cooking Archives

Host smarter for under $50

🫙 My pick: Electric mason jar vacuum sealer (10% off)

Forget pricey food-savers. Press one button, and boom, it seals tighter than your grandma’s Tupperware lid.

🧊 Collapsible cooler bag (23% off): Holds up to 60 cans. Perfect for tailgating or when you’re “just grabbing a few things” from the store.

🍳 Square grill pan (8% off): No griddle? No prob. This pan has high ridges to give you those steakhouse-quality grill marks.

🍗 Chicken shredder tool (6% off): Saves you 10 minutes of wrestling with forks. Just twist, shred and you’re all done.

🎉 Elastic tablecloth (43% off, two-pack): Turns your folding table from “garage sale” to “fancy party.” Toss it in the wash, reuse, repeat.

😋 These are just the starters: Head to my Amazon shop for 35 more gadgets I handpicked to make cooking and hosting way easier.

We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.

👍👎 AI can’t read your mind: Use “do” and “don’t” in your prompts to get the results you want. Say you’re cooking for friends, and some have allergies. Say, “Create a recipe for six people. Do include protein, fruits, vegetables and carbs. Don’t include dairy products, shellfish or nuts.” Easy-peasy.

Let ChatGPT do some cooking

Open/download audio

List your ingredients and it’ll come up with a recipe. Salad dressings, full meals, and more.

🛞 Smart rubber: Pirelli and Bosch are cooking up “Cyber Tyres” that talk to your car through Bluetooth tiny sensors that measure contact patches, pressure and acceleration, then beam lifesaving data like grip loss before aquaplaning. These Fitbits for wheels were spotted on a $2.5M Pagani, but hitting normal cars in ~3 years. Imagine explaining to your great grandpa, “The tire’s Bluetooth says slow down.”

32 minutes

For what scientists call the perfect hard-boiled egg. Periodic cooking alternates between hot and cold water every two minutes to achieve cooked whites and creamy yolks. If I had 32 minutes, I wouldn’t be eating a hard-boiled egg. I ordered a chicken and an egg from Amazon today. I’ll let you know.

Let AI plan your plate: Figuring out meals for the week can be exhausting. Get ChatGPT to handle it by prompting, “Plan a week of simple, healthy meals I can cook, and make a grocery list with the exact ingredients.” You can ask it to include cooking steps and portion sizes to match your calorie goals. Pro tip: Tell it what’s in your fridge for meal ideas. Bon appétit!

Cooking up Labor Day steals

🧊 My pick: Countertop ice maker (17% off)

Forget frantic gas station runs. This cranks out 26.5 lbs of cubes in a day. Plenty for parties, road trips and your iced coffee (or tea) addiction.

🍱 Meal prep containers (20% off, 50-pack): Hosting a cookout? Load these up with leftovers, and send your guests home full and grateful.

🔥 Air fryer paper liners (30% off, 400 pcs): Heat-proof, nonstick and BPA-free. Translation: less scrubbing, more snacking.

🍽️ Stainless steel tongs (27% off, two-pack): Silicone tips mean no scratches on pans. They have 4.8 stars from 33,000+ rave reviews.

💦 Rotating water filter (29% off): Goodbye, icky chlorine taste. Hello, fresh-tasting water straight from the tap.

😎 Summer’s almost over: Shop these Labor Day markdowns while they last. I’ve rounded up even more winners on my Amazon shop.

We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.

🚚 See-through Prime: Amazon’s cooking up AR glasses for the masses, but drivers get the beta first. Their version has turn-by-turn directions glowing in the lens. Sure, your package might land three houses over, but at least the driver got to feel like Iron Man on the way. Consumer release? 2027.

Too hot to handle

👩‍🍳 Forget Gordon Ramsay. These gadgets bring the fun and the flavor.

🔥 King of the grill: Alpha Grillers’ BBQ set (34% off) has all the tools you need to rule burger night.
☕ Double the whisk: From lattes to matcha, 238,000+ folks gave this milk frother (20% off) 4.4 stars.
🥘 One-pot wonder: With 18 functions, this rice cooker (10% off) can steam, sauté, you name it.
🧂 Shake things up: These electric salt and pepper grinders (41% off) do all the twisting for you.
🍿 Pop culture: Snoopy says ditch the microwave bags for a Peanuts-themed popcorn maker ($35).

🎁 Not sure what to grab?An Amazon gift card never disappoints. Then see what else is cooking on my storefront.

We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.

🚗 Shock and vroom: Ford says it’s cooking up an EV so revolutionary, it’ll make the original Model T look like a horse and buggy. On Aug. 11, CEO Jim Farley promises to show off a sub-$25K electric car that’s built to scale, fast, cheap and U.S.-powered.

Pan-demonium, solved

🏠 Time to evict the grime and get organized.

