As a cook, one of the things I’m THE WORST at is being clean and organized. OK That’s two things.

I can make the simplest dish, and manage to make the kitchen explode. This also makes it very hard for me to use any touch devices while cooking without getting everything dirty. I also find myself constantly forgetting simple tasks that I should be writing down. Or worse. Leaving food in the oven too long. Enter Google Home.

Google Home, for me, is like having a third hand in the kitchen. I can keep my hands focused on cooking, while getting a little assistance from Google Home when I need it.

Google Home can answer my questions, create shopping lists, and integrates with other smart devices and services that I already use.

So, while our dinner is cooking in the oven I can say, “Ok Google, Set a timer for 20 minutes” And quicker than I could set a timer on my microwave, or even on my phone.

With it’s far-field voice recognition I can have my Google Home speaker in my office, saving my Google Home device from oil splatters and anything else bound to happen in my kitchen.  Even at that distance (about 30 feet), I can talk in a normal volume and it has no problems picking up my voice. Really cool.

It can even do the math on converting measurements by saying “Ok Google, How many Teaspoons in a third of a cup?”. Google Home has my back.

And since we’re just waiting for dinner to cook we can play a game of mad libs with Google home. Yes. “Ok Google, Let’s play Mad Libs” Will queue up a game. It’s probably my favorite thing to do.

We have a Chromecast connected integrated into our Google Home App as well, so I can also keep our son entertained while food is waiting to be photographed (Yep, that’s kind of a thing in a food blogger’s home).

So I launch YouTube by saying, “Ok Google, watch videos of Fizzy Toy Show on my TV”. It’s that easy, I don’t have to leave the kitchen and get it set up. That’s what I’m talking about!

My son is addicted to those toy videos on YouTube. Like obsessed. He loves finding new toys to show me and tell me all about. It’s great, but with the free 6 Months of YouTube Red that comes with every Google home purchase, at least I can avoid having to walk over and skip ads for him, which is even better!

If you’re a IFTTT junkie like I am, there’s even IFTTT Recipes to really get down on some fun automation. I’m super excited to start getting a little “smarter” in the house and integrating it all with Google Home!

While I normally listen to Spotify off my desktop speakers, I love how loud this small device can get. It’s got crystal clear highs and I love how rich and full the bass is.

By simply saying, “Ok Google, play some Christmas music” the Google Home has the room filled with Christmas music using my Spotify account. Quicker than I can get it going on my computer by far!

Now that I’m in the Christmas spirit, I might be picking a few Google Home devices up as gifts too!

This post has been sponsored by Google. All opinions are my own!