Attended this private viewing of upcoming product launches for  home, kitchen and beverage products from All-Clad, KRUPS, Lagostina, Rowenta and T-fal.

Although it was a sweltering 90 degrees outside, the theme was Christmas and I must admit it was fun (and informative) celebrating #HalfwaytotheHolidays in July.

See below for photos of the upcoming brand launches. The highlight of the event was All-Clad’s Prep & Cook.  They’re positioning it as your very own sous chef in the kitchen. It’ll set you back about $1000 but it’s like a miracle-worker. To make asparagus soup, for example, you put all the ingredients in the machine and it knows how long to cook before it needs to start chopping and then simmering. They were also touting the Prep & Cook’s risotto-making prowess.

But here’s what I absolutely loved: Lagostina Hammered Copper Products.

• Beautiful to look at, functional, well thought out and not too expensive.
• If anyone wants to leave one of these under my tree at Christmas, I will be super grateful.

 

And then there’s the Prep & Cook

 

The Prep & Cook does it all for you with a touch of a button whether you’re a novice or an expert chef supposedly.

• Here’s the deal though, it’s a gigantic machine that will take up all your counter space. Although I use my Cuisinart every time I cook, I don’t see myself using this machine. It looks really challenging to clean and you have to use their recipes for it to really work. Just too much trouble to chop an onion this way. I may be wrong but please don’t get me one of these.