Best Kitchen Gadget 2009

Just in time for Christmas baking, cooking and cleaning up I discovered this new style sink stopper at the Opry Mills Bed, Bath and Beyond's gadget wall. It's called a Sinktastic. I haven't been able to find a sink stopper that would actually be easy to open and close, stay open or closed and not get unplugged while washing. The last thing you want to see when you're trying to clean as you cook a big holiday feast is that your sink of hot water is gone--again! Not going to be a problem here anymore.

This two part plastic device sits in the drain and gets sucked down tight when you fill the sink with water. The top part slips easily into one of two places. Either it shuts the drain or double strains the water as it drains. It will not get undone accidentally when wrangling the pots and pans or fishing about for that last spoon in the murky depths. The silver version at the above nearly disappears in our stainless steel sink. It comes in various colors with some germicidal magic infused in it. Made in Canada. Maybe the best $5.99 I've spent in a good long time.

UPDATE: You can get them from Amazon: SINKTASTIC SILVER STRAINER & STOPPER STANDARD