Bag of Plenty

It’s taken more than two months of shopping abuse and countless pounds of groceries. Our new favorite grocery bag is both sturdy and good-looking. And it’s the perfect shopping companion because it’s almost always willing to go for just one more purchase. The bags from Pik-Me-Up are available at Lulu’s in Manhattan Beach and Neiman Marcus, Beverly Hills.

Shelling Out

OK, so the weather hasn’t been all sunny and bright. That doesn’t mean you can’t put a little beach in your June entertaining. Kappa shells make up these lustrous plates made in the Philippines and available at the Pottery Shack in Laguna.

If You Can’t Take the Heat . . .

Some of us are wimps when it comes to temperature-testing hot meat on a grill or in an oven. What we need is a bigger thermometer. Artex makes its “EZ Reach” instant-read thermometer with a 12-inch probe, long enough for scaredy-cats. Available at the Broadway.

Time Traveler

It’s a Swiss-made timer with a magnetic strip and plastic clip that attaches to pots and pans, an oven handle, a towel rack, a refrigerator and even your waist. Now, if the cookies burn, you can’t say you weren’t warned. From Zyliss, available at most cookware stores, including Bristol Farms Cook ‘n’ Things.