spices

There are days when I feel like I'm on the road more than I'm home. That can be particularly frustrating any time I sit down to another boring meal. The Chef's Case is meant to make that sort of meal a little more bearable: it contains a variety of gourmet products that can make every meal a little better. Unfortunately, I can't recommend taking the Chef's Case on an airplane. The sauces it contains probably won't make the TSA's day. However, it can be just as useful at home as on a trip, … Read more

Don't let anyone ever tell you the act of cooking isn't akin to a contact sport. It may be a delicate dance--both in commercial kitchens and at home--but to get down to business and to get the meal done right, a certain frenetic pace is involved that transcends the activity. In short, sometimes we just have to power our way through the preparation. This means cutting and slicing, seasoning and searing, sometimes with reckless abandon. And when that happens, things get dirty.

One of the dreaded phrases in the kitchen is "cross-contamination." It is always important … Read more

SpiceFX for Movie Maker provides a simple set of photo effects. By creating a moving set of filters, it's an entirely different type of photo filter.

The program's helpful interface made it a cinch to operate. Thanks to its onscreen instructions and very visual layout, we never felt compelled to visit the online Help file for instructions. While the idea of applying various photographic masks and filters didn't initially sound like anything earthshaking, we were impressed by this program's collection. We could apply various shapes, fades, pans, zooms, and other effects with an impressive amount of … Read more

Whether you're a foodie or just shopping for one, the Foodie Survival Kit may be the perfect gift. Meant to make sure that a foodie caught with a less-than-wonderful meal can spice things up to her own tastes, the Foodie Survival Kit contains dill, mustard, cloves, garlic, nutmeg, paprika, wasabi, basil, onion, ginger, thyme, cinnamon, curry, oregano, cayenne, salt, pepper, soy sauce, and Tobasco sauce. I can just picture sneaking into the kitchen, kit in hand, to spice up the big holiday dinner. If you've got relatives with a tendency toward bland dishes, the Foodie Survival Kit may … Read more

Cooking is all about individuality. We all have our personal preferences; we tend to gravitate towards certain flavors or cuisines, and when we get behind the stove, our personal styles reveal themselves. Sometimes, that special flair is all a matter of a spice blend.

Homemade spice blends add a distinctive style to your cooking. The Progressive Combine Spice Grinder gives home chefs a place to keep their secret blends handy and ready to grind. A non-corrosive ceramic gear crushes up-to-one tablespoon of dry herbs and spices, catching the results in a measured detachable base. With an adjustable grind mechanism, the … Read more

It's the penultimate episode before our 404th episode of The 404. Yes, the Internet will exploded when we run our live show tomorrow. Today's episode, though, might keep us from ever reaching that magic number. In our first half, we discuss our recollections of learning about the birds and the bees. In the second half, we have a great Calls from the Public section, and we mention Best Buy's latest snafu.

So, why the birds and the bees? Well, according to a study by Symantec, children are searching the Internet to learn about sex, not necessarily from their parents. While that might sound quite disturbing, Jeff, Justin, and Wilson reminisce about how we learned about it, and most of it involved dirty magazines and shared videotapes. Plus, we swapped tips on how to catch a glimmer of the Spice Channel by either jiggling the remote or hooking up a black box to our cable outlet.

We round out the show with some delightful Calls from the Public. We love it when a woman calls. Finally, we chat a bit about Best Buy and its mistake of putting a high-end Samsung HDTV on sale for $9.99. People are upset that the company won't honor the price. Well, duh. Come on, you knew it was a mistake when you bought it!

Be sure to send in your favorite show moments and congratulate us on our 404th episode tomorrow! The number is 1-866-404-CNET (2638). Or send in a MP3 or WAV to the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Tomorrow, we've got an amazing roster of guests, including Clayton Morris, Caroline McCarthy, Mark Licea, and more!

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Leave it up to the MoMA Design Store to bring beauty to even the simplest sort of dish. This beautiful wooden spice block makes a perfect serving dish for nuts, spices, candy, or even decorative marbles.

The spice block was designed in 2008 by Nick Foley and Diane Ruengsorn, and each one is hand carved in Brooklyn, N.Y., out of mahogany that's been repurposed from a window factory. The blocks are finished in beeswax and oil and are food-safe.

These unique wooden spice blocks are available at the MoMA Design Store for $50.00.

Every good cook knows that the secret to making spices last longer is to store them properly. Thankfully, someone has decided to create a storage solution that lets you do just that without sacrificing your sense of style.

Designer Giovannoni Stefano has brought us the Happy Spices spice container series. The cups are airtight to preserve the freshness of the spices, and you can determine the spice inside by looking at the plastic feature on the lid. There are two cute twig-and-leaf-adorned containers that can be used for leaf, fragment, or powdered spices; a container for whole chili peppers that … Read more

Many spice grinders seem to season your countertops just as much as they season your food. Pick up a grinder to add some fresh pepper to dinner and there's always a little pile of already ground pepper sitting underneath. The Tulip Spice Grinder offers a simple solution: rather than sitting with the grinder down when not in use, the Tulip Spice Grinder sits upright, minimizing mess.

As well as reducing cleanup, the Tulip Spice Grinder is easy to use. It has an ergonomic design that makes grinding peppercorns, spices, seeds, and even rock salt simple. You can set just … Read more