A TUBE TO SIP BY

It seems almost strange that the man-made drinking straw, of such obvious practical and aesthetic importance to our imbibing lives, is so young. Only in the late 1880s — two centuries after the founding of the first paper mill — did Marvin C. Stone, a U.S. inventor, wind strips of paper around a pencil, glue the strips together, pull out the pencil and voila! He, and we, were on our way.

Stone’s eureka moment, it is said, came while he was sipping a mint julep out of a rye-grass straw — just the sort of thing Sumerians drank beer with some five millennia ago, and still, in Stone’s time, the sort of thing that left an odd, grassy taste in one’s drink when the rye grass broke down. No wonder the new straw took off, becoming a staple of society by the early aughts of the 20th century. Singular in its function, the straw is malleable to many moods: conveying elegance in an evening cocktail, suggesting romance when rising out of opposite sides of a root-beer float. The straw is vital to the patient with the broken jaw, useful to the highway driver, and heaven-sent to the child who has discovered the joys of blowing bubbles into his drink. The modest invention was late to the party, perhaps, but the straw is here to stay.

ART PIECES
Books have been written about things you can build with drinking straws — sailboats, small Christmas trees, kites, miniature jungle gyms — and creatives in need of raw materials have taken the utensil to heart. Contemporary artist Tara Donovan is one such visionary who relies heavily on straws in her work.

PIVOTAL TURN
The bendable straw was developed by Joseph B. Friedman in the 1930s in San Francisco. It is said by the Smithsonian (which has a fair amount of straw history in its archives) that Friedman was inspired at a sweet-shop counter as he watched his young daughter struggle to drink a milkshake with a regular straw.

PULP FACT
For environmental reasons, at least one company (Aardvark) and one chain restaurant (Ted’s Montana Grill) have gone old school by making and using paper straws instead of plastic ones.

— Kostya Kennedy

Photo above by Lew Robertson /Food Pix/Jupiterimages

 

2009 JAGUAR XF

Call it another British invasion. Jaguar’s new 2009 XF is replacing the legendary auto maker’s S-Type, which debuted more than nine years ago. Poised to compete in the mid-sized luxury segment yet priced below the flagship XJ sedan, the XF borrows much of its contemporary styling and spirited road manners from the Jaguar’s recently redesigned XK sports coupe.

At the heart of this machine is the same 4.2-liter V8 engine found in the athletic XK. In standard guise, the XF’s V8 produces 300 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque. Opt for the supercharged version and get a best-in-class 420 hp and 413 lb-ft of torque, good for a 0-to-60 mph sprint in 5.1 seconds. Equally impressive is the XF’s six-speed automatic transmission, engineered to reduce brake torque at the drive axle to improve stability. The XF remains uncannily flat and surefooted on mountainous switchbacks, thanks to a sophisticated suspension setup that uses adaptive dampers to limit pitch and roll by responding to movements within milliseconds.

What really makes the XF stand out is the interior. Slide into the comfortable twin-stitched leather seats and you’re sitting in a blue-lit space awash in aluminum and straight-grained oak. Intuitive JaguarSense technology opens the glove box with a wave of your hand, while interior lights are illuminated by a simple touch — no switches or buttons. Jaguar even reimagines the unremarkable task of starting a car. A press of the red pulsating ignition button sets off an orchestra of moving parts that starts with a rotary gear selector rising from the center console and ends with air vents that rotate into place. The culmination of this technological show is a smile on your face and a grimace on the competition’s as the XF arrives on dealer lots this month.

— Nate Chapnick

FIRED UP

Creative cookers bring BBQ out of the backyard.

