A field test on a potato peeler--that just strikes me as funny. Glad you like it; I like them too. As for butternut squash, aren't those just the most difficult vegetables to deal with??? Every time I successfully cut one I feel like I've escaped a dangerous situation.

Those OXO ones look good to me! I like how easy it is to control the grind. I just have a cheap (10 dollars) Old Thompson (Thomas?) pepper mill that works fine... but I use it for cooking only. I don't think it would look good on a table. I'll tell you what NOT to buy... the Chefn' bunny ear contraptions. You have to squeeze forever and a day to get any amount of salt or pepper out of them. The squeeze mechanism on the first set I had broke within a month. The replacements haven't, but only because I stopped using them. They are hard to fill and somehow moisture got into the salt one and made it ineffective. I've been pretty happy with my Oxo stuff, the mandoline and salad spinner. A brand I will never buy anything from again is Onieda, total junk! At least the box grater hasn't rusted yet... but after terrible experiences with garlic press, meat mallet, and ice cream scoop, I will steer clear. Bed, Bath and Beyond does have a return policy (I made sure of that when I bought a 140 dollar iron... didn't want to be stuck with something that didn't live up to its claims, but so far it's OK), so I'd say to try it and see what you think. Just one thing... be sure to let us know what you get and what you think of it when you decide!

Tami, I got a nice jar of crabapple jelly from LindaC once, it was delicious and a lovely pink color, they'd make nice gifts. I also remember Grandma making me run a darning needle through the crabapples, from stem to bottom, so she could make spiced crabapples, much like those cinnamon apple rings, but whole crabapples. And no peeling! Annie

Over the last couple of years I have begun to eliminate plastic storage of any kind from my kitchen. As things wore out or went missing, I turned to using my canning jars for storing things. As things evolved, I now use them for almost everything. They are great to store excess and to store leftovers. You can see everything in them, things stay very cold and the jars wash up with no residue left in them. I love them! My mom did this in the last years of her life. She had canned food out of her garden for decades and she had plenty of jars. As she got older, she had plenty of empty jars. The only problem is that now I am canning summer vegetables and my available supply is getting compromised. I have the little 1/2 pint size, to the quart size. You can even get them in larger sizes. Of course, there are some things such as left over pizza and ears of corn that need a differently shaped container. I keep a few things around for that, but mostly canning jars are what I use. I have also found that some cookware, such as covered casseroles, are great for food storage. You don't have to use them just to bake in. I will never buy any plastic storage things ever again. And, I will never replace any of them with new plastic ones. I even freeze in the glass sometimes. Although, it must be done with care with allowing room to expand and taking care when defrosting. As long as you know what you are doing, it works fine. I have a vacuum sealer that has an attachment to vacuum seal jars. That works very well for things that are time sensitive. I can also put a couple of fresh rolls or biscuits in the jars and seal them and they will keep fresh for longer. With the vacuum sealer, you can reuse the lids over and over, unlike with canning. As an added bonus I have rediscovered the joy of a "jelly jar" of iced tea in the summer. When I was growing up, that was what we used. These jars are so wonderfully versatile!