In Italy, where cooks make tomato sauce...

In Italy, where cooks make tomato sauce all the time, they don’t mess around; they get a tomato press, which strains tomatoes, minus seeds and skins, directly into fresh puree. This handy little Italian-made device is heavy acrylic with a stainless steel strainer and strong suction cup for attaching it to the work surface. With summer tomatoes abundant, this is the tool for the season.

Tomato press, $29.95, from Sur La Table, Corona del Mar Pasadena, or call (800) 243-0852.

Doctored Hams

Citterio, a ham and sausage maker in Milan since 1878, opened a Pennsylvania plant in the Poconos about 20 years ago. It makes prosciutto and the usual Italian sausages, and also baked hams rubbed with delicious flavorings such as rosemary or a mixture of pesto and Parmesan. These hams, particularly the rosemary, make spectacular ham-and-cheese sandwiches (shaved Parmesan works particularly nicely as the cheese).

Citterio oven-roasted hams with rosemary or pesto and Parmesan, $6.99 to $8.99 per pound, from Al Dente, Los Alamitos; Giuliano’s, Gardena; Farmers Markets, Newport Beach and Mission Viejo; most Bristol Farms locations; Roma Italian Deli, Pasadena; and Claro’s, San Gabriel, Arcadia, Upland, West Covina, La Habra and Tustin.

Muffins Simplified

Once upon a time, cooks knew their muffins--knew them backward and forward. But these days, many a would-be muffin maker is filled with trepidation about how much muffin batter to put in a muffin tin. These convenient measures hold the right amount for mini, medium and mega muffin tins.

Muffin Measures, set of 3 for $16, from HomeChef, Fashion Island (Newport Beach) and Pasadena.

Le Barbecue

One of the rituals of the Bordeaux grape harvest is to barbecue up a bunch of food--fish, sausages, duck breasts, pork chops--over sarments, which are trimmed vine shoots saved from the pruning. You can moisten these vine trimmings from Robert Mondavi Vineyards, just as you would wood chips, and throw them on your home barbecue.

Robert Mondavi vines, $10, from Smith & Hawken, Pasadena and Beverly Hills.