This week I got pretty fed up with purchases we have recently made and that were not working for me.
And then. Then there was one that was so awesome. I’m sharing it all today.
Here’s what works, what doesn’t and what’s next!
I’ll be asking your opinion on the what’s next, so stay tuned!
Walmart Beautiful Brand Appliances
There is no argument from me that Drew Barrymore’s line of appliances is beautiful and deserves that title. I mean, c’mon. A beautiful appliance?
But that they are.
I was first tempted into buying the toaster when my old stainless went kaput.
Now, I don’t keep my toaster out on my counter, so the looks of it aren’t really that important. But the toaster got solid reviews and I bought it.
And at the end of the day. Meh, I am keeping it but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it either. Unless you want a truly beautiful appliance in your kitchen.
It toasts up my beloved sourdough, so that’s what’s important, right?
Electric tea kettles don’t last too long in my house because they are being used nonstop. When my last one croaked, I gravitated to the Beautiful kettle.
And it is. Except. It isn’t great. As in it leaks. So it always has stains on it and leaves a mess on the counter. And the leakage seems to affect the operation so half the time I would get an error code instead of a pot of hot water.
It looked so pretty on my beverage bar.
But this weekend I was fed up!
Dearest hub took (another) trip to Costco and got me a plain Jane $30 Chefman tea kettle.
Shopping at Costco is such a safe bet because their warranty is so exhaustive and easy.
I won’t go into the features of this kettle, but it’s just fine!!
Gourmia Air Fryer
When our Cuisinart countertop oven/air fryer died, it was a no brainer to replace it because we happily used it every day.
But when it came time to replace it, the Gourmia brand was what Costco was featuring and we knew we wanted to purchase there.
On the bright side, it has a huge baking capacity. As in it will fit a turkey.
And it takes up a fair amount of real estate in our kitchen.
On the dark side, it in no way serves as an air fryer.
I made hub Air Fryer Chicken Thighs from Skinnytaste and they are supposed to come out brown and crispy.
And while he reported the flavor to be good, the texture is not at all what I was going for.
The fries came out decently crisp, but the chicken did not.
So the decision is that we will keep this appliance and use it as a countertop oven, but we are in the market for a true air fryer.
This is what I need your advice for.
Ninja, hands-down, seems to get the best reviews and the Crispi seems interesting. Costco is currently backordered on their model.
And I would rather wait until Amazon Prime days to take advantage of everyone’s low prices for the season.
Thoughts?
Harper Hand Truck
Way back in 2017 we purchased a smallish (400 pound capacity) hand truck from Amazon.
We are getting some new rock and other landscaping done this week, so I loaded up all the patio cushions and rolled them right down our new sidewalk into the garage.
John and I took a moment to appreciate how frequently this baby has been used and how handy it is. I would highly recommend tucking one of these into your garage.
Wrap Up
The Phoenix metro area was treated to a very late monsoon season deluge this week. There was flooding and some of our plans were overturned.
But all in all we are so delighted with the perfect weather.
And that rainbow at the top is the icing on the cake we saw Friday evening.
We have always heard rainbows are a sign of one of God’s promises to us, and I’m holding that tight today.