Erielle, who blogs at Fancy Toast, wanted to know if there was a mandoline support group somewhere that she could join because she just couldn't get the hang of using hers. A mandoline is a kitchen tool designed to make slicing up vegetables into thin, even strips, almost effortless. Potatoes, apples, cabbage and other firm fruits and vegetables can be placed into a (usually) metal holder and are quickly run across a very sharp blade that neatly cuts them into pieces. It is more precise than a grater, but the concept is similar.

Most find the process of using a mandoline to be very clear cut, but judging from the comments on the post, there are many people who have experienced the same type of frustration as Erielle in attempting to use their mandolines. Coming to the rescue, in the comments section of the original post, was none other than OXO - the maker of the mandoline in question! They are offering mandoline lessons to anyone who needs a little assistance in New York City at OXO in the Chelsea Market and at the upcoming housewares show in Chicago in mid-March. Even if you're already experienced with your mandoline, it might be worth taking up their offer to pick up some extra tips. Check Erielle's comments for the contact info if you have any other OXO tech questions.

[thanks alanna]

OXO is well-known in the US for their sleek designs and both the functionality and reliability of their products, but when they decided to go global with their much-loved kitchen products, the company discovered that what one market is looking for, isn't exactly right for another. And that people don't look at kitchen gadgets the same way in Japan as they do in the US.

In Japan, the tools were less-than-popular, to put it mildly. The large and user-friendly sizes of the tools, which are widely considered to be easier than their smaller counterparts with the company's target demographic - baby boomers - in the US, were too unwieldy for Japanese women who held their cooking spatulas "like a pen." A few design tweaks (and the opening of a Tokyo office) later, the company had Japan-only spatulas and a salad spinner that was 35% smaller than the original, which appealed to space-conscious consumers. They have commissioned Japanese designers to come up with new Japanese-friendly designs from graters, storage boxes and kettles to appeal directly to the Japanese aesthetic and functionality. For example, the graters specifically work best with daikons, rather than cheeses, which are used with most US graters.

The company hopes to introduce some of their Japanese designs here in the US next year.

Pizza cutters are greatly underappreciated kitchen tools because they don't appear to be all that useful. After all, couldn't you just use a knife to cut through the pizza? With a knife, you run the risk of dragging half the toppings along with each cut, not to mention that you might have to saw through the tougher crust, further disturbing the pie as you struggle with it. The beauty of a good pizza cutter is that it is incredibly quick and efficient. It should cut through thin and deep-dish pizzas with ease, producing perfectly clean slices. To see which brands are the best of the best, let's take a look at a testing of pizza cutters.

The best cutters were deemed to be the OXO Good Grips 4-inch Pizza Wheel for Non-Stick Pans, the KitchenAid Large Pizza Cutter and the Cuisipro Pizza Wheel. All have large wheels that will not get gummed up by extra cheese even in the deepest pizzas and have handles that are comfortable and safe. The cutters are also good for dividing up bread dough (I frequently use my OXO when baking rolls or breadsticks), cutting up sheets of pasta and sectioning those giant chocolate chip cookies that kids sometimes get instead of birthday cakes.