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24-hour Dream Kitchen Makeover

by on ‎10-28-2011 12:59 PM

Wow, Christmas is coming and if you're like me, you always think you have more time to shop than you really do! I absolutely love to shop. I don't care if it's window shopping, mall shopping, or online shopping. I love product, and I love new. I really appreciate design and thoughtfulness when it comes to product, especially in the epicenter of the home our kitchens. 

 

As you can imagine, I get a lot of people asking me for ideas for their kitchen. It started me thinking that I bet apart from appliances like dishwashers and refrigerators, a person could buy all of the key products to complete a dream kitchen makeover during our QVC 24-hour Cooking on Q event this Sunday. Imagine if you could buy everything for your dream kitchen makeover in just one spot? Let's dream it up...

 

We need to start with a great all-purpose set of pots and pans. There are two ways to go here, and it's really up to personal taste. Do we want a bright pop of cookware color in our kitchen or a classic cookware look? Right now RED is the most popular kitchen color on QVC. For red cookware, I personally would go with Rachael Ray's 13-piece set (K35534); for a more classic look, Technique's hard anodized set (K34151). Both choices offer great heat conductivity and an array of shapes and sizes for the home cook.

 

Great flatware is next on the list, and luckily for us Reed & Barton is in the house! I like (H191802), Fluted Elegance. It's a tremendous offering of 98 pieces and should match just about any décor. I love having friends and family over and in order to do that gracefully, you need plenty of flatware.

 

Next basic consideration: knives. I love knives, and QVC has a lot of choices. K24949 ensures that you will always have one great, basic chef's knife with a 3-stage wet sharpener included, so this makes sense for any kitchen.

 

Ceramic bakers (K30945) from Rachel Ray are a must have in your new kitchen. This set of Rachael Ray ceramic bakeware/serveware will cover you in so many ways, you'll wonder how you got by without it. I love the modern lines and the colors she chose. 

 

Ok, no kitchen would be complete without some of my favorite electric appliances. Waring Pro's Breakfast Express (K32266) is one of the most useful electrics I've found. I used this on vacation and made breakfast for all 10 of us with no problem. It's so fast and fun, and it literally makes any type of breakfast food (waffles, pancakes, omelettes, even eggs over easy!).  

 

A game changer for me and for this dream kitchen would have to be the Vitamix (K30741). I make everything in it from smoothies to soups! It's one of those items you wouldn't splurge on unless a great friend told you about it. Well I'm telling you about it...buy it and experiment with whole foods. Your body will say,'ahhh!'

 

For anyone that bakes even a little, you need the ultimate appliance: the grand and beautiful KitchenAid stand mixer. I love this version because it has a glass mixing bowl that makes it even more of a stand-out item in the kitchen, PLUS I love being able to see what's going on inside the mixing bowl.

 

You can't really talk about a kitchen without discussing some java. If I got a huge tax return, I would buy the Jura (K124990). This is the ultimate in super-automatic espresso and coffee machines. It's so fancy that it automatically draws your steamed, foamed milk for your cappuccino. WOW. For a more affordable option, try the Keurig (K34705). I bought one of these for my parents and they loved it so much that they bought another one for their downstairs. That way, they could enjoy easy coffee and tea anywhere in the house.

 

OK, if I was staging this kitchen, I'd have to showcase some great olive oil and salts. My good friend, Blue Jean Chef Meredith Laurence, has a set of 4 salts (M25331) complete with refillable grinders that I can't live without. One of the four flavors is smoked salt. Enough said. As forolive oil, Olevano (M26255) is a great choice for delicious extra virgin olive oil.

 

Some other things I love in my kitchen:

K10818: The Prepology Bunny Lifter: This amazing can opener never touches your food, keeping your food clean as well as the opener itself.

K8277: 2-piece Prepology Tong Set: The silicone will never melt on your hot stovetop and is excellent for grabbing.

K28931: Prepology 4-piece Tool Set: Practical, useful, and updated kitchen basics make this set a winner.

K8276: Prepology Silicone Spreaders: Just leave these beauties out for a few days and you'll be amazed at how often you'll reach for them!

K22218: Rachel Ray Mopines: Handy towels for grabbing hot things and drying dishes. Very cool.

K31677: Trivetless Bakeware by Technique: Near and dear to my heart because it took a lot of inventive development to pull this one off, this set is 5-star rated from our QVC customers, which makes me smile.

K24934: Set of 3 Splatter Guards from Prepology: You need to click on the video on QVC.com to check out all the exciting ways to use these otherwise traditional splatter guards. Another top-rated item that will exceed your expectations.

K34861: Color-Changing Oven Thermometer: Coolest one on the planet. Not only does it measure your temp. for perfectly cooked roasts, but it actually changes color for visual cues.

K30602: Prepology 9-piece Nano Silver Food storage set: Pick these up for excellent food storage that prolongs the life of your leftovers!  

 

My new favorite item is the Prepology Microwave Pressure Cooker ( K34167). Anytime I can prepare a quick chili in 15 minutes without using a pot, I'm all in! We took the two fastest cooking devices in the world a microwave and a pressure cooker and made them work in harmony. Gotta love that!

 

PHEW! I could go on all day because QVC offers so many great products. Thanks for dreaming with me! See you at the 24-hour cooking event this Sunday, October 30.

 

–Eric