Everything BA Editors Tried, Tasted, and Loved in September

As people who write about food and kitchen gadgets for a living, Bon Appétit editors are constantly surrounded by a wide range of products. Between our own purchases and the endless stream of samples sent our way, it means there’s always something new coming across our desks and into our homes. Each month we round up the standouts we tested or bought ourselves that changed the way we cook and eat.

This month, a put-it-on-everything spice blend, a handy cookware storage solution, and a skincare collab from our favorite tinned fish brand (you heard that right).

Read on for all the products we obsessed over in September.

Hors D’Oeuvres Cocktail Napkins

I got these napkins as a housewarming present, and they add such a nice touch of whimsy that elevates the snack table when I have people over. Are they absolutely necessary when you’re hosting? No. Should you think more often about the tiny details that make your gatherings feel unique and romanticize your life a little? 100% yes. —Cristina Correa, social media manager

Quince Magnetic Knife Block

My mom has kept her chef’s knives jumbled up in a drawer since she renovated her kitchen 20 years ago. I’ve gifted her upgraded knives year after year so she’d have something nice to cook with, but I never thought to solve the storage problem. A magnetic strip is a great option, but her chicken kitchen doesn’t have the wall space. A knife block was out too after I learned how gunky they can get, so the answer turned out to be a magnetic stand. This double-sided one is wood, which is soft on blades, and it holds up to eight knives, four per side, which is more than she needs. It tucks onto the counter, and the black walnut blends right in with the ’90s decor. —Olivia Tarantino, senior shopping & reviews editor

Salad for President Dressing Mixes

You may know Julia Sherman from her artistically-minded cookbooks and staunchly pro-vegetable culinary perspective; now even the busiest home cook can take advantage of her recipes via Salad for President, her dressing mix brand. In an effort to make salad the star of the show, Sherman launched with three mixes that can accompany myriad meals: Lemon Poppy, Miso Ginger, and Umami Caesar. Thoughtfully made with entirely vegan and gluten-free ingredients to appeal to the widest network of eaters, the dressings come to life with citrus juice and fats that home cooks are likely to already have in their kitchens. What’s more, the mixes can be used straight from the envelope as a dry rub for meat, as a base for dips, or even as a popcorn seasoning. When exploring on my own, I enjoyed the miso-ginger flavor with soba noodles, crumbled tofu, and a drizzle of tahini; the Caesar mix was awesome in chicken salad; and the lemon poppyseed was great blended with soft herbs and Greek yogurt into a green goddess-ish dip for crunchy veg and potato chips. —Rebecca Firkser, Test Kitchen editor

Scrappy’s Celery Bitters

I have become a big bitters-and-seltzer person. It’s the perfect after-work drink: feels like a treat, yet is easy to make, cheap as can be, and doesn’t leave me with a headache in the morning. My go-to used to be classic aromatic bitters. But recently I tried the celery bitters from Scrappy’s, a small-batch brand based in Seattle. It’s just as refreshing, with a vegetal-savory undercurrent I can’t get enough of. Like an old-school celery soda without the cloying sweetness. —Emma Laperruque, cooking director

Gold Ridge Meyer Lemon Olive Oil

Spend any time in Northern California and you’ll find it credibly doubles for the Mediterranean, with white fields of sun-bleached grasses that contrast sharply with the lush emerald of vineyards. And beside them, so, so many olive groves. This past summer I was lucky to visit Gold Ridge Organic Farms in Sebastopol, which cultivates, among other things, a range of different Mediterranean olives including the Frantoio, Arbequina, and Picholine varieties. I was particularly moved by its Meyer Lemon Olive Oil, which delivers a bright aroma and fragrant citrus on the palate that uplifts the gently bitter spice of the oil. The olives are co-milled with Meyer lemons, also grown on-site, so the final product is actually citrus-flavored—no chemicals involved. I like it as a finishing oil or in salad dressings, which keeps as much of the fruit’s delicate flavor and aromas intact as possible. I’m apparently not this product’s only fan—lauded fine dining spot Lazy Bear in San Francisco is a long-time buyer of Gold Ridge’s Meyer lemon and other oils. —Rachel Tepper Paley, site director

Dieux x Fishwife Glowing Skin Bundle

The first time I saw that Fishwife, the beloved tinned fish brand with the best packaging in the game, was making eye patches (the kind you put under your eyes for brightening and hydrating), I did a double take. But Fishwife teamed up with Dieux, a skincare brand known for its reusable silicone eye masks, to make skincare you can wear to pair with skincare you can eat (aka the brand’s sardines with preserved lemons, packed with Omega-3s). As you’d expect from Fishwife, the design on the patches is incredibly cute. Eating sardines straight out of the tin while wearing the patches in the comfort of my own home is my kind of self-care. You can buy the patches on their own or else a bundle complete with sardines too. And don’t worry: there is no actual tinned fish in the eye patches. —Kate Kassin, editorial operations manager

Wall Control Kitchen Pegboard

I just moved across the country to San Francisco, which meant leaving behind my beloved apartment of four years—and with it, my relatively spacious (for an NYC apartment, at least) kitchen. My new setup is severely lacking in cabinet space, so I immediately ordered this metal pegboard as a storage solution for my extensive cookware collection. It’s sturdy, was easy to install, and successfully transformed a blank wall into usable storage space. A total win in my book. —Alaina Chou, shopping & reviews writer

Jugaad It!

This is the Swiss Army knife of seasonings. It’s a blend of salt, sugar, and MSG, and I made space for it next to my stove-side seasonings the day it arrived. Microwave popcorn, soups, dumpling sauces, you name it. It isn’t too sweet or too salty, but it deepens the flavor of everything I put it on. Fair warning: it makes food addictively good. I crushed a few cups of popcorn I’d made to share with my boyfriend after generously coating it with Jugaad It. —O.T.