Muscatine County Board of Supervisors continue cutting budget
MUSCATINE, Iowa — The Muscatine County Supervisors’ budget meeting Monday seemed more like a commercial for the latest kitchen gadget.

Read more on Muscatine Journal

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Everyone who cooks can use some of these practical, time saving kitchen tools. While you can get by with a bare bones kitchen and a few old pots and pans, a lot of dishes are harder to make or more time consuming to prepare. The items in this list can free up some of your time, help you make delicious meals, store leftovers and even make the kitchen a fun place. So without further ado, here are some of my favorite kitchen gadgets. I hope you like them.

1. Bread Maker

Imagine getting up in the morning to the smell of freshly baked bread, ready for you to take out of the machine and slice up for toast or for lunch sandwiches. And all you had to do was load the ingredients the night before, then set the timer.

2. Automatic Coffee Maker

This goes well with the bread maker. Add coffee grounds and water, set the clock and have coffee waiting for you when you stumble out of bed in the morning. Rise and shine!

3. High Quality Knife Set

I used to make do with an old set of mismatched knives given to me without a knife block. Some of the handles were loose, and they had to be stored in a drawer. The new set sits on the counter top. The edges stay sharp longer, and the set contains knives for most needs. More room in the drawer, too.

4. Plastic Food Containers

With a set of containers for food storage, saving leftovers is much easier. Many have lids with vents, for use in microwaves. Another way to use them is to freeze food for future use. They look better than old margarine and yogurt containers, too.

5.Immersion Blender

These hand-held gadgets can be placed in large drinking glasses, pots, or mixing bowls. You can mix drinks, baking ingredients, gravies or even whip potatoes. They take up less space and are easier to clean than traditional blenders as well.

6. Toaster Oven

A toaster oven can cook toasted items with toppings, like garlic bread and mini pizzas, as well as make toast. Small baking projects are possible too, if you don’t want to or can’t use a larger oven.

7.Sandwich Grill

For grilled cheese, tuna melts and patty melts, these grills seal the edge of the sandwich so cheese and other things can’t leak out.

These are some of the kitchen gadgets I like to use myself. For the larger items, maybe you can borrow one to test drive it before you buy. That is what I did with the bread maker. Our food containers, coffee maker and hand blender see daily use, and the toaster oven and sandwich grill once or twice a week. All in all, a good investment for my family. Happy cooking!

This is a parody of one of my favorite video game reviewers, the Classic Game Room. When I received this hotdogger as a gift for a small favor I knew I had to make this video. Special thanks to Fullmetalcrusade for editing this together for me so quickly, right down to the fonts.

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Read more on NPR

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You know, it’s not the most sophisticated kitchen gadget. But, if it works, it could make cooking and serving a little bit easier.

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Kitchen gadgets increasingly play a significant role in the preparation of a meal, especially after a hard days work. With today’s advancing technology, more and more kitchen gadgets are being introduced to the market so we have decided to put together a list of our favorites. No doubt there will be serious disagreement to which maybe the most useful and we know we will have missed many off the list.

GARLIC PRESS/GARLIC MACHINES Garlic Machines: Garlic adds real flavor to a meal and is constantly used in a whole variety of dishes. However, it is fiddly so anything to help peel, crush and slice is undoubtedly a bonus. You avoid the messy task of peeling and chopping the garlic but get the desired result, with garlic ready to be added to the ingredients. Key products are the Garlic press and we especially like the Chef’n Garlic Machine Garlic Crusher.

FOOD THERMOMETERS: Being struck down by food poisoning is one of the worst things that can happen to you and this is where food thermometers come into their own. They measure the inner temperature of the cooked food; mainly meat, telling you whether the dish is ready to serve or requires more cooking. We particularly like the Bengt Ek range of food thermometers for their stylish looks

MANDOLINE: When there are so many vegetables and fruits to cut and slice, why not get a machine to do so it not only saves you time but also makes you look like a professional. Mandolins will enable you to slice and cut vegetables This kitchen tool helps in cutting the thin slices of fruits and vegetables. This kitchen tool enables the user to prepare a beautiful salad and additions to sandwiches. The Zyliss Mandolin is world renowned

ALLIGATOR CHOPPER: Whilst not as flexible as a Mandolin, the Alligator chopper is such a simple way to chop onions, vegetables or fruit without having any dangers of cutting your fingers. All you have to do is put the fruit or vegetable on the bottom of the chopper and press down – perfect every time.

KNIFE SHARPENERS: For those who use knives on a regular basis the most annoying thing is when they start to lose their sharp edge and become blunt. There are a number of sharpening tools out there but we particularly like the Ozitech Sharpening System and the Diamond abrasive knife sharpeners from Chef’s Choice which are easy and safe to use.

SLOTTED SPOON: We are constantly using a whole range of Kitchen Utensils and they are all very useful, especially both the Spatula and Turner. However, it is the Slotted Spoon which is our favorite, as it is so easy to use for taking any ingredient out of a boiling saucepan, especially vegetables and eggs.

SALAD SPINNER: Ever since I was a child I have just loved salad spinners. Such a simple idea and such a great way of getting your salad nice and dry. Viners do a good selection of salad spinners.

These kitchen gadgets are just a few to mention and I’m sure you will have your favorites, especially the more you cook!

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• Touchless trashcan creates a germ free, odor free, automated environment
• Uses patented, invisible, and harmless infrared technology
• Lid opens instantly when hand or trash is within six inches of its sensor
• Designed to open flawlessly more than 100,000 times
• Measures 10.5 x 27.25 x 14.5 inches (WxHxD); 12 pounds

Product Description
100% hands-free, foot-free operated, lidded waste disposal system. The built-in infrared sensor and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Smart-Chip knows when you need to open trash can, and do all the openings and closings for you without touching or step-on anything. No germs on the lid and no odor. Place hand or unwanted debris about 6 inches away from the infrared sensor near the lid. It will open instantly and will close automatically in 5-second after debris has bee… More >>

iTouchless Stainless-Steel Hands-Free 13-Gallon Infrared Automatic Trash Can