food

And just like that, we have an update to a device that could change how we live--or at least how we shop at the local Safeway.

Meet the SmartShopper 301, a grocery list organizer you talk to. When you're out of a certain much-needed item, like, say, whiskey, you walk over to the small, wall-mounted device and tell it, "Hey, you, wall-mounted list taker, listen up! I'm out of whiskey again!" It then automatically adds "whiskey" to your grocery list.

The battery-operated SmartShopper supports multiple listings of each object. For example, my list would … Read more

Sky Burger is a casual burger-building arcade game with endearing visuals, surprisingly fun controls, but fairly repetitive gameplay.

Your job is to build burgers to order, one at at time, by positioning a bottom bun (and a teetering, ever-growing tower of ingredients) under a steady, random cascade of pickles, patties, tomatoes, onions, and the like. Burger ingredients fall from the top of the screen, and you can get your proto-burger under them by using either touch or tilt controls: touching and dragging the bun, or tilting left and right. Both have their advantages (tilt keeps your fingers from ever obscuring … Read more

Some kitchen tools become indispensable from the moment they are first put to use. From the second they become plugged in, their versatility and convenience become something that is unimaginable to do without. The food processor is one such appliance. Endlessly useful, the one appliance keeps getting better.

The Cuisinart Elite Collection 14-Cup Food Processor is a modern update on the kitchen classic. Featuring a wide assortment of accessories, the food processor is designed for a variety of uses. Included along with the 14-cup work bowl are two additional work bowls: 11-cup and 4.5-cup. Nesting together when not in … Read more

Looking to lose weight? Lower your cholesterol? Control your diabetes? Prevent cancer? These are among the proven benefits of a vegan diet--meaning one free of all animal products (meat, dairy, etc.). However, starting such a restrictive plan can be a bit of a challenge.

Enter 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, a free app that provides three weeks' worth of meals, complete with recipes. According to experts, that's enough time to drop a few pounds, lower your blood sugar, and just generally start feeling better. And, hey, anybody can manage 21 days, right? At the end, it's up to you to … Read more

Looking to lose weight? Lower your cholesterol? Control your diabetes? Prevent cancer? These are among the proven benefits of a vegan diet--meaning one free of all animal products (meat, dairy, etc.).

OK, but how do you get started? Without your morning cereal, lunchtime Quarter Pounder, and the like, what are you supposed to eat?

Enter 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, a free app that provides three weeks' worth of meals, complete with recipes. Why three weeks? According to experts, that's enough time to drop a few pounds, lower your blood sugar, and just generally start feeling better. And, hey, anybody can … Read more

Europeans will soon be able to throw their candy wrappers into the composting bin.

U.S.-based bioplastics producer Cereplast announced Wednesday that its patented bioresin will soon be used to make food packaging for a variety of foods in Europe.

The company signed a multimillion-dollar deal to supply its Cereplast Compostables 7003 bioresin to Sezersan Ambalaj, one of the leading producers of food packaging for Europe. Sezersan, which is based in Turkey, will use the resin to produce completely biodegradable food-packaging.

The bioresin is starch-based and can be created from corn, wheat, tapioca, or potato starches, making it 100 … Read more

Looking for a food cart in Portland, Ore.? There's probably one right in front of you. But maybe there's one up the street that's better. Now you can find out such things with a new mapping layer from Microsoft for its Bing Maps service.

Having grown up in Portland, I can tell you that most locals know where the best carts are, along with the food item to get at those places. But one thing the locals won't always be able to tell you is the location of the traveling food carts--the ones that are not … Read more

Would you eat a burger created by The 404 Podcast? CNET social-media expert Caroline McCarthy joins us on today's episode and tell us about the burger joint of the future.

Rex Sorgatz, one of the founders of Fimoculous and former guest of The 404, consulted on 4Food, a new restaurant that adds a social-media twist to the burger by letting customers save their unique burger creations in the 4food system; a profit-sharing system even gives the creator 25 cents of in-store credit for every custom burger sold! Since Caroline knows practically everyone in Web 2.0, expect to see … Read more

NEW YORK--The team behind 4food, a burger shop opening next month on Madison Avenue and East 40th Street in midtown Manhattan, might have put forth the most idealistic concept that the fast-food industry has yet seen. There will be custom online orders with more than 140 million possible combinations, employees armed with iPads, free Wi-Fi, and a socially minded "green" mission that aims to use local, high-quality ingredients and compost everything that's thrown away.

Having gone to a preview event hosted by Gawker Media gadget blog Gizmodo on Thursday night, and having spent about an hour on 4food's Web site the prior day to lovingly craft a customized salmon burger on a brioche roll with Brussels sprouts, gruyere cheese, and hummus, I can say that the food component of 4food really is surprisingly good.

The three-level space is impressive, with power outlets at every seat (your receipt comes with a Wi-Fi password) and a massive video screen that projects, among other things, recent tweets and public Foursquare check-ins to the venue. When 4food opens in the second week of September, there will be a half-dozen iPads for self-service orders, as well as iPad-equipped employees walking around to speed things up.… Read more