I don't know about their cookware, but my SIL gave me one of their choppers for Christmas one year, and I really like to use it when I have a lot to chop at one time! I had tried a similar chopper from Sur La Table (this was years ago, though) but I ended up returning it because it was more trouble to use and clean than I thought it was worth. The Pampered Chef version of the chopper is very easy to use and to clean -- it pulls apart easily, rinses easily, and is easy to put together again once it is dry. For small jobs, a knife is easier to use and clean, obviously, but if you are doing a dish with lots of fine dicing etc, it is a real time-saver...and kinda fun, too. Oh yeah...when my dd damaged one of the parts by putting it into the dishwasher, I was able to get a replacement part easily (not cheaply, lol, but easily!) So, sorry, no help on the cookware, but I can heartily recommend their chopper...

The reason why Pampered Chef pizza stones don't need to be preheated is because they are thinner than most other baking stones. Thicker and heavier pizza stones are more likely to break if they are cold and you stick them into a hot oven. Another thing that makes Pampered Chef's stones different and in some cases better is that it's ok to bake foods that have oil such as cookies on them because they have a surface that isn't porous. Here is a link that might be useful: Perfect Pizzas Every Time With The Pampered Chef Pizza Stone

From the looks of the photo you posted, that's a LOT of plastic for $19.95. My experience with PC products over the years is that they are way, way over-priced and--at least the stuff I've purchased has been of VERY low quality. Before your sister drops that kind of money on a piece of plastic, she might want to check her local restaurant supply store--I find professional gadgets are of generally far better quality than PC, although pricewise they're often comparable. Or she could check online sources like Williams-Sonoma, or Fante's (In Philadelphia's Italian Market--a VERY good store that sells high end kitchen items) Just looking at the photo, it's hard to imagine that thing would be able to handle something solid like a carrot, or fibrous like asparagus very well, for very long. And there's another question--how do you sharpen the blades? They're not going to keep an edge for very long. Also, looks like it would be a bear to clean, getting in between all those blades and spaces. Me? I prefer to do my slicing and chopping with a good knife and board. That way I control the size, shape, etc. Clean-up is easy and I don't have a lot of extra 'stuff' to find homes for.

Redcurls, I read several years ago that it's not necessary to preheat the oven when you're cooking a roast, or something that's cooking for a long time. I got in the habit of doing that. When something is being cooked for a couple of hours, I don't bother preheating. I doubt I'd ever put a refrigerated casserole into a hot oven anyway. It surprised me, since it's stoneware.