15 Gadgets to Make Your Home Smarter in 2016

Our Place – Up To 40% Off Sitewide

Always Pan 2.0

This aesthetically satisfying pan tackles 10 jobs in one with a totally toxin-free ceramic nonstick coating. You can save $40 on it during Our Place's Labor Day sale!

Perfect Pot

This "family-sized" nonstick pot will be a total lifesaver come soup season. Plus, it's gonna look very pretty on your stovetop. save $35 now!

Cookware Set Pro

If you're ready to press 'reset' on your entire kitchen setup, this set comes prepped with a titanium Always Pan, the Perfect Pot, the Mini Perfect Pot, and the Mini Always Pan to cook a variety of dishes. This set is a whole $215 off for Labor Day!

Caraway – Up To 15% Off + Exclusive Bundles

4-Piece Cookware Set

Another fantastic cookware set, this Caraway bundle is fully rid of toxic coatings and forever chemicals to ensure your cooking and health is high-quality. This 4-piece consists of a fry pan, sauce pan, sauté pan, a Dutch oven, and a handy lid holder for super convenient storage. Save $150 during Caraway's Labor Day sale!

Dutch Oven

This 6.5-quart pot will be able handle all the soups and stews you're about to chef up this winter. It's very durable throughout, boasting a non-toxic ceramic-coated interior. This blue pick also adds a playful pop of color to your stovetop!

11-Piece Bakeware Set

This fully-fledged bakeware set is ready to go with a whopping 11 pieces of equipment, but zero harmful chemicals. Save $150 on it during the Labor Day sale!

Xtrema Cookware – 20% Off Sitewide

Signature Series Set

Made of non-toxic ceramic, this set ensures safety at every point of the cooking process. It comes with a 9-inch signature skillet, three long-handled saucepans with lids, and two 100% organic cotton handle potholders! Plus, it's 25% off right now.

Saute Pan with Lid

For a quick upgrade, opt for a sauté pan. It's likely the most-trafficked cookware piece in your cabinets, so it can wear and tear a lot faster than your other tools. This sleek black pan comes in an 8-inch or 10-inch diameter to suit your personal needs. Save 20% off now!

Round Dutch Oven

You can do a multitude of things in a Dutch oven, including baking bread and roasting meats. We love a multitasker, and this one's 20% off!

Great Jones – 25% Off With Code 'POPCORN'

King Sear Cast-Iron Skillet

Great Jones brings the fun to cookware with tons of bright colors! This royal blue cast-iron skillet will be the talk of your next dinner party (and every meal after that) for its ability to look good and cook good.

The Fry Family Nonstick Pan Duo

This pan duo is maybe one of the most stylish upgrades you can get for your kitchen. They're made without PTFE and PFOA chemicals, which means cooking with them is healthy for you and the planet. The duo is $30 off right now!

Holy Sheet Duo

My sheet pans really need replacing from all the sheet pan dinners and cookies I make, and I am heavily eyeing this colorful set from Great Jones. These pans are durable and easy to clean, thanks to the nonstick ceramic coating they're crafted with. Keep one for savory stuff, and the other for sweets. They're currently $5 off with the Labor Day sale.

American Kitchen – 20% Off Sitewide With Code 'LABORDAY'

Nonstick Casserole Pan

This deep pan boasts two layers of professional-grade stainless steel wrapped around a layer of super durable aluminum, all which help your food heat up evenly and stay hot. The best part is the handles on the sides and lid stay cool while you chef it up! Take 20% off with code 'LABORDAY'.

Cranberry Color Cast Wok

Woks are an excellent piece of cookware to have in your kitchen if you enjoy making stir fries and fried rice. Woks heat up their contents super quickly and evenly, producing the best heated-through results. As opposed to a cast-iron construction, this wok is made from thick cast aluminum with a nonstick exterior coating and interior nonstick coating. Take 20% off with code 'LABORDAY'.

5-Piece Starter Cookware Set

This set is the perfect gift for someone who just moved into their first apartment or home, if you're not shopping it for yourself. It comes complete with a 2-quart stainless steel lidded saucepan, a 10-inch stainless steel sauté lidded pan, and an 8-inch nonstick skillet so you can cook a multitude of meals. Take 20% off with code 'LABORDAY'.

