I'll admit it... I'm a sucker for new gimmicks. I just can't resist them. Which is why I have all sorts of weird things lying around the house (for example, spray-on makeup). So naturally, as soon as I saw Wish Bone's Salad Spritzers, I had to get one immediately. The three flavor choices all seemed good, but anyone who knows my other interest (see www.grapegal.com) will understand why I chose the "Red Wine Mist Cabernet Vinaigrette" flavor. (Whew - say THAT three times fast.)

First of all, the IDEA is brilliant. Salad dressing in a spray bottle. The perfect way to make a small amount of dressing cover a large amount of salad. The one failing, at least from my perspective, is that in order for the dressing to be sprayable, it needs to be free of herbs, spices, or little pieces of flavorful things that might clog the spray nozzle. So forget about herbs, the dressing is infused with onion juice instead... more sprayable.

Pros: 1 calorie per spray, which means that 10 sprays (what they consider a serving) is a mere 10 calories. Ten sprays actually really does cover a bowl of salad! The ingredients are very straightforward and do indeed include red wine vinegar and cabernet sauvignon. It's portable and easy to use.

Cons: As I mentioned before, I miss specks of herbs and bits of garlic. The viniagrette is quite vinegary, perhaps a bit more so than I'd like. If I had the calories to spend, I'd probably use a more exciting dressing like Newman's Own Lighten Up Sun Dried Tomato Dressing or Ayhan's Light Mediterranean Viniagrette - both of which are 60 calories a serving.

Conclusion: Wish Bone's Salad Spritzer is absolutely worth having around. If you find it a bit too tart for salad, it turns out to make a wonderful marinade for vegetables. I sprayed eggplant and peppers, let them sit for an hour and then grilled them, and the flavor was superb.