New kitchen gadgets

Just a quick post about some new kitchen gadgets I got on Tuesday while I was killing some time during a split shift at work. The kitchen product store, Habitat is on the other side of town in an area that I rarely find myself.  So when I found myself with 2 hours to kill, I headed over there to see what they had.  I've been wanting to get a funnel for quite awhile, but am picky and wanted a metal one.  I've been trying to cut out plastic in kitchenware as well as concerns about BPA and other  phyleates leaching into food, specially when heated so have been out of a full sized strainer for almost a year.  At first I was scrounging thrift stores in hopes of finding good quality second hand stuff.  But metal colianders and funnels weren't to be found (granted I didn't search monthly every single shop in town), but I  have a feeling that these are items that people hang on to!  So I finally decided I would purchase them new, and hoped a kitchen store would have some awesome choices. 

I was a little surprised on how small the Habitat's selection was, as half of the store seemed focused more on kitchen related decor, but there was a corner of the store where I found a bunch of fun gizmos.  Discovered they make cake donut pans, which rather excites me.  Perhaps if they ever have a sale . . .  But for the day I walked out with this snazzy strainer, which made me want to go cook some spaghetti right away, a cool funnel that even had a little strainer that you can take in or out, and a  "magic" lid.  This lid is mostly silicone (a glass based product rather than plastic) with some metal support ribbing that using suction, will seal in moisture and freshness in what ever kind of bowl you choose (as long as the edge of the bowl is smooth and clean -- food particles would break the seal).  At the price I found it at I will only be able to afford just one of these extravagances (specially since I found similar product by a different company on a enviro website) but I feel it was worth the money to have  one on hand so I make store food in my lidless glass and metal bowls.

As an aside I appreciated the store packaging -- was a large white plain paper bag with twisted paper handles.  Perfect to be reused as a gift bag.