Hot Box
Invented by Cubans, made in Miami, and modeled after Asian cookers, La Caja China (“The Chinese Box”) is an aluminum-lined plywood box that’s roomy enough to roast an entire 70-pound pig (or up to 18 whole chickens). Sturdy wheels and handles make it nimble enough to roll over grass, gravel, and sand.
$299 lacajachina.com

Bite-size BBQ
Cooking out is not exactly an intimate affair, but the Danish designers behind the Eva Solo have changed that with their tiny Tabletop Grill. Hot coals sit inside a stylish porcelain bucket and generate just enough heat for tapas-size treats.
$320 unicahome.com

Have Grill, Will Travel
If you’re looking for true party portability, the Carry and Go Briefcase BBQ gives you the power to boldly grill where no grill has gone before. The pressed-steel unit starts as flat as a laptop and transforms easily into a sturdy cooking device. $49 (plus flat-rate shipping from the UK)
iwantoneofthose.com

— Pete Humes

THE MAIN SQUEEZE

A lemon is a cook’s best friend. Just one quick squeeze brightens the flavor of soups or sauces — or just about anything, for that matter. For a simple garnish, a wedge or slice of lemon does the trick. But sometimes the best part of the lemon gets overlooked: If you really want to dazzle a dish, think zest.

Lemon zest has a more nuanced flavor than juice. Slightly floral, slightly sweet, and definitely tangy, the flavor comes alive in vinaigrettes, butters, pasta sauces, even cookies and cakes. And zesting a lemon is no longer a knuckle-busting affair. Since Microplane introduced the rasp-style grater (it was originally a woodworking tool) to the kitchen a few years ago, getting a pile of fine, feathery lemon zest — without the bitter pith, no less — has gotten much easier. (You can still use a channel zester for long, thin strips of zest, or a vegetable peeler for wide strips.)

Lemon-Herb Butter
This butter is a perfect finishing touch for grilled fish or grilled vegetables.

1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1⁄4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tbs. finely diced shallots
1 tbs. chopped fresh thyme
2 tsps. finely chopped fresh rosemary
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon plus 1 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
1⁄4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in small bowl and mash together with fork or wooden spoon (or pulse in food processor) until mixture is well combined. Shape into log in plastic wrap, parchment, or waxed paper (tightening ends as if a sausage). Refrigerate up to 2 weeks or freeze up to 3 months.

Yields about 3⁄4 cup.

Susie Middleton is editor-at-large for Fine Cooking magazine.
For recipes, tips, techniques, or information about the magazine, visit finecooking.com.

Photography above by Scott Phillips / Courtesy Fine Cooking

 

NET GAIN

With a Chumby, a journey to cyberspace is a personal experience.

The Internet is bursting with content. Trouble is, to get at the goods you usually need to be near a computer or carry a smartphone in your pocket. The Chumby brings the best of the Net to your tabletop.

About the size of a clock radio, the Chumby delivers a constantly shifting stream of information via a broadband connection and your home’s wireless network. Visit chumby.com and pick from more than 400 “widgets,” or applications you want it to display. Read your email, check your Google Calendar, watch an eBay auction, browse classified ads on Craigslist, or see what your friends on MySpace or Facebook are up to. You can also tune in webcams and Internet radio stations. A touchscreen and motion sensor let you tap the screen to scroll through content, or you can tilt the Chumby to play one of its Flash-based games. For your convenience, it’s also a clock radio. And you don’t have to sacrifice style: The soft leather cover and funky charms make this cuter than most gadgets.
$180 chumby.com

— Dan Tynan

Photo above, top right, by Mark Wagoner

 

IN THE BOX

Fine wine doesn’t have to come in a bottle.

Box wines — or cask wines, to oenophiles — are better than ever, thanks to redesigned plastic bags, spigots, and cardboard containers. They hold from two to four regular bottles of wine, can be toted anywhere with ease, and keep your last glass tasting as fresh as the first. Unlike early boxed efforts, these new wines aren’t just plonk; they’re vintage-dated varietals, even appellation-specific and reserve. And by volume, they typically sell for less than the equivalent wine in a bottle. (Three liters is the equivalent of four 750 ml bottles.)

