The Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl. It's a bowl. That you put garbage in.
Now entered as evidence that we are, in fact, living in a decadent age: the $18 hand-wash-only Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl. While this might strike you as just plain crazy, or perhaps a sign that Rachael will slap her name on almost anything at this point, Lori Borgman writes in the Indianapolis Star that this designer receptacle might be a sign our own inner longing:
I'm not knocking the garbage bowl; it's a good bowl. It does everything a bowl should do -- it sits there without giving you any sass, holds things and looks very bowl-like.
I'm just wondering when we became so affluent, coddled and cushy that we need designer bowls to hold garbage? Bowls remarkably similar to the bowls we already have.
Perhaps the garbage bowl is like a consolation prize. If I can't look like Rachael, or cook like Rachael, at least I can make garbage like Rachael.
If I can't cook like Emeril, at least I can buy knives like Emeril and chop like Emeril. If I can't be a domestic diva like Martha Stewart, I at least can buy her stemware, dinnerware, 600-count sheets, towels, muffin tins and play like I'm Martha.
It's always so much easier to buy the gizmos and gadgets than to actually acquire the skills.
It seems Ms. Borgman has company in her assessment. Here's what one reviewer wrote about the RR Garbage Bowl (brick color) on Amazon:
This bowl belongs IN the garbage. I would give it zero stars if Amazon would let me. There's a better place to put garbage, it's called the *garbage can*. Food goes in bowls. Don't be lazy, walk across the kitchen and throw trash away in its proper place. Your food won't taste any better by saving yourself six seconds not walking to the trash can... especially if you're cooking one of Rachael's "recipies". This woman is getting away with highway robbery. Stop buying her low quality, worthless products!
Hmm... sounds like someone needs a sammie.
Say Something!
We'd really like you to take part in the conversation here at All Over Albany. But we do have a few rules here. Don't worry, they're easy. The first: be kind. The second: treat everyone else with the same respect you'd like to see in return. Cool? Great, post away. Comments are moderated so it might take a little while for your comment to show up. Thanks for being patient.
Comments
Please stop talking about Rachael Ray. Just stop.
... said Elizabeth on Feb 20, 2008 at 7:45 PM | link
I will admit, I like Rachael Ray, and I use a garbage bowl. It's a bowl where you can toss cores, shells, wrappers, etc. in the middle of making a recipe when your hands are wet/floury/gunky and you don't want to open the cabinet door to get to the trash can.
But IT'S JUST A BOWL.
Save yourself some money and buy quality products, not brand names.
Put it to the granny test - would your grandmother laugh you out of the kitchen if you bought a dollar store bowl for $18?
Kathleen Lisson
... said Kathleen Lisson on Feb 26, 2008 at 11:40 AM | link
I got 2 garbage bowls last year for christmas and they both cracked down the sides of the bowl.I even hand washed them. I dont want to say it but they realy are garbage. I could'nt even get a year out of them.
So if you have one DONT use it it will crack....NOT GOOD..
... said Roxie on Jan 4, 2009 at 1:49 PM | link
But Roxie... where do you throw your RR Garbage Bowls when they break???
If you're not careful, we could end up with a negative reality inversion, and it's just too cold to deal with that right now.
... said Buster on Jan 4, 2009 at 3:27 PM | link
We have a garbage bowl on our kitchen counter.. although we call it the compost bin - it's an old plastic coffee container with a lid.. I think we paid $5 for it when it was full of coffee.. so it's probably worth at least 30 cents now. I'd be willing to part with it for, say, a quarter?
... said Barold on Jan 5, 2009 at 10:04 AM | link