food

Americans rely on cooking shortcuts

American families cook at home surprisingly often, but they cut corners by using packaged foods, pre-made sauces and food "kits" (Think Hamburger Helper or Pasta Roni), according to a study released this week. Despite warnings of the United States becoming a country of families that rely on fast-food chains for sustenance, an archaeology study of 32 two-income, working families in Los Angeles showed 70 percent of weeknight dinners were home-cooked.

For the study, UCLA's Margaret Beck watched videotapes of families and recorded how much time they spent preparing the meals they ate at home. For a meal … Read more

Whole Foods Bowery, NYC dotcom party hotspot

Looks like I spoke too soon when I made fun of the nascent phenomenon of dotcoms throwing parties at the Whole Foods Bowery supermarket. Last month, it was a new hyperlocal social network; this month, it's urban uberblog Gothamist. And it's not just any party--it's "Check Out," described as "a delicious event for delicious singles."

I should stress once again the absurdity of it all: the historically edgy gangland of the Bowery, now home to a massive upscale supermarket that hosts singles mixers in conjunction with urban blog networks.

It's almost ironically … Read more

Seattle gets groceries from the Amazon(.com)

Amazon.com has a new online grocery service for Seattle residents called Amazon Fresh. Users can pick from an selection of grocery items and have them delivered to their home, or one of the local "pickup centers." The home delivery options come in two flavors--a predawn delivery in a temperature-controlled crate, and a scheduled in-person delivery within a one-hour time slot of your choice. The service is in part the next step to Amazon's "Food and Grocery" section, which contains nearly everything except foods that require refrigeration.

Online grocery shopping is not a new phenomenon. … Read more

Awkward start-up move No. 47: Throwing parties at Whole Foods

When I was in San Francisco earlier this month, I witnessed firsthand the unwritten rule that new start-ups have to throw their debutante balls at the bar-gallery-event space known as 111 Minna, packed right into the dot-com-friendly neighborhood of SoMa. Here in NYC, our enclave of tech companies tends to cluster around SoHo and into the northern edge of Chinatown, but the sizes of properties around there are way too small to accommodate substantial crowds--let alone live music or DJs.

(Case in point: when a TreeHugger/Apartment Therapy/MoCo Loco party a few months ago during New York Design Week … Read more

Gizmo technology report-- edible inkjetting

I'm on a lot of press-release mailing lists, and I get some pretty unusual press releases. Here's an excerpt from one that came in last week (the full text is here):

Press Release: FUJIFILM Dimatix Unit Announces Breakthrough in Decorating Chocolate Digitally; Plans Debut at IFT 2007 Food Expo in July

Lebanon, N.H., July 18, 2007 - Building on its growing success in commercial food decoration, the Dimatix Technology Integration unit (DTI) of FUJIFILM Dimatix, Inc. today announced it has developed a breakthrough technique that employs the latest digital jetting technology in decorating dark or light nonporous … Read more

Marshmallow cannon blasts soft, sugary goodness 50 feet

Summertime is a great time to go camping, which usually includes a camp fire and the age old tradition of s'mores. Since you've almost always got leftover marshmallows, why not put them to use with this $40 marshmallow shooter? Not to be confused with its slightly less powerful cousin, this sucker shoots your precious marshmallows 50 feet and works with a healthy packing of mini marshmallows, too. It's also got pump action and a shiny chrome exterior that will likely blind your enemies, putting fear, and soft, gooey goodness into their hearts.

When things get too sticky, … Read more

Cupcake speakers: Sweet!

We here at Crave are fans of faux food, even more so when the comestible appearance actually masks a gadget. So we're enchanted by these Cupcake Speakers from Semk, first publicized by Technabob. Though we'd prefer they looked more sophisticated--a little more Sprinkles, a little less Hostess, please--we love the idea of turning an otherwise antiseptic tech product into an homage to deliciousness.

So tell us: what are your favorite gadgets that look like food?

Sweet dreams of sweeter breakfast foods

We could all use these pillows. Think about it: you're dreaming of something fantastic, maybe Steve Jobs showing up at your front door to give you an iPhone with a year's worth of service as well as all the Apple product development secrets you could possibly want to hear.

But then your alarm clock goes off, and there you are in a sloppy bedroom in a cramped apartment, with nary an iPhone in sight--just that scratched three-year-old Razr that still smells like beer from the aftermath of last St. Patrick's Day and has a contacts list full … Read more

Late night food runs 2.0: GopherNow

GopherNow is a simple mashup--mix maps with store hours to help people find eating establishments that are open or delivering late. The service is aimed mainly at teenagers and college students, but for many, the long days of summer can bring unexpected late eating.

Users can search by keyword and location, and a Google map will show up with various restaurants, listing their hours, delivery availability, and for a select few--complete menus. If a restaurant is missing, users can add it in, along with their personal review.

Yelp actually added a similar feature early last month that lets you filter … Read more

DietTelevision: The mother of all diet sites

A new diet site and social network is launching this week: DietTelevison. It looks like a good resource for people trying to lose weight. It has a ton of diet-related information, as well as a social network to give dieters a support group.

As an information source, it's very rich. You select your tolerance for various diet aspects (your affection for bread or for meat; your preference for affordable or restaurant-friendly plans, for example), and the site then gives you a list of diets that matches your wishes. While the site doesn't have arrangements with the people who … Read more