That may look like a bent iPad or iMac hanging on the wall above your stove, but it's actually an innovative new range hood from Zephyr called the Horizon Wall.

Why the resemblance to your latest iDevice? Might be because the hood was designed by Robert Brunner, the designer of the iMac. And while the Horizon Wall may not be able to run any of your cooking apps, it will light up your stove with its twin halogens, and suck the smoke out of your kitchen when you're broiling that steak.

Available in black, red or white glass on stainless steel.
ZephyrOnline.com

Isn't it time you helped your dad graduate from the George Foreman grill into something a little more, how shall I say, refined? Don't get me wrong, I've gotten tons of mileage out of my Foreman, but you have to agree it's more college dorm than gourmet kitchen. So if you've got a foodie on your list this Father's Day how about setting your sights on the shining brilliance that is the KRUPS Panini Maker.

You might recognize KRUPS as the name behind the must-have mancave accessory, the Beertender, but their design standards don't stop at malt beverage dispensing technology. The KRUPS panini maker is a kitchen gadget that your dad will be proud to display on his granite countertops. The chrome exterior looks great and the non-stick upper and lower grilling plates make for easy cleaning and quick cooking.

Actually, calling it just a panini maker doesn't do it justice. Toss some steaks or burgers on there and watch the meat magic happen while the patented floating hinge takes the worry out of protein thickness management.
$79.99
KrupsUSA.com

I'm all for having a really good set of knives in your kitchen, but if you want a set that can not only slice and dice, but also start a conversation, and put a dent in your bank account, check out the Déglon Meeting Knife set.

Made from a single piece of steel -- with proportions determined by the Fibonacci sequence (you math geeks and Da Vinci Code fans will know what that is), cut with a laser, and hardened by a special hydrogen heat treatment -- this set of four knives is painstakingly sculpted so they fit perfectly together to form what looks like one large knife.

But all that precision and artistry will cost you. Since they're so hard to make, and the fit must be exact, Déglon can only make about 200 sets each year. Plus the Museum of Contemporary Art carries them, so not only are they limited edition, but they are a work of art for your kitchen. Let's see you try to slice a tomato with a Warhol.
$645 ($580.50 for MCA members)
MCAChicagoStore.org

When all the holiday rippin' and a tearin' is done, and you wake from your post christm-oital nap, you'll look around and realize you didn't get nearly everything you wanted.

That's where Your Ultimate Guide to the Ultimate Gift Guides comes in. Available for the rest of the year, it links you to over a dozen guides, with more than 200 of the most desirable guy gadgets, gear, tech toys, party must-haves, fashions, food, liquor, and more. So when you return that hideous green tie that Aunt Edna gave you, you'll know exactly what to do with the money. Think of it as your road map to awesome. Who says Christmas only comes once a year?

The Ultimate Tailgater's Checklist and Gift Guide

The Ultimate Bacon Lover's Gift Guide

The Ultimate Beer Lover's Gift Guide

Your Ultimate Guide to Gifting with Liquor

The Ultimate Gift Guide for the Well Dressed Man

The Ultimate Gamer's Gift Guide

The Ultimate Movie Lover's Gift Guide ...There's more

Back in October I posted about the Food Network's Guy Fieri releasing a set of knives. (Read it here.)

And since then, I've been putting the knives through their paces for the last few months, and loving them. So I decided to let one of you experience their superior slicing and dicing ability for yourself... which is why I'm giving away a set this week.

Included is the 8-inch Chef knife ($76) with crisscross crusher built into the handle for crushing garlic and nuts... and the 5 1/2-inch utility knife ($45), dubbed the "Dragon Dagger" by Fieri because of the unique shape and pointed front prongs. Both have flames etched into the high-carbon stainless steel blades and an inlaid black and red flame and star design on the ergonomic handles.

These Ergo Chef-made knives are two of the best balanced and most comfortable I've used, making long tailgate preps easier to deal with. To score the set and see for yourself, all you need to do is enter your email addy here, and on Friday Jan 15 I'll pick one of you at random.

I can't guarantee you'll score your own Food TV show, but I can guarantee you at least look better in the kitchen.

www.ErgoChef.com

What's the dirtiest part of the party table? Right, the area around the dip bowl. People trying to scoop salsa onto a tortilla chip, only to flip it onto the table... over and over, all night long. Sure you can use the "Two Chip Shovel Scoop Method," but sometimes you've only got one hand free. (Like when the other is on your drink.)

Well waste salsa and other dippables no more. The CaliBowl is a revolutionary new bowl that's got an inward curving lip, patterned after a wave, that pushes whatever you're scooping onto whatever you're eating with.

Just drag it up the side, and the dip flips onto your chip. Works for cereal, soup and whatever else you eat out of a bowl, too.

