot stuff out of the oven. Sure, I have mitts and towels and all, but the CoolGrip Caddy is another interesting option.

The caddy has a hole in the center to nestle bowls, so that you can lift the caddy and it grabs the bowl so you can lift it out easily. It also holds plates nicely. And the larger ring around the outside catches spills and spatters.

Heavens knows I spill and spatter in the microwave. Heh.

While the caddy certainly isn't a necessary kitchen item, it also isn't one that you have to fret about storing. I just keep it in the microwave so it's always waiting for me.

Who's it for: People who use their microwaves for more than heating coffee.

Pros: Hey, it works!

Cons: Not a required kitchen item.

Wishes: I wish it fit in my dishwasher. But that's the dishwasher's fault, really. Lots of normal things don't fit properly.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

Lékué Popcorn Maker

I like popcorn. A lot.

And, given the range of other possible snack foods, it's relatively healthy, particularly if you pop your own and control the add-ins.

I usually make popcorn on the stove in a regular saucepan. I like the flavor better than packaged microwave popcorn, but the pot needs some babysitting and shaking to get as much corn popped as possible, with minimal burning.

I spent some time perfecting my stovetop popping technique, but it's still hit-and-miss. Most of the time it's good, but sometimes the corn isn't as fluffy, or there are a lot of dead kernels. And then I have a pot and a lid and a bowl to wash. And whatever I melted the butter in.

When I got the Lékué Popcorn Maker to test-drive, it wasn't long before it was in the microwave, popping away. It's darned simple. Add popcorn - you can use a measuring cup or use the lines in the bowl. Add optional oil or salt for flavor. Put the lid on and zap it. Easy peasy.

The lid doesn't fit tightly - it sort of floats, so it sits down in the bowl at the beginning of popping and raises up with the level of popcorn. The instruction said it would take 2-4 minutes to pop the popcorn, and mine was done in about 3 minutes.

The second time I made popcorn, I wondered if I could use a little butter along with the oil to add buttery flavor. I wasn't sure if it would work or if it would burn, so I added just a little. Maybe a teaspoon. And - the butter didn't burn. Even more interesting was that the little bit of butter added a mild buttery flavor to the popcorn, so although there wasn't a lot of fat added, it wasn't as dull as air-popped corn.

The little bit of salt I added also seemed to be well-distributed on the popcorn - no pockets of too much salt, and no flavorless corn. There were, of course, some unpopped kernels, but that happens no matter what method you use. But there weren't many, and the popped corn was nice and fluffy.

Although we're just talking about a bowl and a lid, it has some nice features. Because the lid floats, it vents steam, which is essential for good popcorn making. The bowl is perfect for serving, too, and it's dishwasher safe. And, it folds down, so it takes less space for storage.

Although it's designed for popping popcorn, I could see using it for other things, like heating other foods in the microwave, or for those times you want to serve something in an unbreakable bowl. So it's not a popcorn unitasker. It is, however, pretty flexible, so I wouldn't recommend filling it with something like soup.

Overall, a pretty big success.

Who's it for: People who want to pop their own corn in the microwave.

Pros: It works! It collapses for storage.

Cons: Not huge. Wait. Maybe that's a "pro."

Wishes: As always, it would be awesome if it came in a wide range of colors. I'm not picky, but I know some folks keep their kitchens color-coordinated.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

Perfect Bacon Bowl

There's something about late-night television commercials ... particularly the ones for the As Seen on TV products.

They look so ... enticing. I even want the cat-thing ... even though I don't have a cat.

So, there's the Perfect Bacon Bowl. Late at night it sounds like a good idea. In broad daylight, I wonder why I need bowls made of bacon, anyway. But I think again. Why don't I need bowls made from bacon?

The bacon bowl maker is made from some sort of alien plastic stuff. Okay, not alien. That I know of.

But it's not metal, which is good because I wanted to make bacon bowls in my microwave. If I wanted to make a dozen bacon bowls, the oven would make sense. One or two, I'm not going to be heating up the oven.

All ready for filling.

Inexplicably, the instruction say you should grease the bowl. Bacon is greasy, obviously, but I greased the bowls anyway, then placed the bacon according to the instructions, and popped them into the microwave for 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

And ... voila! Bacon bowls. Well, sometimes it was done in 2 minutes 30 seconds. But depending on the bacon, it could be a little longer. So you just need to check the doneness of the bacon (and maybe get rid of the grease!) and cook for a little longer, 30 seconds at a time.

When I went to remove the bacon from the bowls after the bacon was cool, there was just a little it of sticking until the bacon just sort of popped off the bowl. So, yeah, I'd suggest following the instructions. A little bit of oil makes sense.

When I first heard about these, I thought, gee, why not use use an upturned muffin pan to make bowls in the oven? But the joy of these things is that you don't have to use the oven. You can, if you want to. But like I said, the microwave makes more sense for just one or two bowls.

And then you do this. Scrambled eggs in a bacon bowl.

