2012: The Year in Food Words

wine apart·ments (noun): A Tokyo property developer broke ground this year on the Shibuya Shinsen Wine Apartment Project, an upscale apartment complex aimed at wine lovers that will feature a wine bar and bistro on the ground floor, along with a 10,000-bottle underground wine cellar. The apartments are due to be completed in 2013.

broc·co·li man·date (noun): During oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia famously invoked the concept of the "broccoli mandate" to dispute the constuitutionality of the law: "Everybody has to buy food sooner or later," he argued. "Therefore, you can make people buy broccoli."

The Art and Design of Louise Fili

Elegantissima, a new book published by Princeton Architectural Press, collects the work of artist and graphic designer Louise Fili, whose vintage-inspired designs for food packaging, labels, and restaurant menus should be instantly recognizable to food lovers.

One of my favorites is this label for Tratturi Primitivo wine, which uses the shape of Puglia's conical trulli houses as a background pattern against the art deco typography.

The book brings together beautiful color illustrations of her work along with personal reflections about how she went about designing some of her most notable creations.

Building a Better Juicer

The Citrange is a double-sided hand juicer which is designed so that it can be balanced atop your glass whiule you squeeze your fruit. A built-in funnel not only guides the juice into the glass, it also filters out the seeds.

The juicer comes in green or orange and is made of dishwasher-safe polypropylene.

$25 at Generate.

David Lynch for Dom Perignon

Filmmaker David Lynch has teamed up with Dom Perignon to create limited-edition bottles of Dom Perignon 2003 and its Rosé 2000 dubbed "The Power of Creation."

Unfortunately, there are no Twin Peaks tie-ins. According to Dom Perignon, the gift box that houses the bottle is "a little magic theatre, similar to the ones that David Lynch could have imagined. The silk ribbons at either end raise the curtain on the interior of the box, where Lynchian chiaroscuro silhouettes herald a world where mystery is a game."

Edible Vistas

Using ingredients like poppy seeds, chocolate, coffee, and milk, Eszter Burghardt creates miniature landscapes and shoots them with a macro lens. Her "Edible Vistas" are meant to evoke the landscapes of Iceland and the impact of global warming on melting ice caps.

Read an interview with Burghardt here.

Trap Door Colander

This plastic Trap Door Colander by Farberware could be the ultimate cooking tool for the clumsy cook. It features a trap door release in the bottom of the colander that lets you easily and cleanly eject its contents directly into a serving dish after draining.

Dishwasher safe.

$14.99 at Pfaltzgraff. Via Gizmodo.

In Space, No One Can Hear You Sip

If you've seen Ridley Scott's new science fiction film Prometheus, you may have been too distracted by the weighty themes of faith and human creation and puzzling over how the movie's extraterrestrials are connected to the alien of Alien to notice a curious culinary product placement.

Spolier alert: In the year 2093, we'll still be using Bodum glassware. Look closely at the screen cap above and you can see that the crew of the spaceship Prometheus is enjoying some liquid refreshment in what appears to be Bodum's Presso double-walled glass. You could buy one of the glasses here right now, but it looks like you'll have to wait another 81 years before it comes in blue.

Big in Japan: Soft Serve Beer

Kirin has launched a machine in Japanese restaurants that freezes the head of the beer into something that resembles soft-serve ice cream.

The frozen head -- made only of beer without any added ice or water -- will keep the beer cold for at least 30 minutes. This exceeds the average of the 22 minutes it takes drinkers to finish a pint according to a Kirin survey (Japanese imbibers must sip their beer very slowly).

Watch the video to see how one is made (scored to "New York, New York"):

The Perfect Scoop

Amco Houseworks' Serrated Ice Cream Scoop features a serrated edge for cutting into hard ice cream and an unusual faceted aluminum surface which is designed for an easy release. Dishwasher safe.

$9.99 at Amco Houseworks.

New Books: People's Pops

The gourmet ice pop trend continues with a new book, People's Pops, by Nathalie Jordi, David Carrell, and Joel Horowitz (the team behind the New York City pop business of the same name), due out this June.

People's Pops follows on the heels of last summer's Paletas (also published by Ten Speed Press) with 55 recipes for pops and shave ice arranged seasonally and by ingredient, from spring (think rhubarb and elderflower or cucumber and violet) to autumn (cranberry and apple or pumpkin pie with whipped cream).

The recipes are interspersed with mouthwatering ice pop porn and tips on everything from how to make and serve the pops to starting your own pop business if you are so inspired.