As Seen on TV

Today, I'm thankful for As Seen on TV items. Well, maybe not thankful for the items themselves but more thankful for the amusement they provide to me. As I was boiling pasta for lunch today, I pulled out a piece and tasted it. I made a face, and Ash asked what the face was for. (If you have a problem with the previous sentence, please see yesterday's blog post.) I told her the pasta was definitely not done. Kind of like that time... then we both tried to remember why she made pasta that was so not done. Then, it hit us: the Pasta Express! We got this for free because someone else had gotten two, and she decided she only needed one. There have been many As Seen on TV incarnations of this device: Pasta Boat, Pasta n'More, and my favorite... Fasta Pasta! The sales pitch is always the same: Who has time to spend slaving over a pot of boiling water on the stove? You have to wait for the water to boil, then you have to put the pasta in it and wait for it to cook! Wouldn't it be great if you could just do all those steps at once? And what about when you want long spaghetti? You can't cook full sticks of spaghetti in a regular pot! There's not enough room! So, you have to break the pasta, and it goes everywhere, or you have to just cook half of it at a time. Then to top it all off, you have to figure out when the pasta is finally cooked! I haven't even mentioned the hassle of draining the pasta...You have to be superman to cook pasta! So, Ash and I acquired this Pasta Express, and we decided to give it a try. You put the pasta into the tube. (It's this foot tall clear plastic tube with a solid bottom and two lids: one is holey and the other is solid.) Next, you have to pour hot (Pasta Express recommends boiling) water into the tube. Cap it off with the solid lid. Then, let the pasta and the water sit for ten minutes. Finally switch to the holey lid, pour out the water, and BAM! perfect pasta! Or, pasta that is still crunchy in the middle and is beyond salvaging because you've already put sauce and cheese on it... So, even though I've never had an As Seen on TV product that truly worked, I have had plenty of them that have given me some good stories! And for that, I am thankful!