Home and Kitchen

News, reviews and articles about home and kitchen products.

Compost your food waste in just hours – no kidding

Food Cycler Kitchen Composter 1

I’ve been thinking about composting and buying a composter (or at least the materials for building one) for a long time now, yet the time, energy and space requirements have always been a discouragement for me. However, the Food Cycler CS-10 in-home composter from Food Cycle Science has brought composting back to the forefront of my […]

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This spice set brings a bit of the laboratory into your kitchen

thinkgeek chemistry spice rack

I have a soft spot for all the lab glassware-styled barware that ThinkGeek has offered in the past.  (My beakers and flasks shot glasses are decorating my desk right now.)  Their new Chemist’s Spice Rack is calling my name.  It would look great in my kitchen with its dark wood cabinets and black countertop that

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Turn your existing blinds into motorized blinds with this Kickstarter project

tiltmyblinds 2

We have 1″ wood venetian blinds in all our windows.  Most of our windows are floor-to-ceiling length, and they have long tilt adjustment wands that I can reach.  The windows in our sunroom are placed at ceiling height, but they stop about 3 feet above the floor, and their tilt wands are too short for

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Are those chopsticks in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

compact chopsticks1

The Collapsible Compact Chopsticks from Integral Design will make sure you always have a set of eating utensils when you need them. No need to use those paper wrapped wooden chopsticks at your favorite noodle shop when you have this set. They measure 4″ when collapsed and 8″ when assembled and are available in six

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Here’s the perfect tool for eating ramen!

moma ramen spoon fork

Unlike a spork with just the suggestion of fork tines on the front of the spoon’s bowl, the Ramen Spoon/Fork has a spoon bowl with actual tines sticking off the front.  MOMA says this fork is designed for eating ramen noodles.  It was designed for MOMA by Masami Takahashi and originally “created for use at the

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With the Magic Tap, even young children can pour themselves a drink without making a mess

magic tap automatic drink dispenser 2

If you have young children who have reached that “I can do it myself” age, you know what a time bomb a gallon jug of milk can be. Install a Magic Tap Automatic Drink Dispenser on the milk jug, and even young children can dispense milk or other beverage without even needing to lift the

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skydrop sprinkler controller checks the weather before watering your lawn

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Skydrop is a smart controller that connects directly to your lawn sprinkler system using WiFi. It can measure the soil conditions of your yard like humidity, temperature, wind, solar radiation and slope along with hyper-local weather data to help create a watering schedule that will conserve both water and money by preventing over watering. Skydrop

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Track your family’s temperature readings with the Kinsa Smart Thermometer

kinsa

The Kinsa Smart Thermometer is a smartphone connected digital thermometer that is compatible with a variety of iOS and Android devices (see compatibility info). The name “Kinsa” comes from the words Kinder, meaning child, and Kin, meaning family. The thermometer is thin and flexible for comfort and plugs into the headphone jack of the mobile

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Matt Ferguson’s Star Wars Trilogy on sale for a very limited time

matt ferguson star wars art

These Star Wars art prints by Matt Ferguson allow you to pay homage to your favorite movies and add some artwork to your home or office.  These prints are very limited edition.  If you want one, you’ll need to place an order before Sunday, September 7, 2014 at 11:59PM ET.  The actual number of prints

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September is National Preparedness Month – let Champ Preparedness help you get prepared

champ emergency preparedness 1

Were you aware that it is National Preparedness Month?  Are you part of the sixty percent of Americans determined by the American Red Cross that are wholly unprepared for a disaster?  Emergencies don’t have to be huge things, like hurricanes, tornados, or floods; they can be smaller things like car accidents or smaller damages to your

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Philips now offers a warm-white LED bulb for their Hue WiFi-connected lighting system

philips hue lux connected lighting 2

My mission is to automate the lighting in my house.  I don’t have to have every light connected to the internet, but I would like to have WiFi-connected and controllable bulbs in certain rooms in my house.  I got the Hue Starter Kit for Christmas last winter, and I use them in my living room

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Dyson unveils the Dyson 360 Eye cyclonic robot vacuum cleaner

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In all my gadget reviewing years, I have yet to try or even test a robotic vacuum cleaner. It hasn’t been from lack of desire, I just haven’t found one worth trying – till now. Today in Tokyo, Dyson unveiled the Dyson 360 Eye cyclonic robot vacuum cleaner and it looks very impressive. From its

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Reduce germs and sanitize while you vacuum with this Verilux vacuum

verilux cleanwave sanitizing vacuum 2

When my daughter recently moved into her dorm room, the first thing I did was put a mattress encasement on that mattress that had been used for years by people doing who knows what.  shudder!  I wish I had had this Verilux vacuum with me, too.  The CleanWave Sanitizing Portable Vacuum is a hand-held model that is

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Belkin WeMo LED Lighting Starter Set is finally shipping

belkin wemo lighting kit

Actually, they’ll be shipping on September 18, 2014, but Belkin is finally taking pre-orders for these WiFi-controllable light bulbs.  I’ve used Belkin WeMo Switches for a long time now.  I have lamps plugged into them around my house, and the Switches are programmed to turn my lights on at sunset and off several hours later.

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Rockabye baby automatically with the Nuna LEAF

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Parents who are looking for a battery, electricity and noise free way of gently getting their little ones to sleep should look into the Nuna LEAF. It’s a leaf shaped chair attached to a sturdy frame that can be locked into a stationary position or unlocked to swivel side to side with a slight push.

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Come up to the lab and see what’s on the … err, what’s cooking

erlenmeyer flask salt and pepper

I’ve heard the expression that baking is science and cooking is an art (meaning that baking requires more precise measurements, temperatures, and times, while cooking is a bit more forgiving), but as any chemist knows, it’s all just chemistry.  This cute salt and pepper set lends an air of the chemistry lab to your kitchen.

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Buck Knives 941 Travelmate Kit review

buck travelmate 1

The next time I go camping will be never, but if you love that activity, the Buck Knives 941 Travelmate kit is a nifty addition you should consider adding to your camping kitchen gear. It packs a knife, fork and other tools in a convenient sheath that even prevents the spread of bacteria. Let’s take a

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