Claire,
Thank you for posting! I have been looking for that kind of cheese grater, and to find that I can get it through my local Ace Hardware is wonderful.
I have a great garlic mincer that I won't give up for anything--we have been through so much together!
You sure make shopping easy!

You are quite welcome. I checked the page on their website for locations of their products, and they seem to be in a number of places. You might want to try that feature before you head out. I only mention it because my local hardware store has everything you'd ever want to shop for and more, yet I know it isn't like that everywhere.

Here is a link that might be useful: Store Locator

I didn't know who it came from but I picked up one of the garlic widgits a few weeks ago.

Don't bother, its like the slap chop thing, you have to cut everything up almost to the point of done before it will fit into the machine, eh?

same, same with the garlic thing, it holds small, chopped pieces of garlic, not whole cloves. I mean, if you have to knife it into cubits before you place it into a machine that then makes smaller cubits...why not keep on going with the knife?

Plus who uses garlic in really tiny, really small dice? Not me, I use smashed or slivered or halves or whole. Tiny dice burns, gives the wrong texture to anything I use garlic in.

Reminds me of fishing lures...most of them are made to hook the fisherperson into buying them. The fish don't care.

Forgot to mention, at the same store I picked up one of the silicone vegetable steamers.

Works perfectly, no moving parts, no issues in use at all.
I'll give that a 9 out of ten. Would be 10/10 if it came in camouflage...or flesh toned.

Still prefer bamboo baskets in the wok but sometimes I don't cook. So, the other cook, the part time one, likes it a lot. Which is a big part of the 9/10.

ROTFLOL!!! Metaxa, camo or flesh? That sounds like some kitchen.

Re garlic, the OXO garlic press works like I've always imagined one would, and does it really well. My old Italian one did sort of until it kind of died, and the '60's version not really at all. If you want instant squished garlic, and have decent hand strength (i.e., not arthritic or otherwise weakened) it works great! Put in several large cloves, squish, cut the strings of squish off and all that's left is a thin skin. It's not as clever looking as the ChefN stuff, but it works really well. :)

No hand or finger strength here, which is why I was intrigued by the garlic press. It looks similar to my Cuisipro garlic press, which I can set on the counter and lean into to mince garlic. Of course the design isn't quite the same, but the cup is stainless, which is where the Cuisipro could have made improvements. I appreciate Metaxa, that minced garlic isn't your thang, but I like it since it works well in the dishes I like to prepare.

Garlic presses are highly personal, like which car you choose to drive and for what reason. There has been much discussion at the CF about them in the past.

Yes, the steamer basket works great; my sister bought one for her rv, which made perfect sense to me. I also thought for the rv, the dual cheese grater was a good choice, as you can slice two different ways, the full length of the grater with one tool. The other tools seemed well designed to me, and because of my lack of hand strength, I love any tool that ratchets, as I find them easiest to use.

Thanks a lot CdL, like giving candy to a diabetic!!

Actually, I have 4 of the items on the website.

Which Ones? I need to know what you found most essential enough to buy! I'm headed out to make a purchase this very afternoon...I really want the cheese slicer, as I find slicing cheese a big hassle.

To your question--I have bought several of the palm (1)peelers and (2)palm brushes (for gifts) after receive one from Compumom. I did buy one (3)scraper only because it was red; turns out I really like it.

The (4)Grapefruiter is low use gadget that I wouldn't buy again.

Here is a link that might be useful: I like this..

Oh, Thank You! I like the spreader too, especially since it's double sided as well. BTW Cathy, check your e-mail for some important information...

I'm off to spend some money!

The Corning outlet in L.A. had a lot of these pieces, which I noticed specifically because of Claire de Luna's grater. I don't know if the prices are any better than TJMaxx, but they were also having a sale and will have a big on on Mother's Day (along with crowds to match).

What I bought was a timer that looks like a stainless alarm clock, rings on the zero instead of the two, and rings for a good long time. Like an old Lux timer only kitsch (not that I care what it looks like!). I'm SO happy!!

plllog, your timer sounds cool. Do you know what brand it is?

Just brought it upstairs. It's called "Progressive", and I found it on Amazon. Warning--I thought the one that I liked so much was a demo, so picked one out of the box. But the second one wasn't quite as delightful. I might not have wound it all the way up, though. They're probably all fine, but I took the one that was out and left the one from the box.

I've been doing a lot of opening blister packs (with clerks' permission) to test these "loud long rings" that so many timers are supposed to have. And leaving them. Much better than having to return them. :) Best of all is the ringing on the zero!!

That is just about the cutest timer I've seen. Thanks for looking. I find I really like Progressive items; they seem to be made well and just work.

OK, a review on my cheese slicer: I LOVE IT. There's no silly wire to break the third time you use it; you get even slices every time, pushing the handle down with the heel of your hand instead of breaking your fingers trying to hang on. Oh yeah, it's grood.