Lugging sacks full of groceries home from the supermarket can sometimes really hurt. If you’re walking, you have to gauge just how much you can carry. Then you get to the store and find that they are have a sale on #10 cans of beans. It’ll be okay, you tell yourself: I can carry all that. And then you do. By the time you get home, your fingers are red and numb from strain, and you tell yourself there has got to be a better way.

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Tags: groceries

One may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but there are some dogs you probably shouldn’t try to teach any tricks. Aside from knife throwing and that knife between the fingers tabletop thing, there just aren’t that many good things to do with a kitchen knife aside from the preparation of food. Especially when it comes to kids’ knives.

More bark than bite, the Kuhn Rikon kinderkitchen Kids’ Dog Knives are specially designed with kids in mind and feature blades that are just sharp enough to cut through soft foods. Available in either a serrated version or not, the bright designs are intended to attract kids into the kitchen—which actually might be the best trick of all.

Tags: kids, knife, Kuhn Rikon

The dreaded double dip: nobody likes it except the dip-ee. But perhaps blame should not only fall upon the offending dipper, but also on the host. People will double dip: it is a fact of life. While there is no getting around human behavior, there is a solution to this understandably important problem.

The Ooma Bowl designed by Thomas Both gives hors d’oeuvre-lovin’ partygoers a chance to double dip to their heart’s content. The two-bowl design of the 16-ounce capacity (in total) dish is perfect for any number of combinations: chips and salsa, beans and rice, veggies and dip. A little this and a little that, and it doesn’t matter in which order–and all without any of that icky unintentional sharing.

Tags: bowls, dip, earthenware, hors d'oeuvres, parties, snacks

I see no flaws with having a portable cooler that does double duty as a chair: you can take it with you everywhere you go. Filled with ice during the hot summer months there would be no better way to fly (or sit). I do however see one major flaw with the All-in-1 Chair.

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Tags: cooler, ice, TGIF

Nuclear-hot red chili peppers add a decisive kick to what could be an otherwise boring meal. However it’s exactly the fact that they are so damn hot that can make them too hot to handle. Literally. Releasing endorphins is great and all, but it doesn’t count if they’re triggered via hot pepper in the eye. The same volatile oil that can make eating hot pepper so enjoyable, is the same one that can stick to the fingers and end up in the most unwelcome of places.

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Tags: Alessi, chili, grinder, heat, Mid-Range Gifts, peppers, silicone

Piping hot food straight from the microwave usually means piping hot dishware. Pop a bowl of soup in the mic, and when it’s done, the bowl could be too hot to touch. Solving this dilemma is the Cool Touch Micro Bowl. The three-piece design consists of a 17-ounce ceramic bowl and a finger-protecting plastic outer bowl; there’s even a lid included for storing leftovers. Just grab and go straight from the microwave.

Now if only everything could be covered with a protective material.

Tags: bowls, microwaveable