If I ever had to choose my favorite spicing or flavor, I’m pretty sure I’d choose garlic. It’s beyond delicious, and the health benefits of garlic are endless: great for your heart, metablolisim, keeping your cholesterol down, and cancer prevention. If garlic is a staple in your cooking, than you know it can be tricky to prepare; chopping, mincing, and peeling can be a real pain. Since I use garlic in my kitchen almost everyday, I needed to find a way to make garlic prep a less time-intensive task. There are a LOT of options available, and through trial and error I’ve found that only a few products work well.

First up are these Silicone Garlic Peelers, which give us yet another reason to love the wonderfully versitile kitchen item that is silicone. It’s grippy (not sticky) texture is what enables it to peel garlic quickly and easily. Simply drop in 1-3 garlic cloves, roll the garlic peeler on a hard surface for a few seconds, and viola! Peeled garlic cloves in seconds.

Next, I present the OXO Garlic Press. Outside of the Pampered Chef and Rösle garlic presses (which are both quite expensive), the OXO is the only garlic press that really works well. Unlike many other brands, even large cloves won’t squish up and out from the sides. Now I can mince my garlic in an instant, and cleaning the press out isnt a hassle either. Thanks to the little reverse cap, you can “flush” out garlic skin and other junk that you couldnt mince. I love the fact it’s so heavy duty, and I know I wont ever have to replace it.

Keeping food fresh can be tricky. Various foods need different enviroments to stay fresh their longest. Though garlic doesnt need to be refridgerated, it does need a cool, dry, dark, and well ventilated place to reside in until you are ready to use it. This terracotta Garlic Keeper is exactly what you’re garlic needs to stay fresh on your countertop. With it’s raised garlic design, no one will wonder whats inside.

$6.95-13.50

Valentine’s day evokes many memories and feelings, though mine are somewhat different from the norm. Being a single gal, Valentine’s isn’t just about romance at my house. Instead, it’s taken on a new form, and is essentially a great reason to bake/decorate/eat beautiful sweets.

At the top of the list are cupcakes, which are a subject close to my heart. My newest love in the cupcake realm is silicone bakeware: I cannot praise it enough. My favorite part is obviously the non-stick capabilities, and growing assortment of shapes. I also love the fact that it’s lightweight, easy to wash, and won’t break like glass bakeware. Here’s an extra cute *PINK* silicone mini muffin pan from Tar-jay.

For those of you with multiple batches to bake, take a look at this *RED* 24 cup silicone muffin pan with sled (available at Target, too).
Or if you’d really rather bake a whole cake, here’s a large heart shaped silicone pan (also available from Target).

I also found these heart shaped pancake molds from Lillian Vernon, and heart shaped waffle iron from Hearth Song. Why is it that food instantly seems more appealing when it’s heart shaped? I’ll never know. I like the idea of serving your loved ones “I <3 U" pancakes, for breakfast in bed. But these are great for anytime or year, and all ages. After all, in this world or drive-thrus and take-out, people always enjoy lovingly prepared home-made goodies.

Presentation is everything, so after you’ve made your yummy cupcakes, you’ve gotta serve em’ up right! Treat all your Valentines to hand painted sugar-sweet place settings to go with their dessert. Each set is comprised of a heart shaped plate and mug, with an over all “candy heart” theme. They even have matching embroidered placemats.

So if you’re fretting over what your Valentine’s Day plans will be, try something different! Stock up on supplies and plan a sweets-sampling get together for all the loved ones in your life.

COUPON: At Lillian Vernon, get 10% off orders $75+ (enter Media/Promotional Code 066850100 in your shopping cart) or 15% off orders $100+ (use code 076850100).

The retro styling of kitchen appliances in our modern homes can bring back nostalgic memories for some or simply inspire others to create. When kitchen appliances look so attractive, you’ll undoubtedly want to keep them out on the counter and they’ll get used more often. There is a company named Elmira Stove Works that hand crafts the larger kitchen appliances like stoves, refrigerators, and dishwashers, to look like they came from the 50’s without loosing our 21st century technology. I’m impressed by their color choices, especially pink!

Because we all can’t afford an entirely new kitchen I’m going to focus more on the smaller appliances and kitchen accessories that compliment your retro furniture and larger appliances. DeLonghi makes some good looking retro toasters in 2 slice and 4 slice sizes. Both are available through Kitchen Etc. They also sell a cute retro teakettle in bubble gum pink.

Target has a good selection of retro items including a square dinnerware collection available in white, blue, green, and coffee. As far as blenders go, HomeVisions has a nice retro style blender that has some nice features like a soft-start feature that prevents splattering. Now just because we like pink so much here at Mable’s I have to mention the retro styled bread bin in “shocking pink” from KitchenEtc.

RELATED: Retro Furniture, Retro Phone, Vintage Bathroom.