Kate's Global Kitchen: Gifts to Shrink Your Cookprint

the appetizer:

Kate brings Mother's Day and Earth Day together with greener kitchen gifts. For special recipes for your special Mom, visit our Mother's Day Menu Guide (with more gift ideas), and in What to Eat This Month Kate goes vegetarian (almost).

Mother Earth and Mother's Day:
Gifts to Shrink Your Cookprint

by Kate Heyhoe

Earth Day reminds us to be greener all year round. Buying new stuff doesn't make green sense, unless the stuff helps shrink your overall cookprint. Compared to their conventional counterparts, these items can actually improve your energy efficiency in the kitchen. And if you've got a special mother in your world, consider these gifts with Mother Earth in mind. (Mother's Day is the second Sunday in May, and Earth Day is April 22nd.)

Hotpan Thermal Cooking: Saves Energy

It's not that Europeans haven't told us about thermal cooking. After all, they've been using this method of energy efficient cooking for centuries, in the form of homemade hay box cookers (in which hot pots were started on a stove, then tucked into straw-lined boxes, and left to cook using only retained ambient heat). Now, with global warming and fuel costs out of control, it's an idea worth revisiting. And with Kuhn Rikon's colorful new Hotpan Cook & Serve Sets, embracing the concept just got easier.

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Hotpan Thermal Cooking: Saves Energy, at NewGreenBasics.com

Top Chop: Architec Cork Cutting Boards

Cutting boards get greener, and handsomer, everyday. The latest model to cross my countertop is the Architec Cork Cutting Board. According to the company, it's made of small particles of cork adhered together using heat and pressure, like traditional wine corks.

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Top Chop: Architec Cork Cutting Boards, at NewGreenBasics.com

Pressure Cooker Skillet: Does Double Duty

Kuhn Rikon, the same Swiss company behind the Hotpan Cook & Serve Sets, is a leader in energy efficient pressure cookers. Two of their most versatile, quick-cooking products are the Duromatic Pressure Fry Pan and the Pressure Braiser.

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Pressure Cooker Skillet: Does Double Duty, at NewGreenBasics.com

Capresso Kettle Boils Water Better

An electric tea kettle always makes my list of handy, green appliances, because it boils water with less fuel than a cooktop, shuts off automatically, and it's not just for tea. The best ones also boil water faster than water on a stove, are cordless and the heating elements are completely self-enclosed (meaning almost no fuel is wasted, unlike on a gas or electric range). The Capresso H2O Plus Water Kettle does all of this, and more.

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