Earlier today, I casually mentioned to my wife that I was considering posting some suggestions for kitchen gadgets that might interest Operation Gadget readers. "Like what?" she asked.

"I don't know, let me think about it," I said. Later on, I saw an article on MSNBC called Gadgets to please your inner chef and I thought, surely this is a message from God.

I went through the suggestions that Jon Bonne offered: a wine bottle re-stopper, a bottle opener, a sleek professional blender, an ice cream maker-- I didn't think we had a screaming need for these in our kitchen. Then, Jon hit on a StirChef Sauce Pan Stirrer and I said, "That's the one I'd buy."

I'm home at night before my wife gets there, so I often make dinner. Lately, I've been making recipes with long cooking rice, like jasmin and basmati rice, and they need to be stirred constantly while they cook. If I had a StirChef, I'd be able to go back to my laptop and keep working while the rice cooks. That would mean I could do 20 minutes more work on days when the menu includes a rice dish.

I could go on with examples of things that need to be stirred constantly without any real need to pay attention: candy recipes, recipes with melted cheese. You can probably come up with others.

If spending about $30 gives you back 20 minutes a week, is it worth it? My wife would say it is, if it means that there's a home-cooked meal that's nearly ready when she gets home.