My Next Kitchen

As many a hostess may know, using a ladle to dish up the last few spoonfuls of a casserole from a large pot can leave you in a bit of a stew.The scraping noises from the round-bottomed utensil rubbing against the bottom of the serving dish does nothing to enhance a dinner party's ambience, while tilting the pot to fish out those remaining juicy morsels looks rather inelegant.

Times have been tough for AGA, but don't worry they have not taken to drinking toxic metals. In fact, they have added to their collection of luxury appliance brands with the acquisition of one of the best manufacturers of modern-designed, oven range packages in the UK – Mercury.

Yes, it seems as though AGA's traditional oil-fired, heat-store ovens fell out of favour in the Summer of 2008 when oil prices soared. Running an oil or gas-fed, always-on set of ovens was turning out to be a very expensive proposition and didn't exactly tick the 'green' box did it? AGA has fought back by introducing its line of conventional oven packages with the beauty of the traditional AGA look. But it seems the public needs some convincing that these ranges are 'green' or at least economical as well as beautiful.

Salton has released the latest appliance in its successful George Foreman branded range. The new  small kitchen appliance is the George Foreman Stick Mixer.

Salton marketing manager Lizete Leder says, "Looking for a great gift for those with small kitchens? This powerful 600 watt hand-held George Foreman stick mixer and its accessories takes the place of several larger appliances in any kitchen."