The CaliBowls come in a variety of sizes and colors, and they all have no-slip bottoms (wouldn't help with one-handed dipping of you dragged the bowl onto the floor...), are microwave safe, are durable and unbreakable, and BPA-free. You can get lids for them too, so you can take them to the next tailgate, keeping the spillage out of the truck bed. (I'm recommending the one with the suction bottom, for you habitual spillers)

Starting at $13.99. Sets of 4 from $24.99
www.calibowl.com

Next week, when you're preparing your turkey dinner, you can do it the traditional way, and let it roast in the oven for 8-10 hours, basting it every half hour or so, and still risk drying the crap out of it... or, you can drop that sucker in a deep fryer and enjoy a crisp and juicy bird in a fraction of the time. And not have to stand out in the cold to do it.

Butterball has teamed up with Masterbuilt to give us this electric countertop fryer, capable of taking up to a 14-pound turkey and cooking it to deep fried perfection in about 4 minutes per pound. For you math whizzes, that means what used to take all day, can be achieved in just under an hour.

All you need to do is pour about two gallons of your favorite cooking oil into the porcelain-lined inner pot, turn the adjustable thermostat control to the desired temp, and let the oil heat up. Then take your fully thawed bird (and I can't stress "fully thawed" enough... you don't want to experience what happens when ice hits hot oil), season it to taste, put it in the fryer basket, and slowly lower it into the oil. The built-in timer let's you know when it's time to pull it out and drain it.

Butterball sent me one to try, and since I couldn't find a thawed turkey and wanted to fry a bird immediately, I used a 9-lb oven roaster chicken. After injecting marinade and seasoning with my favorite dry rub, I lowered it into the fryer, and set the timer. 36 minutes later it was done. Incredibly crisp skin with the juiciest chicken I've ever had underneath. My girl, who never eats fried anything, asked me to make another one a few days later.

I've also fried up 3-lb batches of wings, and according to the manufacturer, you can not only fry just about anything in it, you can also use it to steam and boil. So I've got an after-Thanksgiving crab boil on tap.

It's available from major on-and off-line retailers like Amazon, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Target, for about $145. Which works out to about $15 per hour for the 9-10 hours you'll save slaving over a hot oven. Priceless when you think of the uninterrupted football you'll be able to watch.

On a cross country flight back from Laguna Beach last month, I sat next to two women who had two words to say to all guys about cooking for themselves when they found out what I did for a living: Slow. Cooker.

My response? No guy in his right mind would go out and buy a crock pot. Much less drag it out in front of a date to make her a pot roast. My mom had one, and it was avocado green with some sort of yellow floral design. No thanks. I'll stick to my oven and grill.

But they insisted there was no better way for a single guy to make a killer meal. And the newer "slow cookers," as they are more correctly called (Crock Pot is a trademarked name for one brand of slow cooker), have a more modern, and in some cases even masculine, look. So I did some research. And everywhere I turned, everyone I spoke to swore by this method of cooking. Even guys famous for their barbecue. (More on that below.)

So I tried one. The Kalorik slow cooker pictured. The black and stainless look fit my kitchen. And wasn't embarrassing to have on the counter top. And at $35 bucks, it wasn't a budget breaker, either. Three heat settings let you choose how fast or slow to cook. In my test, where I dropped in ingredients for beef stew and left it unattended for 10 hours, the result was way better than I expected. Tender beef. Fully cooked potatoes. Full of flavor. And I basically did nothing. I'm hooked. (For more info on the Kalorik, click here.)

So here are five arguments why you should consider getting one for your pad:

1 - They're Idiot Proof
The recipes basically make themselves. I threw some meat, potatoes, ...There's more

If you're cutting back the bar budget and mixing more at home, then you're gonna need a solid blender that can crush ice, pulverize fruit, and make your girl a strawberry daiquiri that'll knock the Manolos off her feet.

Time to toss the cheap blender with the old plastic jar and the ill-fitting lid you've been working with since college, and go pro.

The Bella Professional is an affordable, die-cast aluminum blender with a big 48 oz capacity, that will get the job done, and look good doing it.

Hit one of the blue, backlit 3-speed controls to stir, chop, mix, puree, liquefy, or crush ice. And you can bring the pulse button into play at every level. Rubberized feet keep it from sliding off the counter, spilling precious liquid. Which would legally constitute alcohol abuse.

$99.99 - Available at Amazon and Target
www.bellaprofessional.com

I put myself through college waiting tables. And every single night without fail, some guy would order decaf after dinner, then tell me a half dozen times, "You sure this is decaf? I can't drink regular, this HAS to be decaf, understand? If it's not decaf I'm calling you at 3 am and tearing you a new asshole." No need to get all excited, sir. Yes, I'm positive this is decaf. Made it myself. And, thanks, but I already have an extra asshole here at the table.

Now you don't have to worry that the lazy table jockey bringing you a cup of post-meal unleaded really poured fully loaded, and you'll be watching QVC until 4 in the morning. Just dunk a D+caf caffeine test strip into your mug and it'll tell you in about 30 seconds whether or not you're about to get buzzed.

And with their studies showing up to 30% of decafs ordered are not really decaf - or have too-high levels of caffeine - they come in handy preventing you from having a sleepless night. And ordering useless crap off late night TV.

$9.95 for a pack of 20 strips
www.discovertesting.com
Via 9 to Fried