A Fine Mist

Spray cans of oil cooking “mists” have become standard in the pantries of cooks who try to cut the fat out of the food they make. One problem: You can’t count on getting, say, the highest-quality olive oil in a can of olive oil cooking spray. Recently, spray bottles have become available that can be filled with the oil of your choosing. This “Misto” bottle, for instance, makes it possible for you to film a skillet with the tiniest amount of that cold-pressed, extra-virgin, unfiltered Tuscan oil you’ve been saving for a special low-fat occasion.

Misto bottle $19.95 at Sur la Table, Pasadena. For Sur la Table mail order, call (800) 243-0852.

Pan Vision

This is the sort of pan we like: sturdy enough for the oven and elegant enough for the dinner table when it’s time to serve. And it doesn’t matter whether the table is set with paper plates or fine china, the Chantal glass-lidded casserole--called, appropriately, Dinner Is Served--is a pan that fits in at any party.

About $160 at most Strouds locations, A Store for Cooks in Laguna Beach and Gelsons in Encino.

Trivet Matters

Hot plates deserve a cool setting. Consider these fruit-designed glazed tiles from Toronto’s Xenia Taler Design.

$30 per tile at Freehand, Los Angeles.

Chestnuts Forever

The holidays may be over, but chestnuts should be eaten all winter long. If your fingers are burned from peeling home-roasted chestnuts, try these Fire-Roasted Chestnuts that have been peeled for you from Williams-Sonoma.

$8.50 per jar at most Williams-Sonoma locations.