Gadgets galore at the housewares show
Exhausted and exhaustive. That pretty well sums up the day I spent hoofing around McCormick Place during the International Home and Housewares Show earlier this month.
Some 1,800 exhibitors settled into the massive convention center showcasing everything from strawberry hullers and bamboo toaster tongs to programmable rice cookers and induction cooktops.
The array of products was truly overwhelming and also inspiring.
After spying the Herb Mincer from Copco's Smart Gadget line, I couldn't wait to get home and prepare basil for pizza. I thought I was clever when I used my pizza wheel to make quick work of the little leaves, but the four sharp plastic blades in this hand-held gadget roll right over my bright idea. The mincer costs $9.99 and should be available in stores this spring.
I also thought the Branch Skewer from chef'n was pretty darn cool. It's a long skewer with three shorter skewers angled out from each side so it looks like, duh, a branch. What a great way to grill and flip meat, fish and veggie kebabs. It's $11.99 and should be available later this spring.
Green food: Being green in the kitchen isn't just about what materials you cook with or how much you recycle or compost. It's also about what you eat, and a couple of books address just that part of the equation.
In "The Gorgeously Green Diet" (2009 Plume), Sophie Uliano lays out plans purging your pantry of items packed with additives, rethinking shopping to include more local products and learning to grow and cook some of your own food. You'll also find some great tips (steam-fry garlic and onions) and recipes (like Coconut, Walnut and Banana Muffins and Three Mushroom Fettuccine).
Recipes are the main focus in Jackie Newcent's "The Big Green Cookbook" (2009 Wiley). Newcent, a dietitian, makes good on her promise of hundreds of "planet-pleasing recipes" with dishes like Chicken Luau (pound breasts flat and they'll cook faster) and Kool Kiwi Cheesecake Parfait (swap in locally available fruit). The book is even printed on post-consumer wastepaper with soy-based ink. How's that for lowering the carbon footprint?
Spring training: Get in shape for spring with tips from nutrition expert David Grotto and personal trainer Nicki Anderson at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 27, at Anderson's Bookshop, 123 Jefferson Ave., Naperville.
Grotto, an Elmhurst dietitian, will reveal insights from his new book "101 Optimal Life Foods" while Anderson, owner of Reality Fitness studio in downtown Naperville, shares her guides to physical well-being.
• Contact Food Editor Deborah Pankey at food@dailyherald.com or (847) 427-4524. Listen to her discuss food and restaurant trends on Restaurant Radio Chicago, 5 to 6 p.m. Saturdays on WIND 560 AM.