Appliances & Kitchen Gadgets

Easy as can be.

(Credit: Solutions.com)

I never knew you could get a spatula with what amounts to training wheels, but the more I look at this thing, the more I like it. Think about it: the first actual cooking implement most of us use as we learn to cook is the spatula. I'm going to guess one of the first things many children learn to do in the kitchen is to fry an egg. At least it was in my case (ruining the good egg pan in the process). As hand-eye coordination develops, it can be challenging for a child to do simple tasks in the kitchen, A little help in the form of a raised edge could go a long way.

While the Backstop Spatula seems to be designed with the grill in mind rather than as a helping hand for those new to the kitchen, that only makes it more useful. Grillers can encourage the young ones to participate knowing in confidence that the burger won't end up on the ground. Simply slide, tilt, and flip.

Maybe that's where the true value of this spatula resides: in its ease-of-use for the grill. After all, if you are going to be outside grilling, most likely you are going to have a beer in your hand. After all, sometimes it's not just the young who need help with their motor coordination skills. I'm not saying you are going to need a specialty spatula, but hey, one can never be too careful.

(Credit: BoingBoing Gadgets)

In high school and college, I finally discovered the arcade classics, and my all-time favorite was Pac-Man. It was easy enough for me to master, and just complicated enough to be challenging and interesting. I'd visit arcades with friends and plunk quarter after quarter into the machine, just to get the chance to guide my favorite yellow big-mouthed friend toward the glowing dots and frightened ghosts.

Now, with college behind me, the obligations of work and home keep me from spending too much time playing video games, but some manufacturers have found a way for me to continue appreciating them while I'm taking care of more pressing activities.

Case in point: this Pac-Man oven mitt. It's a simple design that lets you channel your inner child while baking cookies or roasting poultry. And from Pac-Man's perspective, what he's aiming for is an improvement: I can't imagine that those white dots taste as good as homemade chocolate chip cookies!

The Pac-Man oven mitt was created by Fred. It's silicone, so it can withstand temperatures of up to 450 Fahrenheit and is dishwasher safe. It's available for about $15.

I returned home from five weeks out of the country to discover that the mail hold I'd enabled was essentially rendered meaningless by the zealous work of public relations companies, which had stacked no fewer then 12 UPS packages neatly on my front porch.

Don't spill!

(Credit: Contigo)

My favorite was the company that included fresh flowers with their package. The flowers, I'm sure, were fresh back on March 25 when they were delivered. But I digress. Among the packages, I found some gems I'll tell you about in the next few days, starting with the very cool Contigo Autoseal drinkware.

The stainless steel mug they sent me holds 16 ounces of liquid and keeps it hot for 4 hours or icy cold for 12. And it actually is spillproof, unlike the sippy cups and sport bottles my kids usually use. The spillproof part is pretty darn simple: when you pick up the mug, you press a button with your thumb to unseal the mug and drink. As soon as you release the button, the mug is sealed, and not a drop drips out.

I love this mug already, and I'm particularly interested in Contigo's line of kid-friendly cups, which are contoured for smaller hands and hold 9 ounces of liquid. Check out the full line of BPA-free, eco-friendly mugs and bottles. Cheers!

Hot or not?

(Credit: Solutions)

Admit it. Go on, admit it. You always wanted an ice sculpture centerpiece. I know I have. I'm not ashamed to admit it. An ice sculpture may be cheesy or fancy depending on your perspective (not to mention the sculpture), but there is no denying there is something just kind of neat about watching an ice sculpture slowly melt before your eyes. With little or no work, you can now have your very own ice sculpture (over and over again).

These Ice Sculpture Molds, available in Penguin or Angelfish, may not be the high art ice sculpture you would use for a very special event, but as a chilled centerpiece for a simple get-together, they are pretty cool. Besides, they're useful. The angelfish could be used to cool down a punch bowl, while the penguin makes for a nice accompaniment for foods that require chilling.

These molds require nothing more than a faucet and some empty room in the freezer. Simply fill with water and freeze. When ready, the flexible plastic easily separates from the finished figure. Measuring from 5 to 7 inches, the molds are small enough to be given alternate uses. For example, filled with gelatin the set figures could be an unexpected fun treat for the kids. The ease of use and fun animal shapes make these ice molds attractive for any age group--whether you admit it or not.

FDA-approved.

(Credit: Target)

I have never questioned the wisdom of encouraging the artistic side of a growing child (hint: I encourage it), but this toaster seems to me more than just a bit wacky. Sure, kids benefit from making mealtime engaging and fun, but if you think you had problems with them drawing their masterpieces on the wall, just wait until you train then to paint with their food!

Nevertheless, if you encourage your child's interest in art at every opportunity, this Pop Art Toaster Creativity Coloring Kit might be up your alley. It comes with six plates to burn predetermined designs into your morning toast. All the standard settings one might expect are there: level settings, slide-out crumb tray, and the like. But what truly makes this toaster stand out is the set of five coloring pens that come with it. Toast up some bread with Junior's favorite design, and set him down to eat paint.

While the pens are, of course, FDA-approved, parents should still consider the message they are sending their children. Buttering their toast with pens might seem like a good idea, until a child mistakes a Sharpie for a butter pen. Also making sure kids know how to read first would be smart, specifically the phrase "FDA-approved".

Which shape is best?

(Credit: Amazon)

This morning I was hungry for waffles. Not pancakes, but waffles. Sometimes I keep a box of Eggos in the freezer, but those aren't really waffle-waffles. Eggos, at least to my taste buds, are more of a buttery blueberry cookie than they are a waffle, so popping a couple of those in the toaster ain't gonna do the trick. The craving is for waffles and waffles only. Unfortunately, I only have a cheap waffle iron that produces less than stellar results. It is in this frame of mind that I go window-shopping for waffle irons.

