Veggie Ice Cream, Dining-Room Rug Rules and a Problem-Solving 3D-Printed Ketchup Cap

Dining-Room Rug Rules

I Scream, You Scream: Vegetable-flavored ice cream? Could be terrible or terrific. Ice cream eaters in Japan will get to decide for themselves on May 12 when Haagen-Dazs Japan plans to release two new flavors — Tomato Cherry and Carrot Orange — as part of a new "Spoon Vege" series. The new varieties will contain 8.5 percent milk-fat, a little over half the usual content in Haagen-Dazs ice creams — so if you ever get the chance to try them, you can convince yourself they're a healthy dessert choice. Just so long as they don't try, like, broccoli-lime or spinach-kiwi next. Or, well, actually … [ Rocket News 24 via UPI]

Banish Dining-Room Floor Bareness: To rug or not to rug? That is the question we all face when we decorate our dining rooms. On the one hand, rugs are warm and homey and inviting, all things you want when you gather friends and family around a table; on the other, crumbs and spills. Apartment Therapy has entered the debate and come down solidly on the side of rugs, which, the site says, "don't have to be an impractical choice" if you follow a few rules when making your selection. For instance? Choose something that has a low pile (it will soften dish clinks so you can better hear conversation) and a pattern (the better to hide stains), as well as something that is big enough for all the chairs to fit on and is cheap. Sounds like solid advice. [ Apartment Therapy]

Better Than Shaking Well? You know that highly unappetizing, watery stuff that comes out with the first squirt of ketchup from a squeezable bottle? No one wants that on their burger, frank or — horrors! — fries. Missouri high school students Tyler Richards and Jonathan Thompson, who are involved in a national STEM program called Project Lead the Way, have come up with a solution: a 3D-printed cap that separates the good stuff from the gross stuff to give you a solid squirt from the start. The teens are hoping to patent their invention and find a way to turn a profit. Paging Heinz … [ Fox4kc.com via Mashable]

In Other Food News: A proposed 2-percent tax on junk food like chips, cookies and sodas failed to pass a Navajo Nation Tribal Council vote on Tuesday, but the measure still has widespread support, and advocates have vowed to revive it. [AP] New York restaurant Bagatelle has added a $1,000 ice cream sundae to its menu; the "Mauboussin Mega Sundae" includes vanilla ice cream, Dom Perignon Rose sorbet, chocolate truffles, macarons, whipped cream, chocolate vodka sauce, "gilded brownies," gold-leaf sprinkles and (on the side) a black steel/white gold Mauboussin ring that, on its own, retails for $530. Such a deal. [ Eater NY] Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, co-founders of the band KISS, are opening a branch of their Rock & Brews restaurants in Overland Park, Kansas, on April 29; the menu features "opening acts" like chipotle chili cheese fries, "VIP" salads and "headliner" sandwiches. No word on whether you can order tongue. [ Kansas City Star]

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