GASTRONORMOUS

When I got married a couple years ago, I put on the registry this adorable turquoise enameled steel colander. It was bequeathed upon me by my friend Micha, and I was so grateful, because, look how cute! I adored this colander as much as one can adore a draining mechanism. The honeymoon wore off, though, as soon as I made a long thin pasta and watched helplessly as too much of it slipped through the large holes of the colander and down the drain. Later, rust spots started forming around the perimeter of the holes, and eventually the red blight infected the entire floor of the apparatus.

Armed with a gift certificate received at Christmas (yes, as in over half a year ago!), we recently visited Sur la Table with an aim to spend all of it. The first order of business was to find a colander. SLT had a collapsible silicone jobby that seemed ideal for our small kitchen, and I liked the legginess of it, but upon examination, we deemed the bowl, when extended, was not large enough to accommodate a half-pound of penne or even a full head of lettuce.

Then the OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Convertible Colander caught our eye. It is not as pretty as the enameled one, and takes up more space than the collapsible one, but is so much more practical in use. It has handles that act as a stand when folded down, but can be unfolded to stretch across your sink, so no more worries about pasta water backing up the drain and mingling with the pasta sitting in the colander on the floor of your sink (ick). We have only had it for a few weeks now, but are very pleased so far. The holes are nice and small, so no pasta will be lost, and being stainless steel, it won’t rust. It stretches easily across our standard sink, making rinsing veggies a breeze.

The only possible caveat is that it is a little pricey for a colander (though we were immune to the price tag due to the magic of our gift certificate), but overall, I give it a thumbs up! [$37.99 at Amazon; $35 at Sur la Table]