Beautiful AND Functional

Remember when I was talking about doing a review for CSN stores, and I rattled off all sorts of options that I might order? Wanna know what I got? None of the above! Ha! I didn’t order any of the things I was considering, but I certainly found something I love.

I ended up getting the All-Clad Stainless Steel Canister Set, and here’s why. For all our married years, I have kept my flour and sugar in plastic, tupperware-like containers in the cupboard. I have often browsed canisters at the store, but I never found any that were just what I wanted. And after years of use, the little tabs on the lids of my plastic containers were starting to crack. So I’ve had my eye out for a solution for a long time. My main criteria: something nice looking that’s big enough that I can scoop a measuring cup into it. I did not want to be stuck trying to pour out flour and sugar from canisters that were too small for me to scoop into them! And then I found these:

Here’s what I love about them:

• They’re thick, sturdy stainless steel.
• They have a clean, classic look about them that won’t go out of style with changing fads.
• The lids are air tight. Almost too tight. I actually don’t push them completely shut every time so I don’t have to struggle to open them. At least I know I can trust them on a car ride to my mother-in-law’s to can peaches.
• They are nice and big! They have enough space that I can reach a 1cup measurer in there and get a good scoop, but they actually don’t take up a ton of room on my counter.
• Now that I have canisters that actually look good on the counter, I have free cupboard space where I kept the old ones!

See? That’s a 1cup scoop. Plenty of room!

I think the only thing I don’t like about the canisters so far is how much they cost. I didn’t think I’d have to spend so much to find canisters I like. I did compare a few sites, and CSN stores had the lower price. I think the high price was mainly for the brand (and hopefully a certain level of quality can be expected along with that brand). But in the end, I’d probably do it again just to finally have what I’ve been looking for all this time.

Oh, and I guess the other downfall is that I haven’t thought of what to put in the third canister yet. I told my hubby we should keep hot chocolate in it, but he just laughed. He’s not ready to admit that these are our staples in life: flour, sugar, and hot chocolate. So maybe I’ll just keep something boring in there like pasta or rice. What do you keep in your countertop canisters?

Something else I loved was free shipping on my order, and I got an e-mail saying they upgraded my order to ship to me sooner—free of charge! My shipping estimate was moved up a whole 2 weeks!

Special thanks to CSN stores for the opportunity to review this product and for helping with some of the cost! Oh, and stay tuned . . . I just might be doing a CSN stores giveaway in the next few months.