food

Everybody likes food on the go. From street food to fast food, portable food always hits the spot. The allure of an always hot, ready-to-eat dish waiting just beyond your fingertips can be enough to make your mouth water. Sometimes, it's a matter of getting what you want when and where you want it, and other times it's a matter of bringing along your own dishes--literally.

No matter what your reason is for wanting warm food on the go, the Salter Portable Food Warmer can help. Not only is the collapsible unit powered by a standard wall jack, … Read more

Think your coffee maker is the bleeding edge of food tech? Think again. ChefStack is out with what appears to be the world's first fully automatic countertop pancake-making machine.

According to the manufacturer, the patented process cooks hot, fresh pancakes in a matter of seconds. From an all-natural batter, 97 percent fat-free pancakes emerge at a rate of up to 200 per hour.

While geared toward convenience stores and cafeterias, I like to think of this as the next step in the evolution of the opening sequence of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure where breakfast is served through an incredible … Read more

Since moving to Portland in 2005--land of not only good beer and bikes but also a number of renowned farmers' markets--I've learned how to pick a peach. In fact, I spend so much time in the produce section that I recently landed a book deal while squeezing the avocados at my local produce market. (No seriously, the publisher called while I was squeezing avocados.)

But when it comes to determining the freshness of harder-to-read foods like pineapple and pork, I'm a total neophyte. Which is why a press release titled "Ripe pineapple and delicious pork" out … Read more

No matter what decor your kitchen is decked out in, chances are it goes with red, blue, green, or yellow. More importantly, no matter how small the meal you are making may be, chances are it would be made easier with a food processor at the ready. While it may be nice to have a large 14-cup capacity always on hand, that may not always be the case. They can be large and bulky, thus often being resigned to cabinet storage when not in use. Some appliances have earned the right for more attention and are deserving of everyday use.… Read more

Mealformation is a multifunction food tracker that allows users to create meal plans, track their food intake, and analyze their nutrition. Overall it is a solid program, although some aspects of it could be more intuitive or better explained.

The interface is fairly straightforward, with various functions--personal profile, a food database, a recipe database, and so on--organized in tabs. The thing that threw us about the program is that it's never made clear what content is included and what content has to be user-generated. It turns out that the program does contain a fairly large database of foods, meaning … Read more

Feeling lonely eating dinner all by yourself? Are you a vegetarian who loves the idea of barbecue but just can't pull the trigger on meat?

Fortunately you can log-on to Japanese site Air Yakiniku and enjoy a virtual barbecue. You can even download a template to make a real apron that helps prevent spillage of virtual meat juice (or perhaps to capture drool as you crave meat but eat whatever you have in real life.)

Like the New York Times reports, it's a bit hard to tell if this is a clever marketing gimmick or someone genuinely thinks … Read more

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm not a fan of driving around cities I'm not familiar with. My sense of direction is nearly non-extinct and I often stick to the interstate, only venturing off for gasoline and food. When I do need one of these necessities, I do my very best to get them close to an on and off ramp so I can't get lost.

Because of my fear of big city adventure, I'm often found eating fast food, and I miss out on the good eats I might be able to find just a street … Read more

Catfood Fortune Cookies provide users with a new piece of wisdom, like cracking open a brittle fortune cookie, each time they log on. With fool-proof use and surprising results, users looking for a little illumination will love this simple program.

This program's interface could not be much easier. Once loaded, Fortune Cookie does all the work. Since there is nothing that can be adjusted or changed about this download, users can sit back and enjoy. There is a slim Help file, but it certainly is not necessary reading for anyone simply wanting a fortune. The program displays itself automatically … Read more

No matter where you go when you hit the road, chances are your road trip is going to include road food. Since road food by definition means eating food out of the ordinary, it can be a bit difficult to guess how much to order. Your control panel may have a gas gauge, but you don't. The result can be a collection of dashboard sandwiches, some more tasty than others. Experience has taught me that an In-N-Out burger, while delicious in fresh form, doesn't hold up quite as well 80 miles down the road. (However, many breakfast sandwiches … Read more