Some new stuff

I thought I'd do a bit of a round-up every now and then to present things that are new to me, and that I like. These particular ones have been sent to me for review by the way - good to know!



Microplane Herb Mill
This is such a neat little thing - in theory. You place fresh herbs in it, twist it and get freshly cut herbs on your plate. And it does work well, but you do need to get acquainted with it. I had some problems getting it to work properly right off the bat - I used cilantro, and most of it ended up on the sides of the container rather than at the bottom, where it needs to be in order to be chopped. I thought it was empty, but when I went to rinse it out, found tons of caught sprigs at the sides, which felt very wasteful. I think I can avoid it next time, though! And a word of warning - the mill looks very soft to the touch, round-cornered and all, but the bottom is SUPER SHARP. My toddler was really interested in it, since it looked so approachable, but I had to be very careful because of the blades.



Heinz Special edition
Fancy ketchup! It's made with balsamic vinegar rather than regular, and it makes a pretty big change to what can otherwise be a very ordinary condiment. It tastes a lot richer, and more like a mix between ketchup and HP-sauce. I liked it, but won't be using it on plain pasta (as I do normal ketchup) - more as an ingredient in sauces, stews and glazes.



Organic Persian Delight tea, by Mighty Leaf
This was actually a really, really good tea. I didn't expect to be much of a fan since it's (among other things) rose-flavored, but it was actually very good. And very high quality - the leaves are long and won't make a mess in your cup, and you can see many of the other ingrededients plainly - including whole pistachios which might not give a lot of flavor but was a neat touch. It was really aromatic, and my only complaint would be that it's pretty high in caffeine, which doesn't make it very suitable for an evening cup of tea. (Oh well!)