Under-$10 Kitchen Gadgets You Won't Believe You Ever Lived Without

What it was made for: Soak this little clay bear in a cup of water for 20 minutes, and then nestle it within a container of brown sugar and you'll never deal with rock-hard sweetener again.

What you can also use it for: Instead of tucking an apple slice into an airtight container of oatmeal cookies that you want to soften, slip the bear in and close with a tight-fitting lid (the bear won't brown like an apple will). You can also use it to keep dried coconut and/or raisins moist and plump.