And ... the moat around the bowls did a pretty good job of containing the bacon grease. There was a little splattering in the microwave, as you'd expect any time you cook bacon in there. But it was no worse than any other microwave-bacon-cooking adventure.

If you want to, you can make the bowls ahead of time and refrigerate. If you want them warm, just microwave for 30 seconds or so, to take the chill off. If you cook them longer, they tend to sag a bit, but it's not terrible.

These could be considered one-trick ponies if you only want to use them for bacon, but there's no reason you couldn't turn them upside-down and use them to bake or microwave other things. Or make cookie bowls or bread bowls. Or ... well, pretty much anything else you want to use them for.

I have a weakness for shaped bakeware, so I'll probably find a lot of uses for these. Even some that don't include bacon.

Who's it for: Bacon lovers.

Pros: BACON bowls. Works in the microwave.

Cons: Normally, I would say price, but these are getting a lot less expensive.

Wishes: Mini bacon bowls would be kind of neat for one-bite appetizers, although wrapping the bacon around small ones might not be so fun.

Source: I received these from the company's PR firm for the purpose of a review.

Microwave Pressure Cooker. Yes, it exists.

Everyone has their cooking nemesis. For some people, it's yeast bread. For some it's pastry. Or gravy. or biscuits.

I can make all those things, no problem. My nemesis is rice.

Yes, plain old white rice.

It didn't used to be that way. Long ago when I lived in an area roughly level with the sea, I could cook rice with nary a second thought. Perfect every time.

Then I moved about a mile vertically, and rice became angry with me. It refused to cooperate. I made crunchy rice and mushy rice and wet rice and burned rice. I scrubbed more blackened rice out of the bottom of saucepans than I ever want to admit.

So, I gave in and bought a rice cooker and never looked back.

But then this mystical plastic item, bright red, appeared on my doorstep. A microwave pressure cooker made by SilverStone. What sort of magic is this?

I skimmed through the instructions and pawed through the recipes. And then I saw it. Beans and rice. Really???

I'm pretty adept with a pressure cooker. I own stove-top models and an electric one, but I use them mostly for things that would otherwise have to cook for a really long time, like oxtails or corned beef. I never thought about making rice in my pressure cooker. But when I saw this recipe, it was an "aha" moment that I couldn't resist.

I figured that I could modify the beans-and-rice recipe to cook just the rice, so I used 1 1/2 cups of rice, 2 cups of liquid (chicken stock and water) and a tablespoon of butter. And some salt, since the stock wasn't salted.

I put the lid on it, chucked it in the microwave, and set it for 10 minutes on high. I heard the microwave beep (no explosions, but I did hear some hissing inside the microwave prior to that, as one would expect from a pressure cooker) and I gave it a couple more minutes to cool down.

The pressure valve was already down, so I opened the cooker, and ... RICE! Cooked rice in TEN MINUTES!!!

It MUST be voodoo, I tell you!

The rice was just a tad undercooked for my taste. Not al dente or crunchy, but just slightly firmer than I prefer.

I wouldn't have had a problem serving the rice exactly the way it came out, but it ended up being sort of perfect, because I decided I wanted to add some peas to the rice. So I added peas, a little extra water, and cooked for one more minute.

I wasn't terribly surprised that the rice wasn't totally perfect on the first try. When I cook rice in my rice cooker, I have to add water above the rice cooker's suggested amount. High altitude and all that.

So, next time I make rice in the magic voodoo time machine ... uh, I mean microwave pressure cooker ... I'll use 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water and maybe increase the cooking time by a minute. Because 11-minute rice is still like some kind of cooking miracle.

So, even if this critter only cooked rice, I'd be pretty giddy about it, because it's FAST rice. The rice cooker is simple, but I have to plan ahead.

A couple days later, I decided to cook come dry beans. Of course I didn't plan ahead - the beans weren't soaked. But lately I've read some articles that say that there's really no compelling reason to soak. Except of course that if you soak them, they cook faster when you get around to cooking.

I used 1 cup of beans with 3 cups of water and checked them after 10 minutes to see how they were doing. Nope. I added salt and cooked them for another 10 minutes and they were done. But!!! I think a better ratio would have been 1 cup of beans and 4 cups of water.

So far, I really like this pressure cooker. It's going to take a little bit of recipe expeimenting before I know exactly how long I need to cook different foods, but that's not a big deal.

I also think this would be great for people who are interested in having a pressure cooker but who are a little skittish about having one. Because, seriously, if something goes wrong and it spews stuff out the vent, it's going to be contained inside the microwave. That's still messy, but it's not as bad as scraping food off the kitchen ceiling.

Who's it for: People who want to try pressure cooking.

Pros: Works well, so far it's easy to clean. Doesn't require as much watching as a stovetop model, since the microwave controls the timing. Has a steamer rack (there are recipes that came with it that use this rack).

Cons: Not a lot of recipes written for this pressure cooker, so you'll need to adapt.

Wishes: It would be great to see these in different sizes, eventually.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.