Made In – Up To 25% Off Best-Sellers

6-Piece Tailgate Kit

Get on the grill with ease using this convenient 6-piece set! It comes with Made In's pre-seasoned Carbon Steel Griddle, a two-sided maple wood Butcher Block, a chef knife, grill press, their 1/4 Sheet Pan, and a 1/2 Sheet Pan. With their Labor Day sale, you save $131!

10-Piece Stainless Set

Your kitchen will never look more seamless than with this stainless clad cookware set scattered around. Each piece is compatible with gas, electric, and induction cooktops. You'll save a whole $235 when you snag this set during the Labor Day sale!

3-Piece Back To School Kit

This basic cookware set is perfect for college kids since it comes with everything you need to start out on a great home-cooked meal. The Non Stick Frying Pan, Chef Knife, and 1/2 Sheet Pan trio is unbeatable, and you can snag it for $204 (was $273) with the sale.

What is the Ninja Espresso Machine?

This Ninja coffee maker is a 3-in-1 machine that allows you to make espresso, classic drip coffee, and cold brews! It goes the extra mile by letting you make the following of each:

• Espresso — double shot or quad shot
• Drip Coffee — classic, rich, or over ice
• Cold Brew — cold pressed expresso or cold brew coffee

Depending on your mood, you can brew anywhere from 6 to 18 oz. drinks. It's like the grandmother of coffee makers IMO — she really can do it all, and then some!

What kind of features does it have?

What features doesn't this Ninja coffee maker have is the better question. My favorite feature so far is the weight-based dosing that helps the machine determine what you'll need for the perfect cup of coffee. What does that mean? It has a built-in scale that does the heavy lifting for you, showing you the recommended setting you need by detecting the weight of the beans before grinding.

It also has a hands-free frothing option that rivals the skills of Starbucks' baristas with its Barista Assist Technology. The four frothing features are:

• Steamed milk
• Thin froth
• Thick froth
• Cold foam

I've tried the steamed milk and cold foam options so far, and they're AMAZING. I think that's the best part of making coffee now!

Is it hard to put the Nina Espresso Maker together?

This is probably the heaviest coffee maker I've ever had, but it doesn't bother me. I bought my fiancé a Nutri Ninja Personal & Countertop Blender last year, so I'm familiar how sturdy their products are.

However, I want to mention how heavy it is so you're not surprised when you're taking it out of the box! It took two people to slide it out in my experience, so make sure you have someone to help you. If you don't care about keeping the box the Ninja Espresso Maker comes in, you can just cut it open to make it easier for you.

Putting this machine together is simpler than it looks, though. It comes with additional pieces like the assisted tamper, a funnel (to ensure you have the right amount of ground coffee), two baskets (to determine what type of coffee you want to make: quad shot espresso, classic, cold brew, or cold-pressed), and the portafilter (AKA the longer piece which serves as the main handle when you're grinding the beans and ready to brew your coffee). Thankfully, comes with the double basket installed already.

How much counter space does it take up?

The Ninja Espresso Machine doesn't take up as much space as I thought it would — and that's great because I live in an apartment, so that real estate is very limited in my kitchen. I was able to place it on the smaller counter by stove and still have room to place my coffee essentials next to it. But if you want to create a coffee corner, I definitely suggest placing it on a longer surface.

Do I need to use pre-ground coffee or whole beans?

This is a great question! I usually skip the instructions when putting something together (that rushed mom life, you know?), but decided to because I didn't want to mess anything up.

It's easy to reach for pre-ground coffee, but this machine specifically requires whole beans because of the grinder feature. If you're worried about added time from the grind, don't — it really doesn't take long for the beans to be ground!

Do I have to use whole milk for the frother, or can I use something plant-based?

You can actually use both! The cool thing about the Nina Espresso Maker is you can change the settings to whole or plant-based milk when you want to use the frothing feature! I just prefer to stick with unsweetened almond milk because it doesn't irritate my digestive system and has 0 grams of sugar in it!

Final Thoughts:

The Ninja Espresso Maker has converted me into a coffee drinker who doesn't have to leave her house for the latest Starbucks fall drinks — or at least not all the time. 😉 The included QR code on top of the machine helped me see step-by-step installation and brewing guides, so that's a welcomed bonus that continues to make regular use so much easier.

