"cup" news and stories

Yesterday, I posted a graphic from The Kitchn, that was designed as a way to help people remember how many cups are in a pint, how many pints are in a quart and how many quarts are in a gallon. Lots of readers responded to that post and several of them brought up a different graphic that they remembered from school that had helped them learn their measurements.

This one was called Mr. Gallon and used cups, pints, quarts and gallons in order to create the body of a slightly misshapen man. Reader John was helpful enough to find the image and posted the link in the comments section. After getting a look at him, I thought Mr. Gallon was useful enough to get his own post, and so here he is!

Anyone else have another good trick for remembering measures? What about one that addresses teaspoons, tablespoons and increments of a cup?

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Thanks to the huge role the media plays in our daily lives, pregnant women now have way more to worry about than even ten years ago. Getting pregnant means you are suddenly victim to tons of fear-inducing claims and studies, each new one seeming to contract the last. Exercise! Don't over-burden yourself! Eat chocolate! Go easy on the fat!

And now, claims that a little bit of caffeine probably won't hurt you are challenged by a recent study in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology that suggests that women who consume more than 200 mg of caffeine (one small cup of coffee) a day are at a greater risk for miscarrying.

In the study, documented in a NY Times article, 1,063 pregnant women were interviewed about their caffeine intake. Out of the total, 172 women had previously miscarried. The rate of miscarriages was higher in those who consumed 200 mg or more per day (24.5% out of 164) compared to those who drank no caffeine during their pregnancy (12.5% out of 264 women).

But of course, miscarriage occurs for reasons other than caffeine, some which can't be explained away through a study. But I'd love to hear from women who were once or are currently pregnant (or their significant others) to get their take on this news. Do reports like this make you nervous? Do you drink caffeine now? If so, would this study make you think twice? Or do you eschew science in place of good ol' common sense?

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Burning your tongue on a hot drink is no picnic, but burning it while drinking from an insulated commuter mug is worse. Not only does the cup disguise the temperature of the beverage it contains, making you more likely to subject your tongue to overly-hot drinks in the first place, but they do not allow drink not cool down fast enough to prevent repeat burns. Combine that with a morning commute in rush hour traffic and you will probably discover the source of many cases of "road rage."

Fortunately, there is a cup that offers a solution. The Tip and Sip Cup keeps coffee hot at up to 205 degrees, which is the temperature that most coffee is brewed at. When it is tipped (for a sip), the coffee passes into a patented Temperature Control Chamber, which lowers the temperature of the coffee to the "Perfect Zone" of 150-170F, leaving you with a satisfying swig of coffee and no burns. The triple function lid has a spill-proof lock setting and a regular "sip" setting that bypasses the temperature control chamber, in addition to the cooling function.

It is available in raspberry, lime, orange, forest, black, or blue and is priced at $19.95. The cost of never burning your tongue again? Priceless.

[via book of joe]

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We have seen a couple of interesting mugs in the past, but the design of this one really strikes a chord with me because I drink quite a bit of tea. This tea bag mug is designed with a pocket built right into it for your tea bag - a convenience when you prefer to use a sturdier mug for hot drinks in the evenings, rather than a cup and saucer. If you're not into tea, or brew yours with loose-leaf tea instead of bagged, you can put the pocket to use in other ways. It can be used to hold packets of sugar or sweeteners when serving to guests and can even hold a small cookie or two. But ultimately, this is a nice, large mug for a tea-lover and probably a must-have for those who really love Lipton or other bagged teas.

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Although they are a little bit tacky, these "Undress me" mugs are still a fun idea to get your day started in the morning. No, it doesn't have anything to do with getting undresses. There are his and hers versions of the mugs available and each one has a naked man or woman on the inside which is revealed as you drink down your coffee. It's not going to give quite the same effect if you prefer lighter beverages, like tea, so you might want to stick with coffee, hot chocolate of a similarly dark beverage.

I'm not really sure which demographic they're targeting, but I suspect that there are a lot of college-age men and women who wouldn't mind having one at the breakfast table. And now that Folger's is targeting that demographic but seems to have renounced their claim to being the "best part of waking up," they have to have something to look forward to in the morning.

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