Prepara

One Thanksgiving, Julie (a product designer) and her mother, Inna (a fabulous cook) took turns crushing garlic cloves. The garlic perfumed the bread stuffing, was whipped into luxurious potatoes and flavored Inna's special vinaigrette. Working side by side in Inna's Ohio kitchen, mother and daughter shared treasured family recipes, and a cook's secret touch, as they can only be handed down from one generation to the next.

But before long, both were tired of squeezing. Their arms and hands ached. "Why don't they make a better press?" Inna asked. "It's always such a pain to squeeze more than a few cloves."

Inna asked at the right time. Her kitchen was filled with inventive thinkers: her engineer husband; two daughters with a keen love of style and cooking; one son-in-law (Julie's husband, Dean) an award-winning product designer; and the other son-in-law the holder of an MBA. Before long, the ideas were really cooking...but only one survived straight through to pie and coffee.

Inna needed a smarter garlic crusher. Because while her recipes may have been slowly perfected over time, her delicious product did not demand that the process take so long. Julie's mother was using the classic garlic press, the clunky old one that hasn't evolved in over 40 years. It takes two hands to crush anything but a tiny clove and can't hold more than two cloves. Worst of all, it's almost impossible to clean.

So the family went to work, sketching out its dream tool. It would have an oversized chamber, to fit several cloves or even a jumbo one. The chamber and crushing plate would swing out so that the plate could be removed and washed easily. Best of all, the small but mighty kitchen hero could be operated with one hand, by applying tremendous force with a light squeeze.

With the design patents applied for, Julie and Dean tapped into their design company's resources and industry contact base-plus their own love of family entertaining-to build a whole range of products that everyday cooks could savor. Their team reanalyzed countless tools, most unchanged since the rubber-handled fad of the '90s-if ever. Some looked like medical instruments; most were just 'me-too' products with no muscle or beauty.

Before long Prepara®, a stylish new kitchen product company, was born, offering the hip cook everything from an innovative cookbook holder to a modern ice cream scoop.

Prepara® products, now carried by top retailers across the country, are priced competitively (like VWs) but drive like luxury BMWs. And our design team never settles. Every new prototype undergoes rigorous breakfast table debate-both at home and in the office kitchen. If it makes it through to the evening meal, there's a good chance we'll try producing it. Our goal is yours-to cook well and love doing it. Our tools are sleek enough to use for company, while guests sip a glass of wine and watch you make grilled garlic crostini or a simple Sunday chicken. The products save so much time, you can have the kitchen cleaned up and the cappuccino made before your favorite TV show starts-all while enjoying the perks (both economical and healthwise) of dining at home. We hope you enjoy our new line of products, and we welcome your feedback. Please drop us a note at info@prepara.com. We promise to talk about it over breakfast.