1. Powers Winery 2006 Washington State Cabernet Sauvignon ($22)
Lush aromas of cherries and raspberries carry through to the palate, where they’re joined by nuances of spice and mint. An underlying tannic structure keeps these rich flavors in balance.

2. Black Box NV Sonoma County Reserve Merlot ($25)
Like pouring summer-ripe blackberries and blueberries in a glass, this non-vintage wine has lusciousness and backbone.

3. Wine Cube 2006 California Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz ($16)
A 50/50 blend boosts your sipping pleasure and the wine’s complexity. These nuances are revealed in hints of tobacco and oak in the nose and flavors of plum and tart cherry.

4. Angel Juice 2006 Central Coast Pinot Grigio ($22)
Tangy lemon-lime flavors and crisp acidity make for a refreshing, likable California wine that’s equally at home paired with fish or served at a party on the beach.

5. Black Box 2006 Monterey County Chardonnay ($20)
Most cask white wines don’t show the promise of reds, but this Chardonnay delivers plenty of varietal character, from toasty vanilla aromas to tastes of pears and baked apples.

— Bill Citara

Photograph above by Mark Wagoner

 

WORD UP

Abracadabra! These paperbacks need no shelf.

It looks like a magic trick, but Sticklebook is really a feat of super-smart award-winning engineering: an aluminum bracket with a comb-like strip that securely grips the cover and pages of paperback books. Each one holds about a dozen paperbacks (no hardcovers please); multiple brackets can be hung end-to-end, or stacked in rows to create a virtual bookcase. Place over a desk, in the kitchen, beside the bed — anywhere you want books without a shelf.
$29 sticklebook.com or madebyhumans.com

— Liz Seymour

¡BUEN VIAJE!
A new spin on flexing your foreign-language skills
Want to get in shape for a South-of-the-Border vacation — or perhaps just brush up on your Spanish? Thanks to an innovative series of DVD spin classes produced by Connect18, you can do both at the same time. During the Spanish in Mexico tour, stationary-bike riders pedal through Mexico and see the sights while they’re taught to speak the language. The 6-disc set features 12 different 45-minute “cycling” tours covering 900 miles of scenic ground in cities such as San Miguel de Allende, Puerto Vallarta, and San Sebastián.

Voice-over instructions help you work up a sweat as you learn about Mexico’s language, culture, and history through interviews with locals and interactive quizzes. The handlebar-level views are designed for cyclists, but the DVD tours work just as well on treadmill, elliptical, and stair-climber workouts.
$29 connect18.com

— Tina Caputo

Illustration above by Jon Flaming

 

WATER MUSIC

Tune in, soap up.

The TearDrop, a water-resistant bathroom iPod speaker from Dreams, lets you bring your tunes where most hi-tech gadgets fear to tread: into the shower. Unscrew the top of the speaker, plug the enclosed headphone jack into your iPod, and crank it up. The battery-operated accessory works with all iPods — and makes a great beach or poolside companion, too.
$58 mollaspace.com

— Pete Humes

Photography above by Mark Wagoner

 

ROLL WITH IT

What began in 5000 B.C. when Egyptians threw polished rocks at a stone target has evolved into an exciting game that’s popular at beach parties, backyard BBQs, and afternoons in the park.

“Bocce is a very simple game that takes a few minutes to learn and a lifetime to master,” says John Ross, president of the United States Bocce Federation. “It’s a matter of tossing the pallino [little ball] out and then trying to get the larger ball closer to the target.”

— Cheryl Fenton

Get a game going with one of these top-notch bocce sets.

Park & Sun Bocce Tournament Set
$70 joessports.com
The smaller bocce balls and pallino are ideal for novice players or an impromptu game in the backyard.

Eddie Bauer Performance Bocce Set
$90 target.com
This set, housed in a cool wooden crate, comes with a competition measuring device and rule book.

Franklin Expert 115mm Bocce Set
$100 dickssportinggoods.com
The larger, high-density balls and pallino and deluxe carrying case make this bocce set suited for serious players.

Photo above by Comstock/Jupiterimages