beach

Automated kitchen appliances are handy devices, and their popularity growth shows no sign of slowing. But when you combine one-pot cooking with automation, their convenience factor goes through the roof.

The Hamilton Beach Digital Simplicity Deluxe Rice Cooker/Steamer frees cooks from ever having to stir a pot. While some foods--such as rice--yield the best results if they are undisturbed while cooking, other foods and recipes benefit from active cooking methods. However, there's no reason why one appliance can't do both.

With two main cooking modes in addition to the rice or whole grain cooking modes, the multicooker … Read more

Certain foods have a way of transporting us to far away places. The deceptively simple act of eating can not only take us on a journey through space, but also through time. If there is one food above all that screams another place, another time, that edible train ticket would have to be ice cream.

Perhaps not surprisingly, ice cream is relatively easy to make; like all good things, simplicity is key. Consisting of little more than cream and sugar, the luxurious taste of real ice cream does not necessarily have to require grandiose plans. In fact, it can be … Read more

Even though breakfast may be the most important meal of the day, it is not the most important offering of the kitchen--at least not first thing in the morning. Before the question of bacon, eggs, cereal, or even yogurt can be considered, the real star of the kitchen must first be given its proper respect: coffee. Without coffee, none of the other things fall into place--or at least their undertaking becomes much more difficult. So, if there is one thing in the kitchen that deserves, no necessitates, easy accessibility, that would be the coffeemaker.

The Hamilton Beach Easy Access Coffeemaker … Read more

As we turn the corner into spring, the dream of warm weather will start to become more than just a fantasy. Soon enough, the cold weather and rainy days will be behind us, and we will re-emerge from dark interiors back into an outdoor mindset. Which means, that not only will the chores of everyday life be less of a task, but also that outdoor activities will only be a weekend away. And all this outdoor living is sure to draw up a thirst.

The Hamilton Beach Aguas Fresca Blender is one way to combat the thirst that is sure … Read more

I feel sorry for toasters. They all seem to suffer from an identity crisis. We've seen toasters that can fry an egg, toasters that think they're panini presses, and here's a toaster that thinks it's an oven. Wait, what's that you say? Toaster ovens are nothing new? True, but they don't usually come with temperature probes.

The Hamilton Beach Set & Forget Toaster Oven with Convection Cooking (Model 31230) can toast six slices of bread at a time, but it can also do so much more. With an integrated temperature probe, the miniature oven … Read more

Do the blahs of winter get you down, and do warm, sandy, exotic locales sound appealing? Do you enjoy games that have a simple, fun premise? Games that involve skill-based competition and minimal rules instead of maze-like scenarios, heavy weaponry, and kegs of blood? How do you feel about bikini-clad athletes and Italian supermodels? If "all of the above" sounds familiar, you might be a Beach Volley Hot Sports fan and not even know it. It's a beach volleyball sim from Idoru that relies on accurate play based on the real sport's official rules instead of … Read more

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla.--In a windowless second-floor office in the stucco building that houses the Boynton Beach Police Department about an hour north of Miami, there's a computer monitor on the back wall displaying a full-screen version of Twitter client TweetDeck.

"Lots of real estate listings," commented Stephanie Slater, the BBPD's public information officer and chief media spokesperson, sitting in front of the monitor. "A few people are just tweeting news headlines about what's going on in town. Nothing really."

Slater, a former cop-beat reporter for the local Palm Beach Post, was keeping … Read more

Available space on the kitchen counter is a rarity. Aside from making room for all the gadgets and appliances, we are somehow supposed to find the space to, you know, occasionally actually prepare a meal. The invention of the kitchen cupboard is the best thing that ever happened to the kitchen counter, but if maneuvering in or about cabinetry is a hassle, chances are it won't happen--and delivery or a frozen pizza will.

Easy access to a food processor is often the first step to creating a great home a meal. As prep tools go, they can't be … Read more

Hand mixers are necessarily quite powerful. Their function requires fast spinning beaters, designed to plow through everything from thin cream to thick dough. One of the first kitchen-related things we learn as children (other than stove equals hot) is not to stick our fingers into the cookie dough. While hygienically speaking this is a bad idea anyways, the presence of rapidly spinning beaters teaches us that it is a good idea to practice patience. (All bets are off though, when those beaters are detached from the mixer and are begging to be licked clean.)

A not-necessarily welcome result of all … Read more