If your tablet has become your sous chef, here’s the perfect way to keep it clean, off the counter and in perfect view: Upper Desk’s Portable Cabinet Mount. 

There are a lot of products out there that will hold your smart device while you work in the kitchen. The problem is that most of them take up valuable kitchen counter real estate.

This cabinet mount securely installs to a cabinet or shelf in seconds and can be used with tablets and other smart devices (like your phone). It’s got an easy latch system that requires no tools or permanent hardware, so it won’t leave marks or holes. Very portable.

But the best part is that the mount has a 180° rotating arm that you can swivel and position to see it best. It also has angled settings to reduce glare. Here’s a demo:

Upper Desk’s Portable Cabinet Mount works in either landscape or portrait mode and is compatible with protective cases. And, it’s not just for kitchens… you can use it anywhere you want to view your smart device hands-free. Great for step-by-step tutorials!

I met Roderick Phillips, the mount’s inventor, at the recent International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago and he asked me to give his product a try. Mr. Phillips came up with the device while tinkering in his garage. It’s such a great product, it was selected as a finalist in the Home Organization + Storage category at the 3rd International Housewares Association (IHA) Innovation Awards. Way to go Mr. Phillips!

I love it when people have dreams and work to make them real. It’s sweet.

George Jetson’s “smart” kitchen is finally here.

You remember George, don’t you? The Saturday morning cartoon character whose housekeeper, Rosie, would put a block into an oven and, seconds later, a fully cooked meal would pop out?

copyright Hanna-Barbera

It’s not quite that easy yet, but we’re well on our way to a Jetson’s-like smart kitchen.

We’ve been able to connect the care and maintenance of our homes through the Internet for a few years now… thermostats, lights, sprinklers, security systems, televisions, etc. But now, even our small, everyday kitchen appliances can be programed and operated from our phones or tablets.

Here’s what I found at the recent International Home and Housewares Show:

Before you start cooking, you’ll need the Orange Chef Company’s Prep Pad, the smart kitchen food scale that connects over Bluetooth to your iPad. It uses an app to show you the nutrition in the food based on weight, not labels. Here’s a demo:

The app-enabled iDevices Kitchen Thermometerlets you program the cooking time and temperature on your smart device and then monitors the temperature of whatever you’re preparing. The thermometer sends that info via Bluetooth to your smartphone or tablet as it cooks and when it’s ready. iDevices has a whole range of thermometers… I’ll tell you about those in the coming months.

The Crock-Pot is probably one of the first programmable kitchen appliances. Now, no matter where you are, you can turn on the Crock-Pot and adjust the programmable cook time and temperature from your smart phone or tablet.

Finished cooking… but forgot to sweep the kitchen floor? Send a message to Ecovacs Robotics’ Deebot D9 and it will clean your kitchen floors… or all of the floors in your house for that matter. It even returns to the charging dock and empties its own bin when it’s through cleaning!

But by far, the best “smart” device I saw at the show was the Famibot… which really reminded me of Rosie (the Jetson’s housekeeper).

Ecovac’s Famibot is an air purifier, entertainment center, security guard and home network connector. This little guy can even roam around your house and take photos and videos inside and send it to your phone or tablet.

Having a smart home seems like it would be really cool… but with all the bad guys out there, what if they find a way to reprogram my pot roast?

This is what you need to get more creative with (and take the fear out of buying) all those gorgeous fresh and fragrant herbs you’re seeing in the market.

Herbs+ is a field guide to almost every kind of basic herb you use for cooking.

A great photo with each herb helps illustrate exactly what the herb looks like. The Culinary Ideas tab gives info about how an herb tastes, how it’s usually used and how you can use it in a dish (ever thought of using sorrel with strawberries?).

There are also tips on the herb’s medicinal use— did you know that chives help prevent premature aging? (I’m loading my basket with chives this weekend at the farmers market!)

The gardening tips are especially useful, if you’ve got the terroir for such an endeavor. You’re not going to be able to grow cloves in Chicago, but rosemary will thrive… and most likely even survive the winter.

If want a deeper dive, there’s a link to Wikipedia to give you even more info about the herb. The App also a handy tab for taking notes.

Like I said in the beginning, this is a very basic guide… it won’t have some of the more exotic herb cousins (for example, Thai basil or Mexican oregano). But it’s an easy way to learn about herbs and push past your reticence to try a new strange smelling little green bushy thing.

And besides… this App is 100% guaranteed to spice up your phone. Just had to say it.

This is a really, really great idea, and hopefully it will become part of the way we eat; I just wished a fast-food joint hadn’t come up with the idea first.

McDonald’s restaurants in Australia are testing out a free iPhone app that lets consumers know EXACTLY where the food they’re about to eat comes from.

But really, don’t you think that if you’re seriously concerned about what you eat and where it comes from, you wouldn’t be eating at at McDonald’s? I’m just saying.

The App is called “TrackMyMacca’s” (the Aussie nickname for McDonald’s). It uses GPS tracking, food packaging codes and image activation software to cross-reference with McDonald’s supply-chain data.

The App then lets diners know which farm, bakery, ranch, or food plant the ingredients originated. It even provides the name and a photo of the farmer, fisherman or rancher.

If a diner just wants to know about a specific ingredient, say, the hamburger buns, they can ask for specific details. The App gives them information like “Fresh buns are the building blocks of a good burger. That’s why our Martin Place restaurant could have up to three deliveries a week. You’ll find our bakers at the Fresh Start Bakery, not far away in Liverpool, New South Wales.”

Okay, I admit this is great marketing, which McDonald’s has been known for since the beginning of time. Still, at least the company is recognizing that more of us want to know WHERE OUR FOOD COMES FROM! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is ultimately good business.

Here’s a look at a YouTube video demonstrating the App. Let me know what you think: