Useless Stuff I Own

This could possibly fall under 'tips' in the category of 'short cuts, tips and tricks', and if I think of some more, maybe I would put them there next time. But for now, this title seemed fitting.

My husband, Rick, often complains that I have every kitchen gadget under the sun. (While that's my dream, it just ain't true.) So I often have to remind him that I use pretty much everything I have, with some degree of frequency. However, lately I've noticed that I do own some things that, if I had the chance to do it over again, I'd have left them on the shelves or off my wish list.

First item: Wilton's 3-in-1 Cake Caddy. I had my eye on this one for a while and, thankfully, I used a 40% off coupon from Michael's to get it, so at least I didn't pay the full $19.99 MSRP. But what a waste of dough this one was.

It seemed like a good idea – it carries cupcakes, both standard and mini, as well as a full size 9 x 13 cake in a big, protective, easy-to-carry plastic dome so you don't mess up your beautiful decorating job. But as I found when I went to transport my adorable mummy cupcakes (hopefully, details on this project before Christmas), it only carries 12 standard cupcakes when a box cake mix makes 24. I've never made mini cupcakes before, but I can only presume you'd make 48 but could only safely transport 24.

In my opinion, you don't need it.

Second item: 6-Sided Box Grater. This was on our wedding gift registry at Williams Sonoma and my friend, Angie, was kind enough to get it for us. Really, 6 is just too many sides. None of them are big enough or easy to handle, I wind up scrapping my knuckles across a side I'm not using while using another side, and most of those shapes you have on other things, like a microplane.

If I had it to do all over again, I'd have ask for one of those one-sided graters that you just hold up. I had one in college that I got at a dollar store and it worked great up until about a year ago when I broke it doing something stupid. (Can't remember the specific action, but I do recall thinking it was stupid at the time.)

Third item: Little Dipper Mini Crock Pot. This one took some searching to find over the course of a couple of years. Mostly, they come along as a freebie when you buy a regular-sized crock pot. So after spending a few bucks on gas driving around this fair city to get my hands on one, I finally got one at either Linens N Things or Bed Bath and Beyond. I'm hoping I used a coupon here, too, because I used it once at our Ornament Exchange Party last year.

I put my beloved Rotel cheese dip in there only to have it burn. There is no temperature setting on there, so you plug it in and get what you get. It's like using sterno - it seems like a given it will burn your stuff, so what's the point of that?

Let me know if you own anything you regret as it pertains to the household.