One might think that cooking food on a stick is simply a matter of sticking food on a stick. (With me so far?) Ah, but there’s a fine art to it. Which foods taste best when on a stick? How to keep food on a stick from falling off of a stick? Does everything taste better on a stick? (Yes.) These are all worthy topics to explore. The new cookbook On a Stick! by Matt Armendariz looks to answer a few of these delicious questions.

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Tags: Cheap Gifts, cooking, stick

It wasn’t too long ago that dinosaurs were all the rage with the kids. Well, those kids grew up and moved on from mac and cheese to more grown-up tastes. That includes ditching the juice-filled sippy-cups for more sophisticated beverages. Like tea. But that doesn’t mean the fun has to be left behind.

The Tea Rex Tea Infuser gives those who don’t want to grow up just yet something to hang on to. The little dinosaur is made to hold loose-leaf tea and includes a chain for easy tea steeping. Fill with your favorite tea leaves, hang it off the side of your teacup and transport yourself to the past.

Tags: bad puns, Cheap Gifts, DCI Gifts, dinosaur, fun, tea

Image source: Diana Banana (clickable)

Time for some good weekend reading. Checking out my RSS feed, I find a nice little list of 10 food additives and what they are used for. Yum!

8. Caramel Coloring

When you don’t have real cocoa to put in food, but you want to make it look like you did, you add caramel coloring. This is sometimes added to mixes and cake batters to make them look chocolatey. Mostly, though, caramel coloring is added to cooked meats, sodas and gravies to give them the golden-brown look that people find appetizing. It’s made by cooking up various sugars with agents like ammonium or alkali. Although it’s possibly carcinogenic, it hasn’t been yanked from shelves, because people love brown food. Love it.

If you want to find out what gives popcorn that (not exactly) buttery taste, or what alkali does to chocolate, check out the source link below.

(Via io9)

Tags: science

Cows don’t seem to be particularly well-suited for keeping time, but hey, maybe they are. At least in the kitchen. In any event, the Country Cow Kitchen Timer is willing to give it a go. At least for up to 59-minutes, but beware: that could mean anything in cow-time.

Tags: animals, Cheap Gifts, Collections Etc., TGIF, timer

White Castle has, shall we say, a distinct aroma. And it’s no secret that the smell of bacon cooking is the greatest smell in the world. So it only makes sense to put the two together! Today’s press release highlights just that. Read on and crave on.

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Tags: bacon, burgers, fast food, news

The Joseph Joseph Elevate Carousel Set solves two problems for the price of one. And that’s not even considering the amount of kitchen tools this one set contains. Called ‘Elevate’ for a reason, the utensils feature weighted handles, allowing for tools to be rested on the counter without the business end coming into contact with the surface.

Then after all the cooking is done and the utensils are cleaned, the set gives a place to store its components. Included along with the spaghetti server, slotted spoon, ladle, slotted turner, solid spoon and flexible turner is a rotating base allowing for the tools to always be within reach. Of course, by solving two questions another one arises, and that one would be: ‘Where did all the counter space go?’

Tags: Joseph Joseph, Storage, utensils