Despite my crazy, erratic, frenetic schedule, I try to make as much from scratch as possible. I have to cheat sometimes (buy pre-shredded cabbage for coleslaw, organic packaged stock instead of making my own), but one thing I've been insisting on is making my own vinaigrettes because nothing can beat homemade dressing.

Almost all of the ones I make start with a base of olive oil and fresh lemon juice, usually I have a bowl of lemons (and limes) on the counter at the ready. After decades of cooking and trying different methods, I thought I'd figured out the best, most efficient way to juice a lemon - cut it in half and using a fork, work the juice out over my palm, catching the seeds. It beat my Depression glass juicer by a mile.

But then I discovered JuiceLab  from BeaterBlade and now I can't believe I spent all those years labouring over making fresh lemon juice when it is so painless and crazyfast with JuiceLab.

It's all because the reamer head has been designed to get the most of your citrus (don't forget oranges, yuzu, etc.) with minimal effort. It even catches all the seeds, something that I was never able to do with any of my methods - a few always snuck into the batch. So in the time it used to take me to juice 2 lemons, I did 5. And I still had time to spare.

Even better, the juicing part is actually the top of a capped container, so the juice is neatly collected (holding up to 5 oz. of liquid with measurements on the side) , and you can keep it in the fridge for adding to your cooking and baking recipes later. It used to be so labourious to juice just a few lemons or limes that I never would make extra. Now it's so effortless, I can always have extra on hand to add to marinades or mix for cocktails or for baking (everyone I know seems to love lemon curd, lemon meringue pie, etc.).

And the pouring spout is excellent - no spills or mess to clean up.

To accompany my new favourite kitchen accessory, I'm using BeaterBlade's ZestN'est (pictured above). Yet another chore I've never loved, zesting citrus is now a dream, thanks to my ZestN'est. 

It too is effortless and collects all of the zest in a handy compartment that you can also store for later use or just open and add your zest to whatever dish you're currently composing. It holds 1/3 cup, and as you know, most dishes require just a little zest, so it can save you a bunch of time during the week when you're throwing dinner together.

Confession: sometimes I used to skip the zest in a recipe because it just was too much work for so little. Now not only will I not have to skip it, I'll probably add more than is needed because I'll have it on hand.

The other added bonus is that it's extremely comfortable to hold onto, something that I truly appreciate as my hands are often so tired and sore from all the chopping I do when I cook.

Look, as a home cook and a sometimes professional one, I want to make memorable dishes from real ingredients, but I don't want to have to spend a bunch of time or physical strength on one small aspect of the meal. And I don't want to spend money or cupboard space on a bunch of gadgets that don't work.

I'm telling you this straight up - BeaterBlade's JuiceLab & ZestN'est are freakin' miracle workers and now I loooove juicing and zesting. So much that after making 2 cups of vinaigrette and going through all of my lemons and lemons, I'm going out for more later this afternoon so that I can make more dressings and marinades.