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The lastest of our toaster reviews is the toaster - and my pain au chocolat is warming up in it right now.  When I first started to review this toaster, I thought 'oh no, not another specialist toaster' - one for paninis this time!  Do I really need a different gadget for every type of food I can think of!   However, as I've got to grips with using this one, I see that it's actually quite versatile.

Here at Gadgetspeak we've kitchen-tested the Kenwood Response toaster - which has worked hard for its money.  It has three functions:  normal toasting, single sided toasting and warming.  The three functions are controlled from buttons on the front of the toaster, with additional buttons for raising and lowering the toasting rack, and buttons for adjusting the toasting time.

This toaster is called ‘Bit More’ as it allows you to just add a little more colour to your toast without starting the whole process again. Heston Blumenthal is a chef whose restaurant is always full; his name is linked to a lot of unusual dishes cooked in strange ways.

While these items can be purchased separately as they are either the cream colour I was sent or black they tend to be purchased as a pair. This is a round unit that takes its power from a flat stand that it sits on. The stand is round at 15cm and the power lead can be stored under it when not in use. It is .7metre long and is hard wired into the base, this means the kettle can be removed without having to unplug or remove any leads.

Up until recently I had no idea that Panasonic has a division that dealt with home appliances.  I had always regarded Panasonic as a company that concentrated its energies on the development and manufacture of televisions, cameras and similar products such as the DECT phone currently sitting on my right hand side waiting to choose the opportune moment to interrupt my chain of thought with an incoming telephone call.

Close to a year ago I reviewed a toaster from Tefal that also had a fitting on the end to poach – or boil – eggs. Here this is more traditional – in that it only toasts – but the conventional two slices in parallel is gone replaced by the ability to place two full sized pieces of bread side by side in the only slot, but it will also do far thicker things like bagels and crumpets even traditional muffins and even refresh French sticks I tried them all.

The Kenwood Energy Sense kettle has a clear body and comes with either a polished metal or white base, handle and lid. It looks stylish and is lightweight. The Eco friendly design incorporates an improved element technology designed to improve the energy rating. I trialled this up against our regular kettle and found that it used around 10% less energy as measured by and boiled around 9 seconds quicker.

Whether it is breakfast, mid-morning or a late-evening snack, the thought of poached egg on toast can cause the gastric juices to begin flowing - at least that is probably the reasoning behind a new product from Tefal.  The product, as you might have guessed if you had read my earlier report, is the Tefal Toast n' Egg.  Tefal has taken a two slice toaster and attached a basic food preparer to one end.

"Bread and water can so easily be toast and tea." Anonymous When I suggested to my colleagues at Gadgetspeak that we should look at toasters and kettles, I didn't realise quite how much toast I would have to eat, nor how much tea would be involved!! But we do like to be thorough for you, dear reader. A piece of toast is not just a piece of toast to the British.

I've never met a Kenwood product I didn't like (not so far anyway).  The latest product we've tried is the Kenwood Smoothie 2Go. We've tried Kenwood smoothie makers before and this one is just as easy and effective to use.   So what is the difference?  Well mainly it's down to size and a few neat little features which make the smoothie easy to take out with you on picnics.

It is 35x16x19cm. All the controls are on the front these consist of the normal vertical push arm to insert the toast and a horizontal slider to decide how dark you want your toast. To the right in a compass like arrangement are four push buttons. South is cancel, west is toast, north is toast and egg and east is egg. The power lead comes from under the unit it is a tab under one metre long and maybe it could be just that bit longer.

First of all a few terms so we're all singing from the same hymn sheet! is the common 'brew' across the machines we reviewed. Think of this as a base coffee from which others are made. Espresso is a short (40ml) strong black coffee. From this base you can add hot frothy milk to make , for example. The machines we reviewed made coffee either from special proprietary 'capsules', such as the system or the Braun Tassimo capsules, from fresh ground coffee or from .

The Kenwood Retro is available in three finishes : red, silver and cream. Unlike many of the machines we've looked at, the Retro takes a very manual approach to preparing your coffee. Other machines we've reviewed attempt to correctly measure a perfect espresso. This then leads to complicated 'programming' options to allow you to alter that amount of water used. With the Kenwood Retro, you get none of this.

Extending our look at gadgets for your kitchen, this week I tested the Kenwood Multipro Food Processor ( ).  Another excuse to donn the pinnie and get cooking!  The Multipro has an extensive range of uses, combining as it does the jobs of separate mixer, whisk, smoothie maker, juicer and liquidiser.

Smoothies are a fantastic way of staying healthy.  They are quick and easy to make and a much faster way to get your 5 a day in.  If you mix fruit, juice and yoghurt together, you have a nutritionally sound breakfast packed with vitamins to bump start your day.  Even better, the kids love them and you can get really creative with the ingredients. I tried out this and was impressed with the results.