We brought you the no-guilt cocktails earlier this week. How ‘bout a little no-guilt sweet treat of the frozen kind for summertime? I just ran across this little “kitchen appliance”, the Yonanas, that turns frozen bananas and other frozen fruit into a creamy, frozen concoction in a matter of seconds.
This reminded me of one of my favorite treats when I was eating all raw: the mango sorbet that I made thanks to my VitaMix blender. And, it’s certainly not that I need another appliance crowding my kitchen – and probably neither do you – but I must say, from the [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
Summer is approaching and nothing goes better with hot days then cold lemonade. Smart Planet has made an eco friendly Electric Lemonade Maker that is BPA free and FDA certified. The ELM-1 Electric Lemonade Maker makes homemade lemonade so easy it basically does it itself.
I just bought this for Scott for Father’s Day, since he and the girls are always making their own. This will make it far more consistent with the measuring guidelines right on the side of the clear 2 quart pitcher. The automated pitcher not only squeezes the lemons but also stirs all [...]

My family was in for a major shock when we moved away from 16 years of living in the sunny Southwest to the Midwest with its grey winters.  People were warning us that winters would be hard. Yeah, right. I was born in Montreal, I remember winters. Pfffft.
As we were visiting Chicago area homes in planning for our move, we scoffed at the particular homeowners that featured a closet with a standing tanning booth in it. “You’ll need this in the winter” they said. Yeah, right. Pfffft.
Well, pfffft on us as we found out by mid-December of our first winter [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
I am not a big proponent on New Year’s resolutions but I must say that I did make one for this year. My biggest pet peeve is wasted food (ask any of my children) and my biggest nemesis is the veggie and fruit drawer in my fridge.
We have written about c60 Bamboo‘s air freshener before and just learned that the company introduced a Fruit and Veggie Saver to their product line.  Yes, you guessed it, it’s bamboo!  This produce saver has been tested and shown to keep produce fresh 80% longer than without it.
How it [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
It is one of those ” wish I had thought of that!” products. One of my favorite serving bowls is a sugar bowl because it has a nice lip around the top (for the lid to sit on) that helps prevent the dip from spilling over the edge as you try to scoop it onto a cracker. It is way too small to be really practical for parties but I still bring it out knowing I will have to refill it more often. Then someone told me about the CaliBowls.
Jeff Bollengier, a native from California [...]

Like most of us, I really, really do make an effort to act green… as long as it doesn’t add yet another complication to my already endless To-Do list. I know, that’s almost lame, but it’s my reality. Still, in my defense, know that I’m a recycling tyrant.
So, when an item like the Green2 Laundry Washing Ball comes along, I can’t help but embrace it and spread the word. The Laundry Washing Ball is an earth friendly product that replaces the need for bleaches, harmful synthetic detergents or softeners.
I found out about this item on Alice.com (you know, my second [...]

We are finally getting a wee bit smarter about our exposure to UV rays. Still , it seems that we need to refine our sunscreen applying practices. For instance, did you know that it takes a full 30 minutes for the skin to properly absorb sunscreen?  So you need to apply it BEFORE you hit the beach. And then, TWO hours is the maximum amount of time that you should go before applying sunscreen all over again. That’s valid for sunscreen of any strength because, as you know, anything over SPF 30 is of marginal added value (Source: Chatelaine Magazine, [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
A girlfriend of mine, Isabel, is having a major love-affair with a knife. Not just any knife but a Kyocera Ceramic Knife (Yes, THAT Kyocera, the makers of cell phones and printers, among other things…). Isabel was enjoying her knife so much that she bought one for each of her girlfriends! I can see why she is so enthralled. I first used my Kyocera knife at our monthly Cooking Club gathering which was hosted at our house this time.  Although the food was amazing, I must say the focus was really on this [...]

I’m a huge skeptic. I blame my marketing background where I’ve observed one too many mediocre products being spinned as life-changing in beautiful, glossy print ads and commercials. Riiiiiight. But when I saw the Clef du Vin (which “ages” wine by the second) featured in the latest Cambria Cove gift catalog, I knew that there had to be substance to this product: I trust that Cambria Cove would only choose products that they can stand behind.
So I tried the Clef du Vin (a French product by Peugeot, translates to “Key of Wine”) and am back, skepticism vanished, to tell you [...]

I admit it. I am crazy about my iPhone. It is probably – even more than my computer – my most prized possession. Materialistic, I know.
Until IMakeMyCase, the extent of personalization of the über cool lifestyle tool in question went as far as our capacity to choose between the white or the black unit, and then to choose between an array of equally generic (and enormously overpriced) protective cases. I made a real big statement when I chose a clear one.
But now there is IMakeMyCase to the rescue. Just launched this past week at CES and produced in Atlanta by [...]