So you get to the airport, check in, pay that ridiculous bag fee, wait in security, take off your shoes, go through the scanner or get a friendly pay-down and now what. You are thirsty, you head to one of the food courts and scan for something to drink. A $5 latte, $4 juice, or maybe just a bottled water.

$3 for a bottled water. Not spring water. No reverse osmosis. Just bottled water.

Choose your favorite color filter to match your mood or your outfit.

Think about that for a second and then think about the energy it takes to recycle or re-purpose that bottle. Oh, and that bottle probably has BPA in it. Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour and most of those are thrown away and not sorted for recycling. (http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html)  According to a study published by Gleick and Cooley in 2009, producing bottled water takes as much 2,000 times the energy cost as it does to produce tap water. 1.5 million barrels of oil are used to create all the water bottles used by us each year.

Enter: The bobble.

bobble is a patented filtered water bottle for life on the move. Fill it with tap water and bobble will filter out the bad stuff as you sip. The bobble is certified BPA free as well as harmful Phthalates and PVC. bobble is made from recycled PET and is fully recyclable. Its contoured body is easy to grip and sip and the filters come in 8 colors to match your personality.

Now, back to our dilemma. You are at the airport and thirsty. This was recently my problem when traveling to the Chicago International Housewares Show. Then I remembered that I had packed my bobble with me. It was in my carry-on and being empty it made it through TSA without hassle.

Lavender: The latest addition to the bobble family.

I plucked it from my messenger bag, walked to a drinking fountain and bam, I had my water. FREE. Clean. Easy!

The bobble water bottle.

The devil is in the details: Not here! These bobbles are free of  BPA and all that other bad stuff, fully recyclable and each filter lasts between 3 and 5 months before needing to be replaced. That’s the equivalent of 300 plastic bottles. That means 300 plastic water bottles are taken out of the system.

Fashionably Green: Many of our customers by replacement filters in different colors when they buy their bobble. You can change to a different color when you need to change your filter or when you change your outfit. Pink to a picnic, black to work, yellow for running and so on.

Say hello to your new best friend and good bye to expensive plastic water bottles.

New for Spring 2011: Navy Blue & Lavender.  Available Now!

Use this pan for all baking needs with or without cupcake papers

Rain rain go away! Well, the forecast says – not any time soon! So I thought the best meal for a day like this is chili. Although chili was the main dish for dinner, it was the mini corn muffins that took the prize. Now, I’ve made cornbread a million times before – using your average 8×8 pan and cutting them into squares. Every time, it came out the same way – like cornbread. This time, I thought I would try my new USA mini muffin pan. If you do not own a USA pan, your in for a treat. These pans are lined with silicone – making it effortless to remove baked goods from. No liners or nonstick spray needed.

These little cuties popped out of the pan leaving almost nothing behind to clean. And since they were their own individual cakes, each muffin had a perfect golden crust on the bottom. They were a huge hit with the whole family and my husband even had corn muffins for breakfast the next day.

This pan will quickly become your favorite! Aluminized steel bakeware is made from sheets of cold rolled steel that have been dipped and coated on both sides with an aluminum-silicon alloy. Americoat silicone coating is environmentally friendly and does not contain PTFEs or PFOAs.

Yesterday we picked the last of the season’s tomatoes. We planted 5 varieties of heirloom tomatoes and though they yield less fruit they present the most amazing flavors. We purchased the varieties from the Davis Farmer’s Market: Amish Paste, Black Plum, Caspian Pink, Black Cherry and Anna Russian.

Heirloom tomatoes add color and unique flavors to your meal.

What better way to celebrate the end of the tomato season than to prepare the last crop as a medley of fruits and styles. This evening we made a 3 stage tomato polenta. The goal was to prepare the tomatoes as three stages, fresh cut, cooked, and simmered in a ragout of flavor to finish off an amazing comfort food: creamy polenta.

Serves: 4 to 6     Prep Time: 4 minutes     Cook Time: 25 minutes

What you need:

3 to 4 cups fresh chopped (gorgeous) tomatoes
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
Dash of white pepper
1 tsp finely chopped or pressed garlic
1 tsp finely chopped basil

2 cups dry polenta
6 Tbsp butter
½ cup gin

3 cups chicken broth
1 cup water

1 cup grated asiago
Salt & pepper to taste

These triple blade herb scissors pull apart for easy cleaning and make quick work of chopping fresh herbs.

In a large sauce pan, bring the chicken broth to a rolling boil.

In a 10″ skillet, melt 2 Tbsp butter and add 1/3 of your tomatoes and allow to simmer.

Reduce the heat on the broth and slowly add the polenta to the broth and continually stir. Make sure your polenta does not clump by keeping the heat low.

To the skillet, add garlic and herbs and reduce heat. Carefully add the gin and, if experienced, tip one end of the skillet toward the flame and allow the gin to burn off. Do not attempt this alone if you have not tried before.  Keep a fire extinguisher handy.

Add one cup of luke-warm water to the polenta, stir completely. Add the remaining butter and the cheese.

Grate hard cheeses using a fine or coarse drum with this rotary grater.

Add the next 1/3 of the tomatoes to the skillet and allow to warm. Salt and pepper to taste.

Plate the polenta and add the mixture from the skillet and now the final third of the fresh chopped tomatoes. Top with a generous amount of cheese, using the Cuisipro rotary grater, and enjoy.

Spinach & Mushroom Stuffed Breast Fillet

Serves 2     Prep Time: 6 minutes     Cook Time: 20 minutes

What you need:

BIA Individual Au Gratin Dishes are Oven to Table Bakeware Essentials

2 chicken breast fillets, boned
2 eggs
½ cup frozen spinach
1 tbsp dried, chopped onion
2 tbsp goat cheese
2 large button mushrooms, ½ inch dice
salt and pepper to taste

What you do:

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.

Using a sharp knife and a solid grip, butterfly the fillet and place open side up in a buttered, individually sized au gratin dish.

A sharp knife is a safe knife.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl. Using a fork, mix well and place a quarter of the mixture inside each breast. Fold the fillet over the mixture and roll the stuffed breast so the seam is facing down.

Spread the remaining mixture over each breast. There should be enough to nicely coat each breast and fill in the au gratin dish.
Bake for 20 minutes or until your thermometer reads 170 degrees, proper temperature for poultry.

Serve in the au gratin on a dinner plate with a leaf from your yard or a paper French leaf as garnish.