☕ Brew-tiful: A broken coffee maker will wreck your morning. Descaler solution (41% off) keeps it running for years.

✨ You missed a spot: This crevice brush (20% off) tackles the gunk your mop avoids like the plague.

🕳️ Clogged drain? Don’t call a plumber. Snake cleaners (20% off, eight-pack) pull the plug on nasty blockages.

🧽 Steel the deal: These double-sided wool dishcloths (30% off, 10-pack) scrub and shine without leaving a scratch.

🍽️ Tidy tiers: Fit all your cookware on this organizer rack (15% off). Yes, even your giant roasting pan.

🔥 Fewer hot messes: See what’s cooking on my Amazon store for more kitchen gear and smart tools that’ll make life way easier.

We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.

OpenAI wants your tabs: OpenAI’s cooking up its own AI-powered web browser to go toe-to-toe with Chrome. It’s Chromium-based, ChatGPT-loaded and maybe a little nosy. The goal? Bury Google in your bookmarks and snag all that sweet, sweet user data while it’s at it.

Gourmet gear

👩‍🍳 Cooking is way more fun with the right stuff.

These stretchy food huggers ($18) keep your fruits and veggies fresh.
Grab a four-pack of ice cube trays (10% off) to pop ’em without twisting.
Messy microwave? This splatter cover (5% off) means less cleanup later.
Shave your cheese and more with a handheld rotary grater (20% off).
Meat lovers, BBQ like a pro using a set of shredder claws (41% off).

🦖 Jurassic breakfast: This mini-waffle maker (30% off) turns batter into dinosaur-shaped treats in minutes.

We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.

🍝 Tunes al dente: Next time you boil pasta, skip the timer and hit play instead. Barilla’s Spotify playlists are perfectly timed for cooking different pasta types. When the music stops, your food’s ready to eat. Choose from Italian pop, indie or hip-hop artists to find your perfect vibe.

🔥 SharkNinja recall: If you’ve got a Ninja Foodi OP300 Series pressure cooker, stop using it right now! Over 1.8 million units are being recalled because the lid can open while cooking and eject hot food at terminal velocity. These were sold from 2019 through March 2025 (full model list here). You can fill out a recall form to get a free replacement.

Not all “Hey, babe” DMs are created equal: Oh, shocker! Two guys are suing OnlyFans because, brace yourself, they weren’t actually chatting with the models they subscribed to. Turns out, some creators outsource fan messages. That flirty “I love your cooking 🥺” message was probably written by Chad in a WeWork.

Alexa+ is here … kinda: The gall! Amazon’s new $20/month (Yikes!) AI assistant is rolling out to newer Alexa devices, but a few hyped-up features are MIA. Right now, you can order an Uber, get cooking advice and upload docs for summaries. Storytelling for kids, recognizing who’s in the room and chore reminders are coming. FYI, smarter Alexa is free if you pay for Prime.

Relaxation goodies

🛀 You know you need ‘em.

Tough holidays? Roll this migraine stick ($13) on your temples, forehead and neck to tackle your headache.
Pair this bath pillow (20% off) with a bathtub wine holder ($14) and forget all your worries. Ahh.
Holiday cooking is basically a full-time job. Heel your feet with a wooden foot roller ($15).
A heated, vibrating gua sha stone ($55)? Say less.
What’s your favorite tea? Oolong? Earl Grey? Jasmine? Chamomile? This tea sampler box has ‘em all.

We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.

Gifts that give them something to do

🏡 And they won’t even have to leave the house.

Stop spending hours in the candle aisle trying to guess what scent they like. They can make their own with this kit!
A cozy cup holder is great for movie lovers … or anyone who doesn’t want to tear apart an entire sectional looking for a lost remote.
You’ll have the hottest gift of the day with a hot sauce-making kit. Maybe pair it with a gallon of 2%.
A dream decoder ($16) might help them figure out why they keep dreaming about pugs wearing tuxedos.
For the person who loves YouTube and podcasts more than crafting, these headphones sound as good* as models three times the price.
A sushi-making kit (23% off, $8), because paying $16 for a California roll at a restaurant is lunacy.
Channel Columbo with a fun murder mystery game (33% off).
This cookbook (29% off) has 100 recipes straight from Disney’s parks. And yes, it has the Magic Kingdom Dole Whip. Mmm.
This book (34% off) is like paint-by-numbers but with stickers. Even I can do that!

We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.

💸 Another flop for Harry and Meghan: Their $100 million Netflix deal is on shaky ground. “Polo,” their new series focusing on the world of elite equestrian sports, has been ridiculed by critics as “unintentionally hilarious.” I tried to watch it, but it was so bad. The couple never did the animated series Netflix signed for, either. Meghan’s reputation as being extremely difficult to work with isn’t helping matters, and her cooking show is going up in smoke, too. PSA: Working for a living takes up your whole day.