I will say that you have to test the hardness of your water and run a pre-cycle before using the machine. A water test strip is included in the box, and this process takes a couple of minutes to do. Once you're ready to run the pre-cycle, fill the water reservoir on the side is place a 10 or 12 oz. cup under the portafilter and press brew. When the cup is full after a few minutes, dump the water in the sink and you'll be ready to brew your first cup of espresso, classic brew, latte, or ice coffee!

Ultimately, while I don't care for drinking espresso, that feature works for my Domincan fiancé — it's perfect for getting him that shot of flavor and energy some he craves in the morning. Otherwise, for all other coffee-making endeavors, I give the Ninja Expresso Maker a 5 out of 5 rating! It really has something for all coffee lovers, and it takes than less than five minutes to have a cup of cold or warm deliciousness! BRB while I brew something for my Gilmore Girls rewatch...

Shop The Ninja Espresso Maker

Ninja Espresso Machine

The Craziest 2025 Oscar nomination snubs.

I really can't believe Zendaya didn't get nominated for her performance in Challengers. Her viral "crazy eyes" scene generated enough conversation to give her a nom in my opinion. I remember sitting in the theater and thinking, Wow, I've never seen her make that face before, can we replay that? And, of course, I'm mourning the fact the movie didn't get nominated for Best Score. "Match Point" playing during the ending of the movie will always be an Oscar-winning moment to me!

But in addition to Z, Selena Gomez also didn't get nominated for her role as Jessi Del Monte in Emilia Pérez, despite the fact the movie got a total of 13 nominations.

My group chat immediately blew up when we realized Sing Sing wasn't nominated for Best Picture.

Every Academy Award nomination for the 2025 Oscars.

Best Picture

• Anora
• The Brutalist
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• I’m Still Here
• Nickel Boys
• The Substance
• Wicked

Best Lead Actress

• Cynthia Erivo for Wicked
• Karla Sofía Gascón for Emilia Pérez
• Mikey Madison for Anora
• Demi Moore for The Substance
• Fernanda Torres for I’m Still Here

Best Lead Actor

• Adrien Brody for The Brutalist
• Timothée Chalamet for A Complete Unknown
• Colman Domingo for Sing Sing
• Ralph Fiennes for Conclave
• Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice

Best Supporting Actress

• Monica Barbaro for A Complete Unknown
• Ariana Grande for Wicked
• Felicity Jones for The Brutalist
• Isabella Rossellini for Conclave
• Zoe Saldaña for Emilia Pérez

Best Supporting Actor

• Yura Borisov for Anora
• Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain
• Edward Norton for A Complete Unknown
• Guy Pearce for The Brutalist
• Jeremy Strong for The Apprentice

Best Cinematography

• The Brutalist
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Maria
• Nosferatu

Best Original Score

• The Brutalist
• Conclave
• Emilia Pérez
• Wicked
• The Wild Robot

Best Original Song

• “El Mal” for Emilia Pérez
• “The Journey” for The Six Triple Eight
• “Like a Bird” for Sing Sing
• “Mi Camino” for Emilia Pérez
• “Never Too Late” for Elton John: Never Too Late

Best Costume Design

• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Gladiator II
• Nosferatu
• Wicked

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

• A Different Man
• Emilia Pérez
• Nosferatu
• The Substance
• Wicked

Best Sound

• A Complete Unknown
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Wicked
• The Wild Robot

Best Visual Effects

• Alien: Romulus
• Better Man
• Dune: Part Two
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
• Wicked

Best Animated Feature

• Flow
• Inside Out 2
• Memoir of a Snail
• Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
• The Wild Robot

Best Animated Short

• Beautiful Men
• In the Shadow of the Cypress
• Magic Candies
• Wander to Wonder
• Yuck!

Best Live-Action Short

• A Lien
• Anuja
• I’m Not a Robot
• The Last Ranger
• The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

Best Documentary Feature

• Black Box Diaries
  
• No Other Land
• Porcelain War
• Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
• Sugarcane

Best Documentary Short

• Death By Numbers
• I Am Ready, Warden
• Incident
• Instruments of a Beating Heart
• The Only Girl in the Orchestra