This week I spoke with eager salespeople at the Spring Home and Garden Show in Vancouver. They were all there to show off the latest and greatest in kitchen appliances, cabinets, countertops, flooring, and almost anything else to do with your kitchen.
In a first, Sharp has developed a microwave oven in a drawer. This oven can be placed under your countertop, and opens and closes with the push of a button. Cool. Costs about $900. Also hot right now are fridges that come in drawers you put under the counter. A pair will cost you about $4000 dollars.
If you have $3500 to drop, and a spot under your cupboards, how about this stainless steel entertainment unit from Dacor? This has everything: Internet ready, cable-ready, plays DVDs, CDs, FM Radio, can even receive a signal from a camera at your front door so you can see who’s ringing the bell.
Andrew MacDonald of Saeco showed me his new ‘Easy’ espresso machine. $850, but it does everything from grinding the beans to brewing the coffee to kicking out the spent grounds. I have a slightly less fancy model at home, and I absolutely love it. Yes, it cost a lot of money, but think of all the money you save every morning by just pushing one button to make your espresso and steaming your own milk.
In this item I also spoke with Daniela Hammond of Valley Countertops in Abbotsford, BC. We talked about Silestone, a quartz-based countertop material that can take almost anything you can throw at it. But you know what? If you can’t afford a new countertop, check out The Counter Guy resurfacing specialists. They can make your old countertops look like new again by applying an acrylic coating. And if you think that this whole idea of spending thousands and thousands of dollars on fancy kitchen gear is a crock, I highly recommend an article in this winter’s on-line edition of The New Atlantis. Christine Rosen has written a well-researched article called Are We Worthy of Our Kitchens?
And never forget…a good cook can cook in any kitchen.
If you want to listen to this week’s show, click here . And if you want to listen to a more in-depth version of this item, check out my latest All You Can Eat podcast.
