A Bachelor's Weblog to Urban Cooking where speed and simplicity comes before taste!

We've been using the BluApple over the past week and as you can see above - our bananas with blue apple are much fresher and less ripe than the banana left out in the cold. Why? Well ethylene gas is given off naturally by fruits and vegetables as a signaling mechanism in order to coordinate uniform ripening, and this causes quick ripening and spoilage too soon.

You can use it in your fruit bowl or even your fruit storage drawer. Results for us in both locations resulted in well - fruit lasting longer and less spoilage. Thanks again to BluApple for sending, and after these run out in about 3-4 months we'll be getting another set to keep our fruit lasting longer and that way less of it ends up in the compost bin because we didn't get time to eat it.

This is one of our favorite scenes in the Empire Strikes back, and we can see a carbonite manhattan in our future for sure. Each flexible tray has six small chambers and one big one to make ice cubes or even fill with chocolate and make mini Han treats. The mold is made out of silicone and they recommend hand washing the Han Solo in Carbonite Silicon Tray, and we think that's worth the trade off when we see Han in our beverage and sweet tooth future.

This six-cup espresso coffee maker comes in 18/10 stainless steel with cast iron handle, and is called the 9090. The 9090 is Alessi's first object for the kitchen after the 1930s, and for us a sign of the incredible design Alessi brings to the kitchen and your table. Making espresso coffee is easy - fill the top with ground coffee, and fill the boiler area with water. You can also make 3 cups by putting in an insert that reduces the amount of water needed. Set it on the stove - and bam - amazing coffee.

We have been using these LED puck lights in various places under our kitchen cabinets, and love the 3 states the puck lights have - on Bright - On Dim, and OFF. You wave your hand to toggle the light states, and they each contain a AA battery you can replace to keep them going. Also the lights use a magnet and self-adhesive tape to mount so there's no drilling. YAY! Great alternative to powered lights you'll leave on too long and take way more power to use.

At Sylvania LED Undercabinet Light with Motion Sensor Function

It's going to be uber hot here in the Northeast over the next few days, and we think making your own popsicles is one way to beat the summer heat. This set of six yellow Groovy pop molds with custom base let's you fill them with kids' favorite juice flavors and freeze for yummy cooling treats. The innovative design allows removal of pops one at a time, and the handles feature built-in sticks and drip guards.

At Yellow Groovy Ice Pop Molds

We we're looking for some eco friendly pots and pans and came across this interesting stir fry wok. Oh - and what makes this wok eco friendly? Well the way they manufacture it and reuse materials, water power, - etc. This 10" wok features a Steamer Insert, and the glass lid fits both the wok and the steamer. It also features their Gem-X2 coating that lets you cook vegetables and meats at high temperatures with minimal oil and our cool grip handle that keeps the heat in the pan.

• Deep curved sides promote excellent food stirring
• Flat bottom sits level on cooking surface
• Hard Anodized .080 Aluminum
• PTFE Free, Water-Based Release Coating: Gem-X2
• Heat Safe to 700 Degrees Fahrenheit

At Stir Fry Wok with Steamer

The Preserve Large Colander is designed by people who love to cook–and who know that delicious food depends on a healthy planet. The durable colander is made out of 100% recycled plastic, and holds 3.5 quarts. We actually have one of these colanders in BLUE, and we find the easy-gripping, fast-draining, dishwasher-safe, BPA-free colander to be our favorite of two colanders in our kitchen. Also - we know we mentioned dishwasher safe, but this thing really does clean up quickly in the dishwasher and the holes in it are always clean after a run.

Once you break a wine glass in your dishwasher, or are unhappy with the results you'll need one of these. The StemGrip holds wine glasses so they will not touch in the dishwasher, and that means no more hand washing of wine glasses in your future. Stem Grip will pay for itself if you save just one Crystal Stem from damage, and each Stem Grip securely hold four pieces of Stemware.

At StemGrip Stemware Holder for Washing Wine Glasses in Your Dishwasher

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William Sonoma's KitchenTECH feature is on this amazing strawberry huller from Chef'n. We eat a lot of strawberries, and taking the work out of getting the steams out, and also getting a little more berry in every bit seems like a great idea. We've never used a huller before, but this article shows us how to use one and not cut the tops off of our favorite berries.

How does it work? We'll it's pretty simple - basically there's a claw that extends into the strawberry top and pulls out the top while you twist it.

Pushing down on the green button extends a “claw.” You push the claw into the strawberry top, release the button slightly to allow the claw to grab on, and twist while you are pulling out. The claw extracts the stem, leaves and hull, leaving you with the perfect berry.

This Chocolate / Multi Use Mill can be used on chocolate morsels or chunks to create decorative shavings, along with being used for nuts, garlic, and anything else you need to grind. Cost is just $35 bucks, and the mill is also compact at just 4 1/2 inches tall. Note this is not a grinder - it's a mill so you will get shavings instead of bits - which for chocolate and others is much better to have larger thin pieces to make it hit the palette in a bigger way.

