A Dicey Contraption: OXO's Over the Sink Cutting Board

Here's a dicey contraption you'll love to love when you're making salsa or pico de gallo. The OXO GOOD GRIPS Over the Sink Cutting Board is great for saving counter space for the rest of the assembly line, among other things. This bad boy stretches to fit over any sink and has a perforated stainless steel food basket that sits beside the board which you can slide to your heart's desire so that when you dice up your tomatoes, you can just push everything right in there. Then, pull out the basket and bring it to your mixing bowl.

We love the easy transfer of "Stuff" and the fact that the juice leftover can make it straight to the sink. Our dogs, however, are wildly disappointed with this on account of the mess-free kitchen floor. Non-slip edges, odor free and won't dull your dicing knives. Plus it's dishwasher safe. Translation: It's kinda awesome.

A Dicey Contraption: Nicer Dicer

After I admit that, yes, I do have a thing for cheesy late night gadget infomercials, I will explain to you why, for a change, they may be worth while during your evening insomnia.

I saw an infomercial the other night advertising--in typical over-the-top "you need this" fashion--something called the Nicer Dicer. It's basically a kitchen gadget that cuts prep time by allowing users to put half an onion (tomato, pepper, mushrooms, etc.) on the waffle blade, press the lid down, and voila... the whole thing lands in a plastic container in tiny pieces. Now I'm not the type to spend $50 on the "...and if you call now, we'll throw in these ten useless items you won't know where to store," so I did a bit of homework.

What did I find? A bargain perhaps? You betcha. My favorite NYC time waster, Bed Bath and Beyond, carries a similar product by a company called Progressive. It runs $14 and while it may not be something to bring into the restaurant kitchen, it most certainly does the trick. I made a chop salad, bruchetta, omelets and you better believe this with make a swell pico de gallo or salsa for your nachos. It also has measurement markings on the bottom so you don't over Stuff to Chip (of course they did that knowingly). So pick one up, throw anything in there, dice to your heart's content and then load those chips with your favorite Stuff in a jiffy.

And if you call now... ok, just kidding.