By Andrew Liszewski

Like I mentioned yesterday, besides serving as easy last minute gifts or nerdy ways to cool your drinks, Fred & Friend’s catalog also has plenty for those who just can’t pay attention to anything longer than a minute or two. So for them this new Maze Café cup and saucer set will provide a few moments of distraction while they’re forced to endure coffee and conversation after a meal. The saucer features a raised maze detail allowing you to guide a drop of coffee or tea from the outer rim to the goal in the middle. It’s not terribly complicated, but let’s face it, anything more intricate and the target consumer would probably lose interest half-way to the goal. Available sometime this Spring, pricing TBA.

[ Maze Café Cup And Saucer ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Fred & Friends always seems to have a way of making their novelty crap rise slightly above the other novelty crap you find at stores like Urban Outfitters. As a result, not only do you feel slightly less guilty about giving their stuff as last minute birthday presents, but somehow you also don’t feel as bad about owning 17 different novelty ice cube trays.

For instance, take this Switch salt and pepper shaker being introduced as part of their new 2011 lineup. There’s literally nothing wrong with the salt and pepper shakers I currently use, but for some reason I have the urge to chuck them out and replace them with this unified solution which uses a large toggle button on top for switching between shaking out pepper or salt. And while it’s no Peugeot pepper mill, the opportunity for hilarious hi-jinx when you swap the salt and pepper is really irresistible. Take that invited dinner guest suckers! Hahaha!

[ Switch Salt And Pepper Shaker ]

By Chris Scott Barr

We all love LEGOs as that awesome part of our past where we could make anything out of blocks. There is now a way to bring that nostalgic part of your life with you wherever you go when you eat. The Snack & Stack utensils are a set of three pieces of silverware with stackable lego-esque handles. These can fit into your lunchbox, picnic basket, satchel, or purse.

Even if they’re not right you for you, they’re awesome for kids, and very easy to keep track of. When it comes to kids, finding the mini version of everything they own and keeping it together can be a pain, so things that stack are definitely a blessing. This set will likely take up less drawer space and will be a lot of fun if you add other LEGOs to them. At $22, these easy to find utensils are worth every cent.

[ FredFlare ] VIA [ Coolest-Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

While I prefer the smell of fresh baked cookies coming from the kitchen, I think right now I might actually be picking up the distinct aroma of snake oil. For a mere $22.29 you can procure one of these 3-quart MixerMate bowls (in one of four different colors) that promises to reduce mixing time by up to 30% thanks to its unique funnel design which creates a “tornado-like action.”

There’s a couple of videos of the MixerMate in action on YouTube, but to be honest I’m not seeing their claimed tornado-like effect. However, I’ll admit the design of the bowl alone could actually justify its price if you tend to get food all over the place when your hand mixer comes out to play. It’s got extra high walls to keep everything contained and a footed non-slip base so there’s less chance of the bowl toppling when ingredients are spinning about inside. And the fact that all four sides are contoured into pouring spouts is pretty handy too. Just maybe not $22 handy…

[ MixerMate Bowls ] VIA [ Inventor Spot ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Does anyone remember those French toast sticks that were not only delicious, but mighty convenient? Well, here is a way to turn your toast into toast sticks!

Yes, I will admit this is not the most technologically-advanced or life-changing product, but if I have the option for crust-free strips of toast, you better believe I will take it. Toast is one of the most awesome foods ever, but sometimes, changing up the way you eat it is important. All you have to do is use the toast strips stamper on untoasted bread, and when it’s toasted, they will come apart easy-peasy. Though it was designed for toast, it has a myriad of other uses as well. Crust-less peanut bitter and jelly mini-sandwiches and even French toast sticks to name a few. Definitely a good buy for parents with kids, as we all know how much kids love the crust. If you’re skeptical about a buy like this, keep in mind it’s only $3.99, so you won’t get shot for making this purchase.

[ PerpetualKid ] VIA [ CoolestGadgets ]

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

For a mere $7.95 from Archie McPhee you can fool your less intellectually-gifted Christmas guests into thinking you’ve got a top-of-the-line icebox in the kitchen. This magnet is made to look like one of those built-in water & ice dispensers, though if your guests try and use it they’ll be rather upset to learn that not only is it not real, but they won’t be able to enjoy a glass of gravy, nacho cheese or even fries at the push of a button. Worst-dinner party-ever!

[ Refrigerator Upgrade Magnet ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Chris Scott Barr

How do you cook your meatballs? I bet you don’t cook them on a grill. If you do, then my hat is off to you for your dedication. For those who haven’t branched out to this form of meatball preparation, then I have a treat for you. Behold the wonder that is the Meatball Grill Basket.

All you need to do is plop your uncooked meatballs into this strange looking cooking accessory, then set it on your grill. Each side has a sort of mesh design, allowing the grease to drip away from the meatball, leaving you with only perfectly-rounded balls of deliciousness. They even thought to make the handle removeable so that you can close the lid to your grill. Genius. $50 certainly isn’t too much to pay for awesome grilled meatballs.

[ Williams Sonoma ] VIA [ InStash ]

By Andrew Liszewski

This one’s for all of you stuck in the kitchen today. Even if you love cooking, dealing with a houseful of guests and juggling a smorgasbord of dishes can get tiring, so avoid the frustrations of trying to find those oven mitts, which have a knack for disappearing just when the pumpkin pie is about to burn, with this clever apron which features a built-in set. Made of cotton twill the apron also ensures that only the person wearing it will be poking around the oven, since we all know that family gatherings seem to bring out the critical cook in everyone. $22 from Uncommon Goods.

[ Oven Mitt Apron ] VIA [ Better Living Through Design ]