Eating

Take this deep fryer out for a spin all year round

It's only natural that as the seasons change, our eating habits change along with the weather. Ice cream, fresh veggies, and grilled everything dominate the summer landscape, giving way to hearty soups and stews when winter approaches. But it is not only seasonal foods and warm weather favorites that fall by the wayside as we start to feel the chill in our bones. No, there is another beast that disappears as time marches on: the state fair. And that means we lose fried everything. While everything from cola to butter has been seen to be battered and deep fried … Read more

Greenhouses could take root at Japan's eateries

Fancy your lettuce fresh off a farm? Dentsu Facility Management is planting the idea of an on-site greenhouse for restaurants that's capable of producing up to 60 heads of lettuce a day. If you do your math, that's about 20,000 heads a year.

The "Chef's Farm" measures about 13 feet wide by 5 feet deep by 7.5 feet tall and comes with five planting beds with sponges to nurture individual seeds; 12 40-watt fluorescent lamps to imitate sunlight; an air shower for moisture; plus a whizbang of gadgetry to monitor lighting strength, water … Read more

Plug in fondue

Food has always been about a communal experience. From the earliest times, dinnertime was always an event. Nowadays, hunting down the evening meal may not require much more than a trip to the supermarket, but that in no way makes our meals any less reliant on others. While unseen individuals may be responsible for getting our food to the table, our instinctual desire to share food is hard to ignore. With family, friends, and fondue, of course.

The Trudeau Alto Electric Fondue Set offers a convenient and modern way to enjoy a communal eating experience. The set is around $140, … Read more

Doughnut hole maker fills in the gap

It's not hard to find a good doughnut. When it comes to availability, the delectable little treats are almost as common as coffee. No matter where you live, chances are somewhere close by a doughnut purveyor has opened up shop. If for some strange quirk of fate, this doesn't happen to be, then the local supermarket is likely to have a counter where the treats are available, and if not, surely the shelves are stocked with the boxed variety. As prevalent as doughnuts may be, however, finding the right one at the right time is not necessarily a … Read more

Vacuum sealer seals in the future

Somewhere along the line, our idea of futuristic space-age culinary options got off track. Thankfully, here in 2010, we aren't all surviving off of food in pill form, but other good (or at least more delicious) ideas still have not come to fruition. We may not yet have the Black & Decker Hydrator from "Back to the Future," or the liquefied meal (including fish!) served on the moon shuttle in "2001: A Space Odyssey," but at least we have sous vide cooking.

Innovative cooking methods and innovative food storage solutions may not seem like they … Read more

IKEA imagines the mother of all kitchens

Remember when IKEA told you you were crazy to imagine a lamp had feelings? Well, it turns out that you might just have been ahead of your time. IKEA predicts that the kitchen of the future--it's set its sights on 2040--will "be so technologically advanced that it will almost be alive, responding actively to our needs like only a mother could."

A recent report on future kitchens by U.K. brand consultancy The Future Laboratory looked at social trends and drivers that will affect our home lives in the future. In response, IKEA created three concept kitchens. … Read more

Pretty portion control

In my head, I plan elaborate, healthy meals. And then I sit down to dinner, and I get distracted by the potatoes and overlook the string beans. I'm not alone; many people have great intentions that somehow fizzle away when it's time to actually, you know, bring it to the table.

The Design for Health plate, made by designer Jeffrey Harris, puts your meals back in proportion, with a visual cue reminding you that you want your meal to be a quarter protein, a quarter starch, and half vegetables. At 9.5 inches, this plate is smaller than … Read more

Feeding 2.0

You know how you can never find the spoon at the bottom of the diaper bag when the baby is screaming for food? Sure, maybe I could be a more organized mom, but I've seen my friends with the same frenzied look nearly every time I'm out and about.

I'd never heard of pouched baby food before this product turned up in my in-box, but apparently it's a popular alternative to jars. And Plum Organics has teamed up with Boon Inc. to create a spoon and pouch system. The custom-designed spoon easily attaches to the spout … Read more

Self-serve soft-serve serves up fun

The process of getting a culinary treat can sometimes be almost as exciting as the treat itself. Consider going to get ice cream as a youngster: from the time the word "ice cream" is mentioned, the duration of the experience is one of increasing excitement until finally, finally, the frozen treat is safely obtained. Whether it involved choosing one of many different flavors, or sitting in a parlor trying to wait patiently for the ice cream to arrive, the fun of the wait was always rewarded.

You can't go wrong with ice cream, and with the Soft-Serve Ice Cream Maker, … Read more

Cupmen 2 knows when your instant ramen's done

Apparently, movies aren't the only things with sequels. Japanese designer Akira Mabuchi has unveiled a successor to the Cupmen lid holder, called (surprise, surprise) Cupmen 2, a perfect complement to instant-noodle guzzlers.

This whimsical silicone man holds down the lid to your cup ramen, with a bonus. As it's waiting, it reacts to the heat and changes color to let you know when your three minutes of cooking time is up.

Cupmen 2 (840 yen, or $9.40) sports a more relaxed devil-may-care attitude, in blue, moss green, or rose, while its predecessor (as you can see from … Read more