We like kitchen stuff. We don’t need to own it all, but we just like being around it, looking at it and talking to people who like it as much as we do. So attending the International Home + Housewares Show every year is like the best school field trip from childhood memory.
This year’s show will feature more than 2,100 exhibitors from 34 countries sharing consumer lifestyle and product trends for all areas of the home. The kitchen gear alone is almost overwhelming. You see everything from the coolest new gadgets—a digital thermometer that lets your iPhone know when your steak is perfectly grilled—to news from kitchen icons (what new color will Fiesta roll out this year for its classic dinnerware?) to exquisite, playful design from the likes of Alessi and Joseph Joseph. Of course, you also see plenty of “did-they-really-think-the world-needs-that” products hawked by overly optimistic exhibitors.
This year’s International Home + Housewares Show opens this weekend in Chicago. Marion and I will walk miles of carpeted concrete aisles, catch up with old friends, make new ones, attend a few parties and report back in a couple of weeks on some of our favorite finds. Chances are, we’ll also have a giveaway or two for Blue Kitchen readers. Stay tuned.
Love kitchen stuff too. In my youth, I needed to own it all. Thanks goodness I’ve gotten over that! Look forward to your report. 🙂
I’ve always been fascinated with all the stuff that is available. Fortunately my grandmother cooked without recipes and taught me about taste, smell, and texture, about ingredients and mixtures. I’m glad because I now live in a relatively small apartment on a limited budget so I find multiple uses of “stuff” I’ve kept and am happy I’ve given other “stuff” away. Still, the fascination continues although I often think some of the “old” ways are simpler than the new “stuff.” Thank you for writing. I haven’t commented before, and, I read each post.
Sounds like a daydream for me? When is it? I’d love to go!
John, our kitchen is overloaded with too much stuff, but it still does fascinate us.
Hi, Zena! Like you, we approach the kitchen with a mix of old and new. The new stuff fascinates us, but we use plenty of old school tools.
Grace, it starts this weekend, but it’s trade only.
I wanna go too 🙁