This VillaWare V2001F UNO Farmyard Waffler makes four waffles at a time in traditional animal shapes. Wait. What? Ok, so maybe having a "friendly cow, a chicken, a pig, and a classic farmhouse" as breakfast-mates isn't so traditional, but chances are if you got kids, they will love it. Just don't let them get away with nominating one shape as the "good" shape, sibling rivalry being what it is and all.

The waffle iron comes with seven different temperature settings and two browning options. The fun shapes cook in about three minutes and a timer beeps when they are done. The resulting waffles are about 3.5 inches each. The waffle iron stores vertically and the unit itself measures 11.5 inches by 7.75 inches by 3 inches while weighing in at 9 pounds.

My RSS reader is packed with food, gadget, and shopping blogs, and whenever I see something that might be worth sharing here I try to bookmark it for when I have time to write it up. Cruising through my bookmarks earlier today I started to notice a trend: I've been marking lots of products that are explicitly designed for playing with food. Apparently my inner child thrills at the thought of a mechanically assisted way to launch her broccoli across the room. So for her sake and yours, here are four tools for merging meal time and play time.

(Credit: Sybille.ch)

Air Fork One lends some credibility to the whole "here comes the plane into the hangar" story you try to sell to your toddler every night. So far, it's a design concept only, but creative types can probably cobble together a reasonable facsimile on their own.

(Credit: Apartment Therapy)

Apartment Therapy's gadget blog recently featured these Icetris ice cube trays. Use your freezer ... Read more

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I'm at that age where most of my friends are starting families, so I find myself shopping for a lot of baby stuff. In fact, I've developed a bit of a reputation for giving the kind of wildly impractical baby gifts that only a non-parent would buy. But the Squirt baby food dispensing spoon just might help salvage my reputation as a gift-giver. Parents can fill the bright orange bulb with up to three ounces of baby food, then secure the spoon on the end. A squeeze of the bulb dispenses a bite of food onto the spoon, allowing for one-handed feeding. The spoon also comes with a protective cover so you can throw it in a bag and still have something for the baby to eat while you're away from home.

I do wonder how easy it will be to squeeze the right amount of food onto the spoon end. And I wonder how easy it will be to clean--assuming that it's dishwasher-safe. We'll be able to find out in October, when the Squirt will be available for purchase and I will no doubt give it to some unsuspecting first-time parents.

Now that kids around the country are heading back to school, parents have plenty of things on their minds. Thankfully, there are loads of clever products that can make it easier to get healthy, fun lunches out the door--and actually consumed. We put together a list of a few that might make lunches easier to plan for.

A poll of the parents in our newsroom is pretty much unanimous. The apple slicer was sent straight from heaven. It turns apples from loathesome fruit to scrumptious little snackers in one swift motion. This one from Leifheit goes for $14.95 on Cooking.com, but other brands and styles can run a little less.

(Credit: Cooking.com)

There are lots of different julienne peelers and knives available, which can be used to make carrot sticks or cucumbers a little more appealing to kids with veggie aversions. This one from OXO works much like a regular vegetable peeler, but any kitchen store should have a variety of tools that do a similar job quickly and easily.

(Credit: Amazon.com)

Everybody knows thousands of domestic battles have been fought over attempts at getting kids to eat bread crusts. Heck, my school days are long gone and I still hate the things. For those parents who've chosen to fight other battles, there are a number of crust cutters out there, some of which make cute little shapes, though those tend to waste a lot of non-crust sandwich trimmings. This one comes in a standard sandwich size and shape. But one of my co-workers has had good luck with this contraption, which cuts crusts and crimps the edges together to make a little handheld sandwich pie. That's especially convenient for keeping a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from leaking a gooey mess all over the place, he reports.

(Credit: Pampered Chef)

Obentec produces a line of modular lunchbox systems called Laptop Lunches that are basically lunchboxes with Tupperware-like containers set inside. The set comes in an insulated carrying case that looks a little like a laptop bag. Inside that is a water bottle and a lunchbox that's about 9x7x2 inches. The boxes come with utensils, two large containers (one of which has a lid and can hold wet foods), two smaller containers, and one itty bitty container with a lid that can hold salad dressing, condiments or dip. That system goes for $34.99, but the lunchbox and its contents can also be purchased separately for less money.

The containers are lead-free (which gives them a leg up on most insulated lunch bags), dishwasher-safe and recyclable. And orders come with a book of healthy lunch tips.

(Credit: LaptopLunches.com)

Several portable containers have a large compartment for individual-size salads, along with a smaller compartment in the lid that can hold dressing, so salads don't get soggy while your tots sit in math class. But this one from the Container Store, called the Salad Blaster, makes the process of dressing salad (not to mention eating vegetables) a little more exciting. Pressing down on the top of the container "blasts" the dressing onto the salad, good for youngsters who think exploding food is more fun, which I guess is pretty much all of them.

(Credit: The Container Store)

These versatile containers can be used for packing along milk and cereal or yogurt and granola. Dry food can go in the top compartment, while cold things go in the bottom, chilled by that magic freezer stuff that sits sandwiched between the inner and outer layers of the cup.

(Credit: Brylane Home)

If you're lucky enough to have a kid who doesn't get squeamish at the thought of eating bananas, you can protect the fruit and the homework in the schoolbag next to it with this banana saver, a container specially designed for keeping bananas from getting smashed before their time.

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And for dessert, you can use these containers to send a frosted cupcake to school without them getting totally destroyed. They can also be used for protecting muffins.

(Credit: Williams-Sonoma)

This blog was brought to you in part by CNET News.com's Michelle Meyers, who loaned her research help and invaluable maternal expertise to the project.