Sara Pepitone

The Future of Kitchen and Bath Design

When it comes to kitchen and bath appliances, says Jill A. Notini, of the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), “We are seeing a convergence of function, technology and aesthetic design. Appliances still cool, cook or clean food, but now there is integration of other features framed in modern design.”

Features like self-cleaning, removable parts that don’t require moving the appliance itself, and eye-catching elements inconceivable in years past. Like an 8” LCD digital display through which Apps – from calendars to photos to recipes – can be accessed via refrigerator door (Samsung’s RSG309).

Inside these and other modern ice-boxes are elements like air purification systems, to keep food fresher longer. “This function and technology can come packaged in practically any design you wish: built in, under the counter, more than 30-cubic-feet, and in just about any finish you can imagine,” says Notini, citing trim kits, textures, and a rainbow of color.

Read complete story, and see the 6 mini slideshows at InteriorDesign.net: The Future of Kitchen and Bath Design

Sustainability Is a Best Practice

Heifer International Edu Center: roof water spillway

Sustainability is not just a marketing buzzword. According to The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, today and in the future. And all around the country (and world) architects and designers are working to achieve just that.

Read complete story, with its many mini slideshows, here: Interior Design: Sustainability Is a Best Practice

Peanuts at Mets, Yankees games: We Shell Overcome!

This is what a story looks like when it's featured on NY1's In The Papers:

Read complete story here: Peanut Allergies and NY Baseball

Booker & Dax

In case you missed this story in The New York Post, we got to check out Day/Night 2 of Dave Arnold's new project.

They have great chemistry! New downtown bar on Momofuku row mixes cocktails with science — and the result is pure genius

Friday at 6 p.m., brand-new East Village cocktail bar Booker & Dax opened its doors on 13th Street to a packed house of industry insiders, science geeks and downtown scenesters thirsty for a taste of high-tech drinks made with gadgetry more common in a chemistry lab than a bar.

Tabasco's Paul McIlhenny

AVERY ISLAND, La. (CNNMoney.com) -- Dozens of entrepreneurial hot sauce bottles line up on a typical grocery store shelf, but only two or three boast significant market share. Tops among them is Tabasco, which has been made by the McIlhenny Company out of Avery Island, La., since 1868. The company, still family-run and privately held, won't disclose its financials, but analysts estimate that the iconic brand -- which supplies countless bars, first-class airline cabins and the U.S. military with bottles of its red sauce -- owns about 20%-25% of the market.

McIlhenny, which grows its peppers all over the western hemisphere, sells six flavors of Tabasco, but none come close the numbers of its bestseller, the original red. International business comprises 40% of the company's overall sales. Up next: Expansion into emerging markets like Brazil, China, and Eastern Europe.

After a recent factory tour on Avery Island, CNNMoney.com sat down with Paul McIlhenny, the fourth-generation president and CEO, who shared his company's startup story.

The End of Snap, Crackle, and Pop Culture

Writer Sara Pepitone gets to the bottom of the bowl, only to find the silence deafening:

Organic Rice Krispies were in my life for many months before I acknowledged their silence. In a recent "don't have enough" situation, I added regular Rice Krispies—my cupboard is stocked for such emergencies—to the mix and suddenly I saw the light. I mean, heard the light. Organic Rice Krispies have no Snap, Crackle, and Pop.

Ferran Adrià: The Science of Food

One of the most exciting stories I have ever written involved a coffee date with Ferran Adrià (and his translator). Exciting here means I was actually a bit nervous to sit down with someone who had been interviewed so many times by so many people and was such a big deal. Amazingly I had questions he'd never before been asked. Flattering to be told so. Exciting.

Download PDF, scroll past cover page, to read the story: Ferran Adrià: The Science of Food