Skeptical only mildly describes my thoughts when I first unwrapped the WowBacon Cooker. It looked like a plastic drink pitcher with snap-on lid. There was just no way this thing was going to produce edible cooked bacon.

The directions were not as clear and concise as I would have liked, but after finally getting the bacon into the cooker in the proper way, I popped them into my brand new GE microwave.

I will admit the first attempt didn’t come out very well. I overcooked the bacon, but this was more my fault than the cooker’s. I just set the timer for longer than the instructions suggested.

A couple of bacon batches later I had it down pretty good and was cooking bacon in a couple of minutes with no splatter and clean up consisted of just draining the liquid and tossing the cooker into the dishwasher.

Is it perfect, crisp bacon?

No, it’s not. If you like your bacon with the freshly fried crisp texture, you won’t get it here. You will, however, get well cooked bacon that can be eaten in your favorite recipe.

If you’re making the American classic Bacon and Egg breakfast, you’ll probably still want to fry the bacon in the traditional way, but if you have a recipe that calls for cooked bacon to be added, this is a great gadget to have around the house.

You can purchase the Wowbacon Cooker directly from their website.

I saw the Zak Designs multi-color measuring spoons in Gourmet magazine and thought they would be fun to have in the kitchen. Not only do they add some color but they are extremely functional.

One of the challenges for me when cooking with rubber gloves on is handling smaller measuring spoons and getting the right amount of spice out of the container easily. With the long handles it can be accomplished without much difficulty.

The long handles make it very easy to reach down inside some of the larger spice bottles without having to tip the bottles to measure out small amounts.

The Zak Designs multi-color measuring spoons are not a gimmick but are a great addition to any kitchen. The set of 5: 1/8 teaspoon, teaspoon, teaspoon, 1 teaspoon, and 1 tablespoon is made from durable, dishwasher safe Melamie.

“Bacon! You want to know how good it is?
To improve other food they wrap it in bacon.”

Jim Gaffigan makes the statement above during his hilarious stand-up routine about bacon. I know it’s comedy but it’s really true. Isn’t it?

But in today’s health conscious society, how do we get the taste of bacon without always having to pay the price with calories and artery hardening? The answer is Bacon Salt. A product that, according to their website is zero calorie, vegetarian, kosher certified, and tastes pretty darn good (that one’s my opinion).

Late last year I made the decision to lose some weight. I didn’t want to diet, I wanted to change how I ate. I’ve lost 30 pounds in the past 6 months and I’ve done it with some sensible changes. But…

I love bacon, it really is my favorite meat. I even cure and smoke my own bacon at home. But I can’t eat it as often as I would like to. So Bacon Salt gives me the chance to enjoy the taste of bacon without the guilt. A sprinkle of Bacon Salt satisfies the bacon taste cravings.

My first order of Bacon Salt was on a lark. I really figured I would just be getting something that resembled ground up bacon bits. I was pleasantly surprised to find a product that tasted as close to bacon as you can get without actually having bacon.

Bacon Salt comes in three flavors, Original, Hickory and Peppered. I love good smoked bbq and I use Hickory for smoking and I was surprised that the Hickory flavored was my least favorite. They’ve captured the taste of Bacon, but not the Hickory. It tastes more live bacon and liquid smoke. The Peppered is really good and adds a nice kick without being too overpowering. The Original is the best. Just salt and bacon! What more do you need?

The Bacon Salt website is a fun read with lots of information about why and how they came up with Bacon Salt. Along with an interesting story about the Maple flavored Bacon Salt that didn’t make it to production.

Some have said that Bacon is the perfect food. If that’s true then Bacon Salt would be the perfect seasoned salt.

Bacon Salt has limited grocery store distribution but can be ordered online. Shipping is quick and you’ll be eating bacon without eating bacon within a week or so.

I love using chipotles in adobo sauce. They provide a nice robust flavor to many different types of dishes, however, because of my families intolerance to “heat,” I don’t get to use them as often as I’d like. And when I do I never use an entire can. For this reason, I’d venture a guess that I have thrown away more chipotles than I have actually ever used. Combined with the effort to de-seed them, it makes me hesitant to use them.

That is until I discovered “The Art of Chipotle Gourmet Paste” by Pfleider Pfoods, Inc. One 6.5 oz jar of paste contains the equivalent of several cans of chipotle in adobo sauce, without the need to drain, de-seed, strain or anything. Just open the lid and spoon out as little or as much as you need. The paste is all natural and contains no preservatives. It’s also gluten-free.

According to the Phleider Pfoods website, they grow their own jalapenos from specially selected seeds and then dry and smoke them with some type of super secret proprietary method. Whatever they use, it provides a dynamic chipotle flavor without some of the bitter aftertaste you sometimes find in canned chipotles.

I discovered “Chipotle Gourmet Paste” when trying a crockpot beef recipe found in a magazine distributed in Raleys grocery stores in Northern California, and since then I’ve used up the whole jar adding it to sauces, dressing, and bbq sauce. Just about everything. Keeping the jar in the refrigerator has provided untold opportunities to try the chipotle flavor profile in different dishes without fear of wasting the rest of the can. It also makes it simple to control the amount of heat you have in your food.

“The Art of Chipotle Gourmet Paste” is available in some grocery stores and online.