Lovely Things

Glass worktops

We covered the very nifty Chop 2 Pot chopping board from JosephJoseph last week, and now another of their products has caught my eye. These glass worktops provide a work surface for food prep and can also do double duty as a trivet for hot pots. I think the best thing about them is the gloriously-coloured whimsical designs. The square variety includes an Elvis and a Marilyn Monroe made of vegetables and a really cute 50s inspired mixer motif in pink and green shown left, which would go beautifully with your pink appliances if you followed our lead last month.

I also really like the round worktops that include fresh fruit and veg inspired options like watermelon, kiwi, orange, tomato, cucumber, onion and a load more (not all are food images). The worktops are around £10 each.

Ingenious chopping board

I'm a big fan of kitchen innovation - anything that can make cooking life easier is fine by me. What we often end up with though is gadgetry, which is all very well and good when it works, but sometimes kitchen gadgets serve only to complicate things without actually saving you much time. Enter the simple, designed-with-a-human-in-mind, Chop 2 Pot board from JosephJoseph, designed by Mark Sanders. Made from polypropylene, the board lies flat while chopping, but is hinged so when the handle is squeezed, the board forms a chute to guide the food into the pot. Ingenious! I know I'm forever having to retrive bits of chopped carrot, mushroom and the like from around the stove (or worse, the floor) when they haven't quite made it from board to cooking pot. The Chop 2 Pot comes in a range of bright colours, plus white, and costs £9.99 from homewarestore.com.

Glass storage jars

I don't know about you, but I find it really difficult to find good-looking storage containers for the kitchen. Chrome looks lovely, but it's a pain to keep clean and smudge-free, and lots of containers I otherwise like have things written on them (coffee, tea, sugar - you know what I mean) which are either not suitable for what I want to store, or look a bit naff.

Fortunately, I've just found these sleek, square Anchor glass storage jars in the Heal's sale. They're airtight and have lovely chunky square lids and are £4 - £6 depending on which of the three sizes you go for.

Pink kitchen appliances

Ever felt sick of your boring old white appliances? Fancy a bit of retro girly fun in the kitchen (steady now - I'm talking about the innocent kind, not something involving Vargas girls and utensils)?

Various manufacturers have cottoned on to the fact that rather than hiding appliances when decorating, some of us like to have fun with them instead. Here's a round-up of appliances to satisfy your pink cravings...

Check out this 50s style oven by Baumatic. It's 60cms, has nine functions, a load of features and comes with optional extras like a pizza stone. Best of all, it's rated A for efficiency and you have the choice of black, mint, ivory, burgundy and lilac on top of this fabulous retro pink. It's £419.28 from Biasco. Update 10/12/06 - unfortunately, according to the Baumatic website, this line has been discontinued. What a shame! If you love it, search for retailers with some still in stock using the product code: B550PINK-A. Try Sainsbury's or Appliance Directory as they still seem to have some.

Smeg does a range of pink fridges and other appliances in their FAB range. The one shown here has an A grade energy rating, 3.6 cubic feet of freezer space and 11.6 in the fridge and the trays and door racks are all adjustable. The best price for this model (the FAB32RO4) I've found is at Biasco - £1104.95 with free delivery.



The same online store also stocks the very cute Smeg 50s style dishwasher. It's AAA rated, has 10 programmes, 5 temperatures, a delay timer and 'triple layer tablet selector', whatever that is. If pink's not your thing, it comes in quite a range of other colours: pastel blue, black, orange, cream, red, lime green and silver. It's £619.95 with free delivery.

So now you have your major appliances sorted, what about the smaller things? Dualit has a range of very pink toasters to satisfy even the most feminine of kitchens. The Dualit Vario toaster accommodates four slices of bread in its extra-wide slots and claims award-winning toasting elements that 'increase toasting efficiency and element longevity' - sounds like the science of toasting has come a long way! You can buy it at Amazon for £129.97 plus free delivery.

Father's Day gifts for BBQ Dad

Inspired by the gorgeous weather of the last few days, I'm finally beginning to feel convinced that summer is indeed on its way. So too is Father's Day, 18th June in the UK.

So, with that in mind, how about a BBQ for Dad? Here's a few suggestions depending on the style of Dad you have:

Serious BBQ Dad

Is your Dad the type who'll never let anyone else near the BBQ lest they mess up his cooking perfection? Traditionalists will appreciate the utimate in hibachi-style grills with this cast iron Lodge Grill (£129).

As cast iron really retains the heat, the grill helps you to cook food thoroughly to create that great BBQ flavour, with none of those crispy-on-the-outside, raw-on-the-inside disasters.

Whatever you do though, don't drop it on your foot as cast iron weighs a ton!

Active Dad

Hiking, fishing, camping - if your Dad's one who likes to get into the great outdoors, he'll appreciate this teeny portable BBQ, inventively named the Grilliput (£24.99).

Not only does this BBQ fold up to next to nothing for carrying, it's also dishwasher safe, and even has a cleaning groove notched into it so you can scrape it off after cooking before you put it away in its tube.

Gadget Dad

For the Dad who fancies himself as a barbecuing James Bond (now there's an odd thought), how about the BBQ that turns into a briefcase?

The Picnic BBQ Grill (£19.95) offers a good size cooking area, that folds completely away for storage. You can set the brill to three different heights, and the lid becomes a windbreak.

A nifty feature is the fork and spatula that are included in the price, and clip into the top, when not in use.

Accessories

A gift suitable for any BBQ Dad, try the Grillslinger.

Designed by two of New Zealand's top chefs, the tool belt comes with tongs, a spatula and knife, a bottle for oil, and room for salt and pepper shakers. Oh, and an instructional DVD for those who need...er...buckling information perhaps?

At £59.99 this tool belt of cooking implements is pricier than some of the BBQs featured, but comes with the added bonus of making your Dad feel like John Wayne, and who can put a price on that?

All available from I Want One of Those.

Sleek sweetness

There are a number of rounded sugar dispensers out there, but none are as elegantly simple as this British-designed Sugar Ball available from Mojo London.

It's  £19.50 including free delivery, and Mojo also offers a matching Milk Ball at the same price. They're made from stainless steel and are dishwasher safe (yay!).

Beautiful eating

Long gone are the days when the only options for crockery were plain white, a sedate Wedgewood with a gold rim, or perhaps a bit of earthy blue Denby.

Whimsical or mis-matched is everywhere right now to brighten up your home dining experiences.

Danish designers Rice are launching their very pretty new handpainted range of tableware, DELICIOUS, at Pulse next week. Unfortunately, no further details or images on their site as yet but they have a new website in the works.

UK designers Freckle create beautiful, functional bone china tableware for adults and kids. Their Kimono range has a very delicate, serene feel and includes these vases, just perfect for holding the lilac blossoms covering trees in the UK right now. Spring has finally arrived!

From across the pond, Lena Corwin creates funky plates with unusual designs. My fave is the Travel plate - designed for adults, but I recently sent it as a gift to my young nephew who squeaks 'giraffe' and 'dragon' as he eats and uncovers the pictures. Lena's plates are all in sturdy melamine, meaning they're dishwasher safe, but unfortunately can't go near the microwave. All plates $15-20.

A US favourite for vintage style and a bit of whimsy, Anthropologie has me coveting their Butterfly Study series of tableware (I do love nature-inspired items). Well, that and just about all their other ranges as well. The butterfly range is from $38 for the serving plate to $56 for a set of dinner plates. Such a shame they don't ship to the UK!