The Chicago Tribune marvels at how a tiny bulb could inspire the invention of enough kitchen gadgetry that could fill an entire drawer in your kitchen.

How? Because gadget geeks out there are willing to pay for mostly useless toys, most of which could be quite easily replaced by everyday things that you already have. Let's take a look at the garlic gadgets out there, how much they cost, and how much their "everyday" replacements could save them

• Garlic cellar - It's usually made of terra cotta and has some cute relief work of garlic bulbs on it to remind you, in case you forget what's inside, that there's garlic. At Cooking.com, you can get one for $12.95. I'm amazed that there is one for more than $40!! If you just keep your garlic in a small bowl on your countertop, it'll cost you $0.00.
• Garlic baker - Like the cellar, it's made of terra cotta and allows you to roast whole heads of garlic into creamy, garlicky, goodness. One costs $14.95 at Cooking.com, and that doesn't even come with any garlic! There's another for the same price, but the fact that it can double as a tortilla warmer softens the financial blow. However, if you use double thickness aluminum foil folded and sealed into a "packet," it'll cost you $0.00 (rounded to the nearest penny).
• Garlic peeler - The rubber tube is $8.50. How about you lightly crush a clove with the side of your knife and just pull off the papery skins by hand? Then it's free.
• Odor bar - Supposedly, stainless steel removes the odor of garlic from your hands, so this little bar, rubbed between your hands like a bar of "soap" removes the smell of garlic (and onions and fish). Probably has something to do with ions. It costs $12.95, but I bet you have a something in your kitchen made of stainless steel already. Hint: knives, pots, pans, your kitchen sink!
• Garlic press - Top of the line at Cooking.com is $35, and even at the low end, Oxo is still $13.50. You have a knife, use it to lightly crush the garlic, remove the skin that is already falling off, slice, chop, sprinkle with kosher salt, and press with the side of your knife into the cutting board. "Butbutbut! But then I have to touch the garlic and it will make my hands stink!" you say. See above.
• Garlic chopper- I actually was not aware that this tool existed as something separate from the garlic press, so I looked for it blindly, and didn't find it, but found an electric garlic chopper. For real. It is $50, but on sale for $26.99. What a bargain.

So assuming you bought all these garlic gadgets, you would spend almost $90 for a tiny clove of garlic, which you could handle with things you already have for free. Now who just saved you some money?