By Andrew Liszewski

A rice cooker is a must-have kitchen appliance since it makes cooking rice dead-easy and almost impossible to screw up. And while there are recipes for cooking lots of different dishes in them, SANYO is the first to create a rice cooker that’s also able to bake up a fresh loaf of bread, without the need for pre-ground rice flour. Making rice bread with a traditional bread maker has always been easy as long as you had the rice flour, but the GOPAN is the first bread maker/rice cooker that features a special spinning mechanism that can grind regular uncooked rice into flour, as well as mix and knead the dough during the baking process.

And even though it comes with a fairly hefty price tag of ¥50,000, which is over $600, the demand for the GOPAN has been so great in Japan that SANYO has had to stop taking orders until April of next year in order to catch up with production. So not surprisingly they also plan to introduce the GOPAN to other international markets sometime in 2011 as well.

[ SANYO GOPAN ] VIA [ Fareastgizmos ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Unless you come from a family of photographers these Photoshop icon salt & pepper shakers are probably a wasted sight gag. But if they really existed I imagine the one place you’d definitely find them would be in the Adobe headquarter’s cafeteria, adding monochromatic noise seasoning to every dish.

[ Coroflot - Frack Design - Ps sal y pimienta ] VIA [ core77 ]

By Andrew Liszewski

There are plenty of recipe or restaurant finding apps for smartphone-toting foodies, but iGrill is one of the first that can actually help when it comes to cooking. The free app connects to a Bluetooth-equipped temperature probe base station and allows you to monitor the temperature of something on the grill from up to 200 feet away.

The probe also works as a standalone temperature monitor, complete with an easy to clean touch interface, but the real fun comes when you use it in conjunction with the iPhone or iPad app. Not only does it let you monitor the temperature from afar, but it also provides intelligent cooking time estimates based on what type of meat you’re cooking, and how big the carcass is. The iGrill is available now for $99.99, with additional probes, which can be used simultaneously, costing $19.99 each.

[ iGrill ] VIA [ Chip Chick ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Can’t say I’ve ever thought about using the favored weapon of feudal Japan to pick my teeth, but I guess if it’s good enough to eviscerate one’s enemies, it has to be good enough to dislodge an annoying popcorn husk. But since the art of samurai sword making is almost dead, you’ll have to settle for these novelty toothpick holders instead.

The scabbard can store up to 3 toothpicks (3?! wow!) which can be inserted into the handle making it easier to dislodge a piece of meat, or procure a chunk of cheese from a platter. Available in a set of 2, which includes white and black handles, the swords are made from Cyprus wood and can be found at the Japan Trend Shop for $84. And even at that price you have to provide your own toothpicks.

[ Samurai Sword Toothpick Holder ]

By Andrew Liszewsi

Of all the novelty shaped ice cubes made possible by recent innovations in silicone molding technology, I think this miscellaneous collection of ice swords has the most potential. You can use the mold by itself to make pure ice swords for dropping in drinks, or use the included plastic hilts which facilitate the act of swizzling. They also make the ice swords far more stable, allowing you to host a medieval sword fighting tournament where the victor claims turkey carving duties while the loser dies… Or does dishes, however you want to set the rules. $14.99 from ThinkGeek.

[ Swords Ice Tray ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’ve never seen the original Cricut before, it’s essentially a printer that features a cutting head instead of ink cartridges. So when you feed a piece of paper through, your ‘printed’ design gets cut out of the page. For those who aren’t so hot with an X-Acto knife it’s the perfect craft tool, and as my brother has discovered, it’s completely hackable letting you create any designs you want instead of being limited to the cartridges the company sells.

Well the Cricut Cake is essentially the same thing, except that instead of paper it will cut through soft food materials like frosting sheets, fondant, cookie dough, tortillas, cheese, modeling chocolate and even soft candies. So if you’ve a history of ruining birthdays or other get-togethers with horribly decorated cakes, you can now turn the tide and impress everyone by just hitting print. Of course easy never comes cheap, so the Cricut Cake comes with a $399.99 price tag, though I’m assuming it’s as hackable as the paper version so once again you’re not necessarily limited to the cartridges they sell.

[ Cricut Cake ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Tea is apparently the most popular beverage on the planet, which boggles my mind since it also happens to be the most disgusting in my opinion. And lately, like with coffee, making tea has become more than just boiling a pot of water and tossing in some leaves. Different varieties call for different brewing techniques for optimal flavor. Many years ago Nestle made it a lot easier for the average coffee drinker to whip up the perfect cup at home with their Nespresso machine, and now they’re hoping to do the same for tea fans with their Special.T machine.

Like with the coffee grounds for the Nespresso, the tea for the Special.T machine comes in pre-portioned aluminum capsules in 25 different varieties so every tea fan should find a flavor they enjoy. And the Special.T machine automatically calculates the optimal brewing time and temperature to release the full flavors of the tea being steeped. Now at the moment the Special.T system is being exclusively trialed in France, which turns out to be the largest market for capsule-based coffee makers in the world, and following that it will be made more widely available throughout Europe and presumably the rest of the world eventually. The machine sells for ~$180 (€129) while 10-packs of tea capsules run ~$4.80 (€3.50).

[ Nestle Special.T ] VIA [ Gizmag ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m not sure if a hot cup of joe is the perfect way to celebrate a successful climb to the top of Groningen’s Excalibur tower, but experienced climbers can now rest assured that their mug of coffee will never accidentally slip out of their hands again. The Play Coalition design group’s Cliff Hanger Mug sees the traditional handle on a cup swapped out with an irregularly shaped climbing hold, not only providing a bit more grip whilst enjoying a hot beverage, but a bigger challenge as well. And while it isn’t available for sale, it also doesn’t look like that difficult of a DIY project if you really wanted one.

[ The Play Coalition's Cliff Hanger Mug ] VIA [ CraziestGadgets.com ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The holidays are a time for splurging, when you can be a bit less worried about your waist line. But I have a bad feeling I’m going to end up on a TLC special if one of these Dairy Queen Blizzard Makers ever crosses the threshold of my home. To be frank it looks like your standard home ice cream maker, and according to comments online there’s actually no mechanism to mix in the toppings which is the whole point of a Blizzard! But that wouldn’t stop me from creating frozen culinary experiments the likes of which DQ’s research labs have ever seen. (No FDA getting in my way!) $34.99 from Toys”R”Us not including ingredients or cold.

[ Dairy Queen Blizzard Maker ] VIA [ I4U News ]