Hasta La Gadget!

How does one go about with making the perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich? What about the perfect sundae or a banana split? These are presumably some of the most commonly consumed snacks and treats in the country, so most people really don’t need any directions on how to make them.

In case you find someone who doesn’t though, then you absolutely have to get them a set or two of these Food Blueprint Placemats. They keep the table clean and provide detailed diagrams and various views of these foods that will make putting them together a breeze.

They’re  sold in sets of four and are priced at $20(USD) by Awkward Engineer.

[via Incredible Things]

Did you know your salt and pepper grinders could, and should, be doing more than just dispensing seasonings? Just take a look at this pair of grinders featuring a set of posable wooden artist’s hands on top. The possibilities are endless.

Read more…

I’m sure you’ve gone on first dates before. And I’m sure you’ve learned the hard way that first dates usually go worse the more you like the person you’re with. Most dates involve eating a meal – and where there’s food, there’s bound to be accidents – usually the messy kind.

With this in mind, Cristina Guardiola redesigned your typical utensils to come up with First Date Cutlery that’s guaranteed to get you through that first date without using the wrong knife or using the dessert spoon for your soup.

Cristina explains that the set adheres “directly to appropriate advice in Debrett’s Etiquette, enhancing the prospect of correct use and diminishing that of an unfortunate faux-pas.” So with etiquette worries out of the way, you should be safe, right?

The soup spoon encourages you to drink from the proper side of the spoon, thus reducing messy spills, while the knife and fork are magnetic, which allows you to place them neatly on the plate so you can take breaks to chat with your date.

The dessert spoon that comes with the set offers up a little reward too, as it was apparently “made for two people sharing one dish.” Well, I honestly think that’s moving a little too fast for comfort, but hey, I’m not one to judge.

[via Core77 via FoodBeast]

Sometimes, certain foods are just tastier or best eaten using your hands. There’s chicken, for one, and let’s not forget ribs. You can use your fork and knife to maintain poise, but for low-key evenings at home, using your hands is the way to go – especially if you want to get all of the meat.

The only annoying thing is that the smell and mess often sticks with your fingers. Whatever you’re eating could be finger lickin’ good, but smelly fingers are not good at all. So for all your finger-eating needs, there’s Trongs.

They’re basically ridged finger tongs that you can use to grab your food. You’ll be eating using your hands, minus the mess because you’ll be doing so without direct contact. It seems more hygienic that way, and you won’t have to worry about smelly and greasy fingers afterwards.

A six-pair pack of Trongs are available from Amazon for $24.95 (USD).

[via 7gadgets]

We’ve seen a number of multitouch tables over the years, with the most notable being Microsoft’s PixelSense (formerly known as Surface). But most of these have very large screens and are designed for coffee tables or larger installations. Now, a Korean company called Moneual is set to release a touchscreen PC that’s built into a small cafe table.

While specs and pricing for the The Moneual Touch Table PC have yet to be revealed, it’s clear that the table is ideal for use in places like restaurants and cafes. It could be used to display menus and accept orders in place of printed ones, and also is capable of accepting payments right at the table as well, using what appears to be an NFC reader of some sort. It seems like a pretty cool idea, and certainly would reduce the number of errors that servers make with taking orders. I imagine the same system could be used to let you play games or even surf the internet while you wait for your food.

The Moneual Touch Table PC will be shown off at CES from January 8-11, 2013.