The world is intrigued by gadgets, myself included, and my mother particularly with food gadgets. Growing up we had Salad Shooters, salad spinners, corn-on-the-cob heated butter applicator, special knives for cutting fancy carrots, you name it, we had it. Kitchen gadgets just make cooking more interesting, fun, and creative. My crazy product past has inspired me to dedicate a new section to the site specifically for Cheap Food Gadgets.

This first post is about those inspired by ice. Now, I used to work for a product development company which would help normal people develop extraordinary ideas and carry them through to market, so I feel comfortable evaluating the legitimacy, market need and general coolness of a product. Believe me, we saw some doozies of bad ideas.

When I found the Iceorb®, I was taken aback by its simplicity and ability to solve a need in a creative way. The video helped sway me a bit, as it demonstrates just how easy this thing is to use and makes you realize you can’t live without it. The flexible plastic material allows for the cubes to come out with ease and not break off like cheap ice trays. The ice then pours into the reservoir and acts as a cooler for cheap wine or a bottle of homemade limoncello. Or, you can fill the tray back up with water, pop it back in the freezer with the ice also in the cup, and a couple hours later you’ll have a chilling station that lasts for hours. Perfect for the next poolside barbecue.

Tetris-ice-tray Tetris-ice3

The next product in the spotlight stems from the freezer as well and is a silicone ice tray that has cubes shaped like Tetris blocks. Spotting these has flashed me back to road trips with my brother and I riding God-knows-where but guaranteed we had our 1st generation GameBoys® linked up with a cord and playing a fierce game of Tetris. Who knew that falling blocks could be so much fun. Now they can fall right into your Mai Thai. Oh how the times have changed.

The silicon form is great for getting the ice out and ensuring the tray doesn’t crack after the 3rd use. Add a drop of food coloring to the water before putting it in the freezer or better yet, fill them with different colored KoolAid and have Tetris popsicles. The fun is endless.