SkyMall - Sodastream

On my recent trip, I had the pleasure of rediscovering SkyMall. SkyMall is a company that sells "innovative merchandise," of which is mostly seen in their catalogs which can be found tucked in front of your seat on many airlines, or ordered online. Being the gadget guy that I am, it was a real treat to flip through the pages and look at all the interesting items. Not a bad way to help pass the time considering there was no in flight movie and the gentleman next to me had fallen asleep just after take off.

There are a number of great items that can be found in the SkyMall catalog, such as the Sodastream Soda Maker Kit. It's been a long time since I've seen a soda making kit so I thought I would share this one with you all. The Sodastream requires no electricity meaning that you can take it with you in your RV or on boating trips. It carbonizes water that you then add some of their soda mix to, and TA-DA a nice refreshing cup of soda. While it may seem goofy to go through the "trouble" to make your own soda when you could just go buy a 24 pack of Mountain Dew, or a couple of 2 liters, Sodastream might actually save you money over time (assuming that you like their drinks). From Sodastream's website, a Fountain Mist soda mix bottle that makes 12 liters is roughly $5 and in the market today, that's about what you would pay for 2 liters of Mountain Dew.

Myself, I'm trying to cut down on how much soda I drink, but this could be a fun little gadget to help you save some money, and could be fun to use with the family.

C6... No wait... A4!

Ever get that craving for something a little... saucy? Maybe something a little cheesy? The craving for pizza can hit at any time, day or night, but pizza is not always the most convenient thing to get. Pizza places are not always open, or close by, and lets face it... delivery means you could be waiting upwards of an hour! Well if more of these hit the streets, all those horrors might be a thing of the past!

WonderPizzaUSA has come up with a pizza vending machine. That's right, right next to your favorite sodas and candy bars could be a pizza machine! The machine hold up to 102 pizzas at one time, can make 3 different kinds, and takes roughly 2 minutes to cook and serve. How awesome is that?! The cost per 9" pizza is 5-6$, and considering you are getting almost instant pizza satisfaction , thats not too shabby.

Now these things aren't everywhere like you find soda and candy vending machines, but these are out there, and slowly spreading across the world. Infact, these machine have been aroudn in Europe for some time now. I myself have not run across one of these in the US yet, but you can bet I'm going to jump at the chance to try one out!

Pizza Scissors

At some point or another you've ordered a pizza and when you open to box to dive in, you find the it was not cut well, if it was cut at all. What a pain, now you have to dig out your own crummy pizza wheel that makes a mess, then pull the slice out of the box, usually losing half your toppings to gravity. Well here's the easy fix! These Pizza Clippers can cut a pizza with the rest of them, AND serve it without getting your fingers covered in grease and sauce while trying to hold on to your toppings. Cut once, cut twice, and serve and eat!

Watch your toast... toast...

What could be more fun than watching for the water to boil? Watching the toast... toast! This toaster concept is kind of cool, if for no other reason, because you can watch your toast get to the correct darkness you like. While not a common occurrence, there are still times when someone else plays with the knob and the next morning, BAM my waffles and toast are burnt to a crisp, and then some.

This design allows you to see what your toast looks like WHILE in the toaster. Watching your toast isn't a time saver, but the toast is generally the last thing I make, so the clear walls would make it very easy to spot when your food is starting to burn. On the topic of design, this does look very slick and I don't remember the last time I saw a toaster this cool.

Check it out at HERE!

Cooking Cookies

Just the way grandma used to make them, with lots of love and a dash of sugar. Today, though, grandma doesn't make you cookies (unless you are really really lucky) and doing them yourself is such a hassle with all the mixing, scooping and then baking. If only you could get warm cookies just like grandma used to make, without the time consuming mess. Have no fear, presliced cookie dough bits are here!

Companies like Pillsbury have come up with the simple solution to your problem, buy the dough, bake and eat. Sure they aren't made the same way, and contain different ingredients than grandma's, but for the taste of a nice warm chocolate chip cookie without having to pull out the mixer, these Ready to Bake! cookies are the next best thing. While the company may not suggest it, these are also great to have in the dorm room where a microwave is the only means for cooking you have! Pop them out, throw them on a plate, and heat them up. They don't bake like in an oven, but hey, you live in the dorms, this is the next best thing!