GASTRONORMOUS

Isn’t this the cutest? I saw this hedgehog-shaped Veg Hog vegetable brush at Target a while back and while I already had a sturdy vegetable brush in my kitchen drawer, I just couldn’t resist. It is made by a company called Boston Warehouse as a part of their the Animal House line that contains a bunch of equally adorable kitchen tools. The monkey peeler is especially cute.

These bristles were longer and more pliable than the short stiff ones of my existing brush, so I thought it wouldn’t be totally redundant. But once I got it home, I had a hard time thinking what you can use a soft vegetable brush for. The Veg Hog wouldn’t be able to stand up to a potato or carrot, for instance.

Last night, though, I had a bit of a Eureka moment when I was struggling to pick the silk out of an ear of corn. I put the Veg Hog to work, and it did a pretty good job of cleaning the silk out from between the rows without damaging the kernels. I imagine it might also work to gently clean mushrooms, but I haven’t put that theory to test yet.

I am not a fan of most single-use kitchen tools and appliances, but for me anyway, the awesome cutosity of the Veg Hog trumps its limited usefulness to earn a place in my kitchen arsenal. [$9.99 at Target]

Rachel’s yogurt has become one of my favorite weekday breakfasts. It comes in unusual flavors, such as pomegranate-açai and plum-honey-lavender (pictured), and all of them I have tried have been delicious. It is smooth, creamy, not too sweet, and actually tastes authentically of fruit (and/or herbs and other flavors, as in the case of the pictured flavor), which you can’t say for many artificially flavored and overly sweet yogurts out there.

The yogurt was originally a UK brand, but now has a US division (under the parent White Wave Foods), and is made in Colorado with lowfat milk from non-rbST treated cows. Plus, the packaging is cute!

It isn’t easy to find, and isn’t as cheap as Dannon, but if you ever happen across it, do yourself a delicious favor and buy some! [$1.39 at Fresh Garden market in Fort Greene, Brooklyn]