A couple weekends ago, I was out with my mom and we each bought an electric tea kettle like this.
I used to think this was a superfluous item; you can heat water in the microwave or in a kettle on the stove. But after using one at the B&B in England, I warmed to the idea – the electric kettle is much quicker to make a cup of tea and with so little cleanup. This tea kettle lets you know how much water is in it, and super heats the water in less than a minute. It will shut off automatically after it boils so you don’t leave it on. And I’ve used it more than any other counter-top appliance in our house in the past two weeks. Tea – my new drink of choice.