For the Home Chef Who Has Everything

One of the fringe benefits of my work as a restaurant critic is that marketers all over the country are always trying to get me to plug their products. Why is a "benefit," you ask? Why, it's because I get to find out about some of the most bizarre and previously unnecessary new kitchen products--and I get to be on the cutting edge of these "innovations." A few years ago, a PR firm sent me an urgent message trying to get me to interview the inventor of ShotLuge, a device for parties that holds a block of ice with ski slope-like channels, down which you can send shots of your favorite liqueurs into the open mouths of party guests. Their website has photos of the "Girl of the Month" posing by the ShotLuge, and apparently the company hit marketing Nirvana recently when they got a ShotLuge into the Playboy Mansion. Needless to say, I didn't stop the presses to write about this wonder.

Well, now I get an email telling me about a revolutionary new product that I'm sure you'll all want to run out and buy. What is this time and kitchen-saving product? It's the The Boiling Minder, of course. Think about it, aren't boil-overs at the top of your list of common kitchen mishaps? No? Then you're not boiling enough food! And who has the time just to stand at the stove and blow the bubbles down? Well, it seems someone was exprimenting with his wife's blow dryer on a stand when he came up with the idea for the Boiling Minder, an alien-looking device that's a bit like a miniature shop vac that "blows" on your boiling water for you. It has a timer and suggested "boiling times" for your food. It's even available in "designer" colors (see?). The video on their website is a must-see! I think I'll order one right now!!!!! Enjoy!