Hasta La Ideas

High kitchen cabinet shelves can be hard to reach. Not just for kids, but especially for the disabled and of course for us shorties. The solution is to make the shelves come down to a convenient height. We have bee looking for a solution like the American Rev-A-Shelf (A) for sale in Sweden, but we have not found any. However, we have found a different solution to the same problem. Granbergs of Norrköping develops, sells, and builds shelving systems for kitchen cabinets where the inside of the cabinet is lowered through the bottom. Picture (B). There is also a version where the entire cabinet is lowered. The Granberg shelving is power assisted and you can even get them with remotes. The Rev-A-Shelf is hand powered, but probably somewhat more affordable A Rev-A-Shelf shelving addition comes from about USD 200:- depending on cabinet width and is available on Amazon- among other places. The Granberg system is POA.brbr

We often use peel, or zest, from lemons or lime in cooking. Or both, for instance with oven baked salmon. To grate the peels we use the razor sharp and remarkably effective Microplane grater Now we see that Microplane has come with a new citrus tool, where they have combined the super sharp grater with a scorer and two strip zesters. We have not tried this new tool (yet) but considering how well our other Microplane tools work we’ll start looking for this one in the shops right away. Soft handle. Washing machine safe. USD 12:95 from Williams-Sonoma on Amazon.brbr

William Yuan, 12, from Beaverton, Oregon, has impressed scientists and engineers with his innovative idea for a three dimensional solar panel for both visible and ultra violet light. His idea can absorb as much as 500 times the light of commercially available solar cells and up to nine times the light of advanced 3D cells. If his idea can be commercially produced it could produce twice the amount of electricity as the best existing solar panels. He has also developed an idea for at solar tower and software to simulate and optimize the performance of the towers. William Yuan has been awarded a USD 25,000:- scholarship by The Davidson Institute for Talent Development. He is also looking for a manufacturer for his new solar cells. brbr

Conceptual designer Danny Kuo has come up with this bookcase to help us use our wasted or unused space better. He calls it StairCASE and the idea (like most good ideas) is pretty simple. But with the StairCASE it’s clear we could use a lot of space that otherwise would be unused or littered with never-looked-in boxes. Click for a link to Danny Kuo’s own website.brbr

We couldn’t resist staying on the party theme a little bit longer. But instead of party plates, we have four different clips for resting your wine glass (works only with stemmed glasses) on the edge of your ordinary plate. Three are plastic and one is stainless steel, but they are all designed around the same basic idea. Prices, however, differ a bit. Number 1. From It’s All Wine. Plastic. Similar to number 3. USD 5:- for four. Number 2. From Waitstuff. Plastic. USD 0:98 a piece. Number 3. From The Wine Cellars. Plastic. Similar to number 1. USD 1:99 a piece. Number 4. From Handpicked Collection. Stainless steel. USD 19:95 for six. Which would you choose?