Category: Tableware

Hot Pot learns a pizza lesson

hotpot

All cookware should come in 2-in-1 form. What has worked so well for pizza toppings can easily be incorporated into other dishes. Take for example, this 2-in-1 Hot Pot (11-in.) by Tayama. Perfectly designed with a slightly off-center divider (one flavor is bound to be more popular), the hot pot makes it easy for diners to not only choose their own meats and vegetables, but what to dip them into too.

With one side filled with a spicy stock (the larger side of course), and the other not so spicy, eaters are given a choice aimed to please particular palates. Be careful which side you fill up with the good stuff though; you don’t want to be left with an abundance of anchovy-ham-pineapple stew.

Hide those unsightly upside-down ketchup bottles

Bottoms Up Ketchup Bottle Holder

All those upside down bottles in your fridge may be fine when they’re out of sight, but when it’s time to take ‘em to the table, you should really clean up your act. No matter how good a spread you got going on, presentation does still count. Oh, if only there was a way to keep mostly-used ketchup bottles at the table without having to look at them.

Oh wait, there is.

The Kitchenart Bottoms-Up Bottle Holder may seem to be nothing more than a cheap plastic kitchen gadget designed to separate you from your money, but you have to look further than that. Place this on the dining room table and your tablescape will immediately be transformed from gauche to gosh. As a bonus, if you need a conversation starter, your guests will surely be asking what the heck that broken plastic thing is for.

Spice jar meets measuring spoon

Airtite Auto-Measure Spice Jars

The goal of any good kitchen gadget should be to combine common tasks into one streamlined operation. When measuring out herbs and spices why bother digging out a measuring spoon when you could just integrate one into the jar itself? That’s exactly what is going on with these Airtite Auto-Measure Spice Jars.

Available in either black or white, the 5-ounce spice jar conveniently dispenses dried herbs and spices one-quarter teaspoon at a time. Included is a shaker top for instances where good ol’ fashioned eyeballing it is good enough—which now doesn’t have to be each time since you won’t have to hunt for those pesky measuring spoons.

LED Placemats can’t hold a candle to… well, a candle

Sylvania LED Placemat

Oh, the lowly placemat. It sits underneath our plates, garnering none of the attention reserved for the attention hog that is our dinner plate. (Even more so if actual hog is involved). Whatever pork dish you may prefer, it will have to share in the limelight if you are using these LED Placemats from Sylvania.

Operating on a button cell and offering up to 20 hours of battery life, the placemats twinkle and shine, gently illuminating your meal. As romantic as glimmering novelty placemats may be, I don’t think candle makers have anything to worry about quite yet.

(Via Oh Gizmo)

Ultra-hyper-mega-cute animal drinking mugs

Upside Down Animal Mugs from Décole Japan

They look like little ultra-cute pieces of chotcke sitting on a shelf into you turn them over, and then you see these pieces from Japan’s Décole are actually drinking mugs. The Upside Down Animal Mug collection measures about 4 inches tall each (upside down or not) and come in three hyper-cute versions: cat, panda and piglet. These mega-cute little drinkers will set you back $20 each. Too much cute? Yeah, maybe.

***UPDATE 9/29/13*** Looks like things got a bit topsy-turvy at the link above; they are sold out. However, here is a link to the upside down panda mug: Decole Animal Face Mug – Panda. Hyper-mega-super-cute lives on!

The rise of the utensil

Taster by Carl Mertens

We as a society seem to have been constantly upgrading our collective utensil sensibilities. During our humble beginnings eons ago we lurched around with crude knives. Since then, we have achieved a pinnacle of utensilology. The place setting has evolved into a minefield of utensils–all refined for specific uses. An unnecessary burden has been place upon us to distinguish the fish fork from the salad fork, and as such, the modern era has given rise to the somewhat-useful spork. Clearly, there is room for improvement.

The Taster by Carl Mertens brings the spork to the stovetop and back on out to the dinner table. With a spoon on one end and a fork on the other, the utensil is designed to give the cook convenient access to their creations. Furthermore, a small hook has been incorporated which can be used to fish out spaghetti or other elusive items. Evolution doesn’t come cheap however, and this spoon/fork/cooking-thingy will set you back $32.

(Via Dvice)