Look up cute in the dictionary, and you'll inevitably find a photo of of these adorable little veggies, made from Williams-Sonoma's new cast-aluminum petit four pan.

The ones in the photo are professionally done, so of course the fondant looks perfect (so perfect, in fact, that they look almost like marzipan...), but I'm sure they'd be great for kids to decorate, too.

The pan retails for $34, and can hold twenty veggies - radishes, pea pods, cabbages, and carrots - at a time. Not sure how WS made its "dirt," but you could definitely just crumble a bunch of chocolate cookies and toss 'em in a pan.

Though it may be a touch early yet, I've started the search for the perfect (kitchen-related, of course!) Father's Day gift. Since all dads are different, this search could be quite extensive, but I had to start with this Monogrammed Steak Brand I found at Williams-Sonoma online. Without further ado:

The Profile:
Mid-to-late-fifties, organized, slight control freak. Before his early retirement he often went on business trips, frequented Michelin 3-star restaurants, and had his initials embroidered into his bath towels. Now, on long weekends he can be found in the backyard, standing at the grill, indulgently sporting the 'Kiss the Cook' apron his grandchildren bought him as he grills NY Strips to perfection. He'll joke about anything except good scotch, fine cigars, and prime cuts of steak.

Have you seen something kitchen / cooking / barware related that would make a good Father's Day gift? Let us know.

When fall comes around, pies are one of the best desserts you can bring to the table, whether you are opting for pumpkin or the fruitier flavors from apples, pears and cranberries. The crust is usually the most difficult part for most cooks, but once you have mastered the dough-making technique (or have broken down and purchased ready made-dough), the job is only halfway done. The second challenge is to make the crust look presentable. Fortunately, there are a couple of gadgets that can help. One is a lattice cutter, which can simply be pressed down into the dough to punch out a traditional-looking, although not actually interwoven, lattice top for your pie. If you want to make your lattice a little more creative, you can opt for the new oak-leaf lattice cutter, instead. The other thing that will really spruce up your pie is a set of piecrust cutters, which punch out little seasonal shapes from your dough. They can be used to create vents in the top layer of the crust or you can punch out shapes from the unused scraps of crust and use them to decorate the surface of the pie.

The fact that you can buy artisan panini breads - good for making any number of sandwiches - seems a bit odd. After all, the image that one usually associated with the hand-crafted and carefully baked artisan breads is of a small, local baker dedicated to high quality and not some online store. In this case, the store in question is Williams-Sonoma and they're offering sandwich panini rolls from New York's Balthazar Bakery. The breads include (3)ciabatta, (3) potato and caramelized onion rolls, (3)multigrain baps and (4)olive rolls, for a total of 13.

Actually, the idea doesn't seem so odd when you consider that cakes, cookies and other baked goods are shipped across the country all the time, but breads do tend to go stale faster than other baked goods (these stay fresh for only 3 days), so you'll have to get overnight shipping and eat them quickly once they've arrived. The rolls are $29+shipping.

I've completely given up on the commercial diet ice cream sandwiches because I've come across the cutest way to make ice cream sandwiches at home. Williams-Sonoma has ice cream sandiwch molds in the shape of a star, a pig, and cow, available as a set of three for $14. You use soft cookies, cake, heck, even a chewy brownie to for the bottom and top, and layer ice cream or frozen yogurt in the middle.

So maybe they'll never be homemade "diet" ice cream sandwiches if you use a brownie and deliciously creamy ice cream, but at least they're small. And though the catalog suggests you get your kids to make them, make them for yourself and burn the calories while doing it.

I think the market for these is people who love odd kitchen tools and people who are, at least occasionally, too lazy to use two separate measuring cups when cooking. This really unusual set of Odd-Sized Measuring Cups measure 2/3 cup, ¾ cup and 1½ cups, conveniently eliminating the need to do any math the next time you are doing any baking. I'm sure that I would use them if I had a set, particularly because these are very common measurements, but I am not sure that I would buy them for myself. If they were a gift, though....