Stuff of Life: Lightsaber tongs? Drink scale with an app? Call me intrigued

I’m not really into high-tech gadgets. But some of the items that debuted at the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago last week could change that.

I wasn’t able to attend, so when I got Lisa Casey Weiss, lifestyle consultant for International Housewares Association, on the phone, I asked her to talk about overall trends and specific items that made a splash.

Trends in the housewares market appear to be moving toward appliances that serve multiple functions (such as a pressure cooker that also steams), can be controlled remotely (coffee makers and grills connected with mobile phone apps that set brewing and grilling temperatures), and are portable and appeal to the health-conscious (a single-serve smoothie-blender with its own cup).

Some of the silliest items also sounded the most interesting, fun and desirable (to me, anyway).

Take the Star Wars Lightsaber BBQ tongs by Underground Toys.

“They’re geared toward a very particular market, but they are very well-made,” Weiss said. “What’s fun about them is they have the sound that the lightsaber in the movies makes when you press a button.”

They’re due to hit the market in June for about $40, just in time for Father’s Day and the nerd/dad who has everything and loves to grill. (Go to underground-toys.com for the launch date.)

The PancakeBot by Storebound is billed as the world’s first pancake printer. Though its KickStarter.com fundraiser is ongoing, the project has already easily exceeded its $50,000 goal. It will retail for about $299 when it hits the market, which seems rather pricey for making pancakes, but it also sounds like it would make for great family fun.

It includes software that allows you to design your own pancake by tracing any image — a child’s drawing, company logo, favorite piece of art — on your computer with the cursor, then creates a file that the PancakeBot draws onto a griddle with batter.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind the Perfect Drink Scale by Pure Imagination ($49.99, Brookstone), mostly to settle an ongoing disagreement with my friend Jenn.

The scale communicates with a free mobile phone app to give real-time pouring instructions for more than 300 drink recipes.

Jenn and I recently were making a French 75, which comprises gin, lemon juice and simple syrup shaken with ice, strained into a glass, then topped with sparkling wine. She insisted that I was using too much gin, even though I was following an online recipe exactly.

Weiss agreed that the Perfect Drink Scale would probably take the guesswork out of how much gin to put in the cocktail.

And if by some slim chance I was overpouring, it will adjust the recipe to make more drinks. It also allows you to create drinks from scratch and suggests recipes you can make from ingredients in your liquor cabinet.

“All of these products are designed to make cooking and entertaining fun and more efficient. They turn chores into family events or fun guest activities,” Weiss said.

This story was originally published March 14, 2015 at 7:00 AM.