Try though you might, Starbucks is making sure that you just can't escape their brand, regardless of where you go. In a joint venture with PepsiCo, Starbucks plans to expand their hot coffee offerings to the world by the use of vending machines. Apparently they will be located in places where full-sized stores just aren't feasible, such as universities and train stations.

Since the company is already selling chilled bottles of their various Starbucks beverages in gas stations, convenience, and grocery stores, the new vending machines will focus on their hot beverage line-up including roasted coffee, various lattes, and hot cocoa. They plan to test the machines this summer, and will reach broad distribution by wintertime.

So, this means that on any given day consumers can brew their own Starbucks beans at home, pick up a latte at a Starbucks store, crack open a bottled iced Frappucino, or pop some coins into a machine and wait a few moments for their hot drink to brew. Is this too much, or are the Starbucks lovers out there glad you can access your favorite beverages wherever you go?

All sorts of safety issue plague parents and children these days. Playground equipment and activities are carefully monitored and toys are painstakingly screened, especially if, unlike video games, they involve movable parts that the kids might play with too vigorously, thus injuring themselves, or eat, injuring themselves further. When it comes to food, most safety issues have to do with concerns about food allergies, but perhaps in light of the burns allegedly caused by Starbucks hot chocolate in the hands of a very small child, some groups are looking to ban hot drinks altogether, rather than supervise their consumption.

The Pat-a-Cake Playgroup, which meets at a library in Rawmarsh, South Yorkshire in England, has been "banned from serving tea and toast on health and safety grounds." The risk for burns is, apparently, far to high for the city council's liking, so the parents running the group have been told that they cannot boil water in the room where children are present, and that adults must drink their hot drinks in a separate area, far from the children, if not a separate room entirely.

As you can imagine, the parents are considering disbanding the group to escape from the oversight of the council before they demand that children be outfitted in protective gear at all times to avoid papercuts.

Bananas are wonderful, versatile fruits, not to mention that they're the most consumed fruit in the world and the fourth most consumed crop after rice, wheat and maize. This doesn't mean that all uses for bananas are good ones. For example, take Rachael Ray's Banana Hot Buttered Rum recipe. The drink uses some of the classic ingredients found in normal hot buttered rum - butter, rum, sugar - but instead of cream, it uses banana liqueur. This is an unusual twist and a hot banana drink not entirely unappealing - until you add banana slices to the drink. This just seems like a bad idea. Bananas are noted or adding a creamy texture to drinks, which is why they're so popular in smoothies and milkshakes, but they're not know for being attractive when exposed to air or heat. Who wants to see a brown banana piece in or on their drink?

I'll stick to smoothies, where the bananas are blended in, not left in chunks. If you want to try RR's recipe, however, read on:

Peels is a brand of alcoholic mixed drinks that, unlike most others in their category, are made with real fruit juice. Like so many mixed drinks, they are aimed a women, but their flavors - Blueberry Pomegranate, Cranberry Peach and Strawberry Passion Fruit - should appeal to anyone who likes fruity flavors. For this holiday season, the company has released a new flavor, Spiced Apple. The drink is made with 100% natural ingredients and tastes similar to a classic spiced cider, with the crisp taste of apples and the warming scent of cinnamon. It can even be heated up, although the rest of the Peels drinks are generally meant to be served cold. It contains 5% alcohol by volume and the company says that it is "perfect for a girls' night-in, a seasonal party or just enjoying in front of the fire."

An Indianapolis couple, Michael and Alexis Brennan, is suing Starbucks, claiming that they served their daughter a cup of hot chocolate, which subsequently spilled and left her with serious burns. The daughter, whose age was not given, but was young enough to fit in a car seat, was said to have been riding strapped into that car seat in the back of the car when she spilled the drink. The mother stopped the car and got out to discover that the "skin on [her] leg was falling off of her."

Starbucks is supposed to serve their kids sized drinks at about 20 degrees less than their standard temperature, putting those drinks at about 140F or so, which is hot, but not incredibly so when you consider the size of the cup and the fact that they are often topped with an inch or more of cold whipped cream, as this particular drink was. The baristas can make it at a lower temperature if requested. A high percentage of parents test the temperature of their kids' drinks by taking a sip themselves, but Ms. Brennan only subjected the drink to a visual inspection before handing it to her daughter. A small child holding a drink of any kind in the backseat of a moving car, especially if he or she is small enough to have to be confined to a car seat, sounds like a recipe for disaster, regardless of whether the drink is hot or not. The parents are, of course, seeking (unspecified) damages.

When I want to keep my coffee or tea warm, I do one of three things: I drink it quickly, keep it in an insulated mug or stay reasonably close to the microwave so I can reheat it if necessary. I don't think that I would ever get to the point where I needed a drink warmer like the one pictured here. This set has two main components: a frosted glass mug and a zinc cup holder/warmer, which has a space for a tea light. It also includes the stainless steel stirring spoon/drinking straw pictured with it.

It looks a bit like a fondue set, doesn't it? Clearly, you would have to regularly stir your drink to prevent the bottom from scalding, particularly if you're drinking a dairy-based beverage.

I would rather just drink my hot cocoa quickly if the only reheating option seemed like a fire hazard.

There are some coffee shops that have a wide variety of teas, usually loose-leaf, in addition to their selection of coffee and espresso drinks. On more than one occasion, I have seen customers become irate when trying to order tea, insisting that they "just want tea" as the girl behind the register gently tries to explain that there are, in fact, many kinds of tea. The shops should just keep a stash of Lipton teabags in the back for these types of customers because that is the generic tea that they are most often referring to. It is a tea that they have grown up with, though they often know little about it.

The mindset that there is but one type of tea is changing and the tea-drinking population is developing a newfound appreciation for different types of teas. As a result, even Lipton is coming out with some variety.

There are any number of reasons that someone might have unsteady hands, from sheer clumsiness to a serious medical problem, but among the many difficulties that could result from such an affliction, the inability to hold a cup steady is a serious one. Not only is there the risk of burns from hot liquids, but it is just purely inconvenient. A new device called DrinkSteady from HandSteady holds cups with a rotating rubber grip mounted within a plastic frame. Once the cup is in the gadget, the suspension between the grip and the outer frame actually holds the cup steady for someone to drink from, regardless of how their hand might shake. It works with mugs, cups and even wineglasses. DrinkSteady can also be used in cars, trains or airplanes - where outside turbulence might affect the steadiness of a cup.

The gadget won the 2006 Design for Disability Award, as well as several other honors, but will not be retailed for at least another year and the company is looking to make sure there is interest in the product (perhaps to reassure investors) before going forward with production. If you think it's a good idea, you might want to drop them a line and let them know.

And, if anyone has ever had the pleasure of watching Keeping Up Appearances, no doubt you know that Elizabeth, Hyacinth's neighbor, could certainly benefit from one of these.

A bicerin is the traditional drink of Turin, Italy. It has been made there since the mid 1700s, essentially unchanged over the past nearly 250 years. It is a mixture of milk and chocolate (locally produced in Italy), coffee and whipped cream. As you can see in the photo of David Lebovitz's lovely rendition of the drink, it is possible to see all three layers, the bottom layer being rich with milk and chocolate. As you might imagine, it is quite rich and it should be served in a small glass (called a bicerin, hence the name). His recipe makes it possible for you to whip up a batch of this decadent drink at home, to enjoy as you cheer on your favorite athletes at the Winter Olympic Games.