foodtvandme.com is the unofficial food network fansite with news, reviews, and my attempts at those great recipes you see on tv.

This post isn’t entirely Food Network related, I have to warn you, but it is certainly entertaining and definitly pertains to the cooking world in general.  More specifically, it relates to all those darn appliances we use in our homes that could be replaced by the common multi-tasker, the knife. 

Erica Marcus, of Newsday.com, hits the nail on the head when she describes all those useless appliances that we think we need when we see them on TV, but end up loathing once we put them intopractice.  She pays omage to the multi-tasking gadget king, Alton Brown, and when she explains the uselessness of a bagel slicer:

• I have a great bagel slicer at home … It’s called … a knife.  If you lay the bagel on its side, insert the bread knife around its equator, and then hold the knife steady while you rotate the bagel, you will obviate the need for what Alton Brown calls “a uni-tasker” (i.e., a tool that can only perform one task).

This was a very amusing article.  I have to admit I have a few of the stupid gadgets she talks about (the “as seen on TV” mini chopper, for one) and as I read what she said about them, I was a bit embarassed and agreed with her almost whole heartedly.  If you are like me, and like to comisurate with others who buy useless kitchen products, check her article out.