Bake your own hot dog buns

Americoat Nonstick 15" x 6" Hot Dog Bun Pan
Whether you call them frankfurters or wieners, hot dogs offer something for everyone. Available in a multitude of varieties, meat in tube form continues to be a classic meal no matter where you may be from. Yet for all the different forms (and varying degrees of quality) sausages can take, the bun sadly is too often overlooked. The lowly bun is capable of so much more than being relegated to oddly-numbered packages smushed into the back of a grocer’s counter—especially when you bake your own.

The Americoat Nonstick 15″ x 6″ Hot Dog Bun Pan encourages hot dog buns to rise to their full potential. The raised ridges form indentations into the buns as they bake, in the process creating quick-access cutting guides. As all hot dog fans know, the quicker to the dog, the better. Pile the resulting dog high with condiments (no ketchup), and the perfect hot dog is finally completed in all its glory, from its chili-coated top to hearty bread bottom.

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.

Barbecue Spatula Tongs for easy grilling

Barbecue Spatula Tongs

Just like it can be easy to overload on the condiments while grilling in the backyard, the tools to cook delicious steaks and burgers can sometimes just get in the way. For quick and easy grilling sometimes all you need is one tool — especially if that one tool does it all.

Williams-Sonoma combines two must-have grill accessories into one convenient tool with the Barbecue Spatula Tongs. With one end of the tool resembling a spatula, and the opposite end armed with an easy-grasping tong, the combination tool makes flipping even the most delicate foods a breeze. Just be sure that now you that you have a free hand, you occasionally set down the ketchup.

UPDATE 6/30/12: It looks like Williams-Sonoma no longer has this item, but here is the very similar (and well-reviewed) GrillPro 40240 16-Inch Stainless Steel Tong/Turner Combination.