Does there have to be an app for that?

When I was young my parents talked about how life was simpler when they were kids. They bemoaned the fact that life was so busy. I remember cartoons that touted the advent of inventions that would make life easy again - you know, like the moving sidewalks and fancy appliances the Jetsons had in their kitchen. Isn't it funny how things work out? Now when people want something taken care of, the comment is usually, "there's an app for that!". All the inventions that were to make things easier have just allowed us to pack even more into the day. So much for lazy time. Even kids have "play dates" planned out for them. And there is a gizmo for everything..

Did you know that you can buy a cookie dipper? It's true, no more messy fingers when you dunk your cookie in your glass of milk, there is a tool you can buy. They come in packs of four, I guess so you don't have to dip alone :)

Photo: Contributed

The ultimate sign of decadence used to be having someone peel you a grape. I didn't find a gadget for that (entrepreneur alert!!) but there is a Grape Cutter out there. And, wait there's more - it works on cherry tomatoes too!

And I'm sure you were getting tired of wrapping leftover food in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, or worse yet, a simple square or round container. Well, worry no more - you can now wrap your half-avocado in an Avocado Saver, store your half-pepper in a Pepper Saver, save your tomatoes from bruising in a Tomato Saver, and bring your banana for lunch in its own Nana Saver. Not to mention you don't need to cut into a lemon or lime to have a squeeze of juice; simply use The Stem and spritz out what you want from the pump attached to the tube in your fruit. Aren't you relieved?

Are you the kind of person who has trouble deciding between flavours? (Do I sound like an announcer on the Home Shopping Network yet?) Well, now you can enjoy two flavours at once in the new Half n' Half Cupcake Pan.

Okay, for the grand finale I couldn't resist... the yolk's on you! There is a gadget out there called the Yolkr that helps you separate eggs. Newsflash: you can do the same thing with an empty plastic water bottle. You can Google the link; Food & Wine Magazine has a series on how to use regular stuff as funky tools for tasks, which is much more fun I think.

I liked it when I was expected to use my imagination to make something happen instead of waiting for someone else to invent the solution to a challenge. Life is short, but that doesn't mean we need people to live it for us.

Have you got a cool, or a useless gadget in your kitchen? Share a picture of it on my Happy Gourmand Facebook page! Let's see just how many silly things are out there.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.