Pure Modern is a site that I’ve browsed but never bought from. Given these items on (pretty excellent) sale at the moment… that may change. While the other three objects might be outside of what could be defined as needs, we have been in the market for a camping shovel as it is. Besides the shovel, I’m eyeing these two radios, more so the Tykho, and the low-low price on Reistenthal’s Mini-Maxi Shopper. I wonder if others remember when the Tykho rubber radio was first released in the year 2000? I was 15 and remember it pretty clearly; it graced the cover of our copy of TIME that spring. Nine years later, if you’ve ever thought of getting one, jump on this. Now a part of the MoMA design collection, the Tykho hasn’t really dropped in price since its introduction in 2000. Other sites price the rubber radio from 50 to 100 dollars. I don’t know about you, but of the choice between pink or grey (unless you’re willing to pay the big bucks), I’d opt for the latter.

I may just have to pick up multiple Mini Maxi’s in order to be able to gift them to you all come December. Get ready to kick your plastic habit.

Lime Plug-in FM Radio, $21.50; Tykho AM-FM Radio, $33.50; Camping Multi-Tool, $13.25; Reisenthal Mini Maxi Shopper, $2.75. Images, puremodern.com

Living in a city with an IKEA (as opposed to the nearest one being 2 [2006-08] or 6 hours away [2005]) can be dangerous. I may or may not have been there twice in the last 14 days. I didn’t see any of these items when I was there last week… so they must be just coming in to stores. It’s about time they got some new napkin patterns!

Solig paper napkins, $0.99—$1.99

Dyning hammock in assorted colors, $29.99

I’m interested to see what the Dyning hammock is like in person. For its price, it would be lovely if it were light and squished up small so as to be camping-friendly.

And the trays! There are several new trays also part of the Solig line; the price is right too. We have one tray at home with a great black and white striped pattern, a gift from Sarah, that makes for fun food presentation. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to have a couple more?

Solig trays: Left, $7.99; Right, $4.99 each

Lastly, I almost forgot, there are new bags. I still like my ’05 beach bag best… mostly because it was purchased at IKEA Florence and because it’s just generally awesome, but these are pretty great patterns too. Below are the Solig gardening bags in three colors at $2.49 each and the new Solig beach bags at $1.49 each. This is why IKEA=Love.

All images: http://www.ikea.com/us/en

**Update: If you’d like to see the catalog pages check out AT’s “sneak peek” of the summer line.

I forgot to mention (as Sue pointed out in her comment), that Reisenthel baskets make great gifts. More than just gifts, they make great gift baskets. For example, here’s a photo from Tom’s birthday present from a couple of years ago.

If you look closely at the contents, you’ll notice this basket is how Tom came to know harissa. 1.5 years later, we’re still going strong on this jar.

The gift focused around Claudia Roden’s The New Book of Middle Eastern Food. In the section on “Flavorings, Aromatics, Condiments, and Oils,” Roden discusses and defines many ingredients that are key to Middle Eastern cooking but perhaps not typical in the average US kitchen:

Harissa. This very hot chili-pepper past flavored with garlic and spices is much used in North African cooking. It can be bought ready-made in tubes and cans but it will not have the special perfume of the homemade variety. To make your own, see page 464.

I pulled items from this list and filled the basket with them, knowing that a lack of hard-to-find ingredients might inhibit Tom’s creativity when looking through the book for inspiration.

If you’re purchasing a new cookbook for a friend, consider throwing in some key ingredients when you give the gift. I remember the hunt for all of these items being a lot of fun, especially once I discovered a gold mine in Yasmeen’s Mediterranean Foods in Saginaw, Michigan. They don’t appear to have a website, but you can reach them by phone at (989) 791-3082 or visit their location at 3545 Bay Rd in Saginaw, MI if you’re in the area. If nothing else, pick up a bag of dried limes and make yourself a pot of Chai Hamidh, as Roden says, “made by breaking open dried limes [with a hammer] and pouring bowling water over them” (p. 483).

Also in the basket: Bodum’s Assam tea press, a mint plant, roseflower water, dried limes, orange flower water, pomegranate syrup, Mustapha’s Moroccan Harissa and Olives, Gilway Demerara Sugar Cubes, Urban Accents rice, and several large containers of spices including sumac and whole fenugreek and nigella seeds.

I’ve talked before about trying to do good for the Earth. Maybe “Trashing the Fridge” is a bit extreme, so here’s something you are probably doing already: carrying reusable bags to your localorganicsustainable grocer. I’m big on reusable bags (as mentioned in the above post). Sometimes canvas totes, sometimes IKEA beach bags, sometimes nylon bags that can be squished into tiny sacks so as to fit absolutely anywhere, sometimes just regular paper sacks used again. When I find myself at the grocery  store *without* a reusable bag, I think about those tiny squished nylon pouches and feel a twinge of guilt. Why didn’t I just throw one of those in my bag assuming I’d be buying something somewhere that day?

Guilt-inducing aside, nylon sacks are great, but have you ever felt like a bit of a shoplifter carrying one around and throwing food in instead of using a basket or cart while you’re shopping? Maybe I’m out on a limb on that one, but just the same, handier still are these collapsible baskets. 

They do double duty—basket for shopping, basket for carrying the goods home. They take a little more forethought, true. But I assure you everywhere you go women (and men) will stop you and ask where they can get one too (this post is meant in part as a public service announcement). For those who regularly take the car to do the shopping, just keep them in the trunk!

If budget is not an issue, you can reliably find one at Garnet Hill’s website or through their clothing & home décor themed catalog. If you have a more conservative budget, try a trip to Marshall’s where they’re often available for $9.99. As always, you pay for what you get; the color choices at Garnet Hill are much more varied and so far it seems to be a steadily offered item. Reisenthel, the brand behind the Garnet Hill bags, offers a number of fun patterns as well. I also purchased the covers at Garnet Hill (to go w/ Marshall’s bought bags… bringing the total to $21/ea.).

And for your monthly (err, weekly) wine shopping, try Reisenthel’s 9-bottle carrier available from reusablebags.com. Trust me, you’ll be the talk of Trader Joe’s with this one.

Images: Garnet Hill (top 2), reusablebags.com (bottom)