The West Bend Automatic Egg Cooker poaches or hard- or soft-boils eggs at touch of a button, finally taking the guessing out of soft boiled to hard boiled eggs. The egg rack holds 7 eggs, and the nonstick poaching pan holds 4 eggs so you can also have your friends over for brunch and get the eggs done en mass. There's even an included egg piercing gadget to get the eggs done right for hard boiled.

If you want to create consistent omelet's, and other treats plus you don't want to keep your breakfast crew waiting - you're going to need a larger skillet. Wait - what we meant to say was two fry pans of equal amazingness. Each pan features a solid riveted handle that stays cool and a nonstick surface that means you don't have to use as much butter or oil while cooking making those omelets healthier.

At Nonstick 10.5-inch Fry Pan Set

This stylish indoor Solar Powered Plant Pot makes light by charging up via a solar panel that is on the end of a 3 meter cord. We love the idea of this pot on our kitchen window sill, and it will stay illuminated for 6-8 hours in the summer and 2-4 hours in the winter. The lights are splash proof protected (e.g. rain) however please make sure the product is never placed where water can collect, a minimum of 2m from any water source (such as ponds) is recommended, and perhaps you want it a few feet from your kitchen sink too.

Aren't we all just swimming in kitchen garbage? Well - maybe not but if you want to bring a smile to your face each time you have to deal with it these Pet Goldfish Garbage Bags will brighten up your day. Each box of novelty Goldfish Trash Bags includes 12 pieces & are 100% biodegradable. Good for the environment and fun? No way! Here fishy fishy fish...

This pepper mill looks like it comes from the Stargate Steam Punk universe, or even Leonardo Da Vinci's workshop. It's hand made to exacting standards, and the grinding mechanism is designed to grind the pepper maximizing the flavor and aroma. It has a flanged base for stability, and is perhaps one of the coolest looking pepper mills we've seen in a long time.

At Atlas Brass Pepper Mill

Cake pops are all the rage, and this amazing book with lots of pictures will show you how to make over 100 treats. They are arranged in 6 different decorating styles, and give you ideas on cake pops for all the holidays. We've been enjoying making some ourselves, and currently have about 6 different styles in our repertoire. This book should broaden our cake pop horizons, and allow us to finally make that cake on a cake pop top we've been missing.

At Wilton Pops Sweets on a Stick Book

June 2011 was another amazing month of Kitchen Contraptions - filled with kitchen gadgets, small appliances, and other kitchen wonders including some new interesting kitchen software programs for your mobile devices. We've been pretty grilling obsessed this past month just like in May and featured a bunch of new grilling stuff, and we'll probably be even more grilling obsessed in July. Thanks again to all of our loyal readers for visiting us each day, and you can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Cleaning Supplies

• Bissell Swift Sweep Sweeper Keeps Your Kitchen Clean
• Cherry Kitchen Towel Make a Fruity Trio of Cleaning Up

Egg Cookers

• BeepEgg Makes Hard and Soft Boiled Eggs Perfect

Electronics

• AmazonFresh - Order Groceries From Your Windows Phone in Seattle

Free Standing Kitchens

• VARDE Counter and Storage Unit for Free Standing Kitchens

Grilling

• Steak Button Thermometers for Grilling
• Mr Bar B Q Hydro Grill Brush Blaster Cleans Your Grill with Steam
• BBQ Smoker Box for Gas Grills
• Kettle Pizza Turns Your Weber Grill into a Pizza Oven

Kitchen Radios & TVs

• Kitchen TV with Flip Down LCD Screen a Kitchen Must

Knives

• Colorful Knives in See Through Knife Block

Large Appliances

• Kitchen Light Dishwasher
• Tweeting from Your Fridge Has Never Been Easier

Pots & Pans

• Kuhn Rikon HotPan 2 Liter Casserole
• Steam Juicer Makes Juice from Your Fruit Trees

Serving Wares

• Illuminated Party Beverage Fountain Brings Back the 70s
• Ride the Gravy Train Aboard this Groovy Gravy Boat

Small Appliances

• Cooks 5 In 1 Power Blender from JC Penny
• Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker Serves Up Tots
• Popcake Pancake Machine Makes Breakfast Easy
• Mini-Classic ll Counter Top Pure Water Distiller

Trash Cans & Compost

• Under Counter Pull Out Trash Can Saves Space

From designer Kim Joonmin comes a concept that is both interesting and space saving - the kitchen light dishwasher. We love combo concepts and this one doesn't disappoint. We are a little worried about the mess, but perhaps this would work. You open the front and back of the dishwasher to gain access, but we'd also assume you'd need some way to lower it. Also - it would need to be really big and how would the water get in? Through the cords? Who knows but still it's interesting.

Via Popgadget

AmazonFresh is Microsoft's grocery delivery service, and so far it's only available in Seattle and only available on the Windows Phone platform as a native app. Okay - so that may sound limited but you can see the idea here - integrate your shopping needs with your kitchen appliances say a wired refrigerator, and have it keep track of what you need. Then your phone gets a notice it's time to order the groceries. iPhone owners can order through a mobile-optimized web page so their not left out either while this test goes on.

Via Gizmodo and TechNet