Today I’m doing something a little different around here. We’re going to talk about ice (not clear ice, there’s a website for that already). See, the thing is, we have a terrible ice maker at home. Seriously terrible. We bought a new fridge two years ago and while the fridge and freezer parts work just fine, the ice maker is THE WORST. As in, 3 repair guys later all agree we should have never bought this thing.
Currently it has frozen itself shut and neither myself nor my husband can pry it open. At some point we’ll need to unplug the refrigerator and let it all melt, but.. that time is not now. I did that back in January when it pulled this stunt and I haven’t found the time to do it again.
So we make trays of ice. Soooo many trays of ice. We are an iced coffee family (kinda like a 3-4 a day per person habit), and, well, I make a lot of cocktails around here. Sure, you get to see some clear finished cubes in a photo, but all the R&D that happens before that, and the ice needed for shaking, stirring, and cooling, well, it lends itself to A LOT of trays.
And then along came NewAir. I was under the impression that countertop ice makers needed a water connection and were priced well out of my price range. Also, that they were giant. Apparently I was all wrong.
Once I received the ice maker, there wasn’t that much to do to get it started. I cleaned it, put water in the reservoir, plugged it in, and selected my ice size. And BOOM! Within 10 minutes it started making ice. Small, small ice at first while it “warmed” up, but then within two hours I had a full bucket. Easy.
Now, do YOU need a countertop ice maker? Maybe, maybe not. If you’ve made one tray of ice and it has last all week. You don’t need one. If you rarely open your freezer, chances are you don’t need one. However, if you like to entertain, find you frequently need bags of ice, or your in-freezer ice maker just can’t keep up with your demands, you might want to look into one of these. So, here’s my list of pros and cons for the NewAir Portable Countertop Ice maker.
- Easy to set up.
- Easy to clean.
- Makes ice quickly.
- Makes 33 lbs of bullet ice each day.
- Small counter footprint.
- Has two sizes of ice.
- Auto shutoff.
- Add water light.
- You can make extra ice to keep in the freezer for later use.
- Takes up counter space.
- Fan noise is noticeable when on.
- “New smell” smell when first used that needed to open a window for.
- Does not keep ice cold, you’ll need to remove ice or use immediately.
- Only makes bullet type ice.
- Ice is not clear.
I only promote the things I love and use at home on this site, and folks, it is so nice to have ice around by the bucket full. We don’t have too much counter space at my home, so this little machine gets kept in the home bar area (which is convenient since that’s where the majority of my R&D takes place). Now, if you think you’re in the market for a countertop ice maker, NewAir is giving all my readers TWENTY percent off a new one for your home bar. The NewAir Portable Countertop Ice Maker, 33 lbs. with 2 Ice Sizes | NIM033WH00, which is what I’m using here, might be the investment you need to make this holiday season. Use code Stirand20 for 20% off at https://www.newair.com/products/newair-portable-countertop-ice-maker-33-lbs and let me know how you like having so much ice!!!
*This ice maker was given gratis and appears here because I like and use it in my own home! For more info on sponsored products, affiliate links, and gifted booze, please visit the About page.
Sometimes I feel like this site should be called: Stir and Strain… a site for one million Negroni cocktails. But here’s the thing! They’re so good! And they also bottle nicely since they’re all booze. So let me explain why we’re talking about this oh-so-simple bottled cocktail today.
I see all this coming down the road. I see drinking a sub-par wine that’s been left in the fridge from a cookie decorating party two weeks prior because you’re juggling making a turkey with, you know, life. It worries me. So, while I still have moments of my sanity left, and some moments of leisure (like, when I give my kids a 600 count sticker book and say have at it) I decided I should batch up my cooking/happy hour cocktail of choice, a Negroni.
The Simplest Bottled Negroni Cocktail
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This past week over on Instagram I unofficially declared it the week of creme de violette. Mainly I had been staring at a bottle of it on my shelf for way too long wondering how I was going to use it up.
