Hot Fudge At Williams Sonoma (And Danish Jam-Filled Pancakes If You'll Buy A Special Pan)

Williams Sonoma is a strange store for a cook to have ignored for so long.

On my own, I have a pretty off-brand kitchen.  A pot is a pot is a pot.  Maybe I invested in a few items, but mostly I followed Mark Bittman's mantra of no frills supplies and mostly I cooked from scratch.  So I really didn't shop for kitchen stuff in the mall.

It took Mrs. HowChow to teach me that the food was delicious.  We'd check out Williams Sonoma for samples as we walked around, and I saw how that store -- with its clear directions and its mixes and sauces -- got her excited about cooking more than anything else.

Baking more than cooking.  Sweets most often.  Mrs. HowChow isn't excited for Williams Sonoma's pot roast spices.  She wants new cookie sheets.  She also wants hot fudge.  Williams Sonoma's hot fudge has no equals around here.  No chemicals.  It's cream, sugar, butter, cocoa . . .  It heats beautifully and makes any ice cream into something special.  I cannot find anything that compares, and I have no idea how to make my own.

So we go to Williams Sonoma together.

Zoku Popsicles: The Best Toy For Your Freezer

I'm trying to clear my kitchen of one-trick ponies -- the bread machines, the donut machines, the countertop gadgets that don't work as well as a good solid pan.

But I have to admit that I have fallen in love with a $50 popsicle maker.

Williams Sonoma's Zoku popsicle maker is a loaf-sized gadget that you store in your freezer.  There is some liquid sealed inside.  You pour juice or some other liquid into the three holes on top, and, in less than 10 minutes, you have popsicles.

You can have popsicles of almost anything.  We started with a peach puree.  We used lemonade.  My nephew made a batch of lemon-lime.  A touch of sugar, but they were far more sour than I had ever expected an eight-year-old to enjoy.

The Zoku's beauty is that you can freeze almost anything.  (Except diet soda.)  Simple juices.  Adult recipes like cilantro and lime.  Creams.  Crazy mixes like layers of red watermelon topped with a layer made from melon rind and lime.  Even people who don't love to cook can play with popsicles without a fuss.

And let's be honest:  It's instant gratification.  You can buy popsicle molds for way less.  You can even buy popsicle cookbooks.  But the Zoku freezes three popsicles in less than 10 minutes.  Then freezes three more.  (Up to nine, says the box.)  A kid's snack or an adult dessert.  You can have what you want in minutes, and it's a blast.  We have bought two as gifts so far this year.