I was just looking at the kitchen counter top and noticed my wifeperson puts everything from pasta to instant rice into food storage containers.
Often times when somebody goes to cook the rice or pasta the directions have been tossed out with the packaging.
Not any more thanks to the Smart Stick.
Think if you will, of a small window cling with directions and nutritional information printed on it. This could be peeled off the pasta box and stuck to the container of choice.
No more guessing if the wagon wheel cooks the same as the elbow, or if Uncle Ben wanted you to use two cups of water or one.-- Chefboyrbored, Dec 21 2006 chefboy is now sensibleboy ! +-- xenzag, Dec 21 2006 cut out the directions and put them IN the jar-- po, Dec 21 2006 Why use a jar when you've got that convenient package there already?-- ye_river_xiv, Dec 21 2006 what [po] said-- xandram, Dec 21 2006 Pastry. I usually use the convenient package. But a few things (pancake mix and oats) I do not use frequently, and would be better left air-tight. I would gladly pay an extra $0.20 USD for such a feature.
It would be best implemented on larger packages, such as the 1 gallon cylinder of oats or the 5 pound box of pancake mix.-- ed, Dec 21 2006 Why is it a bad title phlish, care to tell?-- Chefboyrbored, Dec 22 2006 Because it isn't a stick. [+]-- tastycat, Dec 22 2006 Bit confused: instructions are necessary for the successful cooking of rice/pasta? Or are the example products red herrings?-- calum, Dec 22 2006 [calum] All rices have different ratios of water/rice and cooking times. I often forget these, as brown rice takes a 3 to 1 ratio, whereas risotto takes, er, I forgot. So I do need to reference something when I'm have a brain lapse, or too many vodkas before I start cooking.-- xandram, Dec 22 2006 how long do red herrings take?-- po, Dec 22 2006 20 minutes per pound, plus one for the pot. At Regulo 42.-- angel, Dec 22 2006 /Because it isn't a stick./
Not stick as in stick of wood... stick as in the label sticks to the container.-- mwburden, Dec 22 2006 Of course you could do what some suggested, but this idea, taken a little further, is brilliant, I think.
I see "Smart Stickies", as being a removable label from the original package of whatever, but in really neat writing, with pictures, and "old sayings", and inspirational thoughts, famous quotes, etc.
Sort of like the Celestial Tea Boxes, but with the info [chef] suggested.-- blissmiss, Dec 22 2006 I really like this one, chef, but trying to come up with a catchy name is the least of our worries. Getting manufacturers to adopt this idea instead of spending all those marketing dollars to make their packages look appealing will likely be the biggest hurdle. I think it would be cool to see something like the "Pop-a-label" which will allow consumers to transfer product information.
As an alternative, we have used Purolator courier locally and they have something called a "labelope" which is essentially a large version of this. Is it a clear envelope you place your shipping waybill into, then you peel the backing off the envelope and stick it onto your package. If you made your labelopes smaller and used a "post-its" type of adhesive you might just pull this off (pun fully intended).-- Canuck, Dec 22 2006 I thought this would be sort of like an ugly stick.-- bungston, Dec 22 2006 I thought this would be sort of like an ugly stick. Like the one you look like you been whupped with.-- bungston, Dec 22 2006 Easy there bungs... and don't feel bad about editing annos if you need to add info.
It's not a bad idea. One problem is that the "sticks" (We tend to call them window clings, or stickies in the US) and tupperware often have adverse chemical reactions, where one turns to goo, and the other gets a really bumpy nasty surface. Presuably this would work just fine on most glass containers, and with a little R&D windows that don't eat holes in the plastic containers might be readily available.
The other problem is the name. I too thought it was a stick that made you smarter, or some sort of intelligent stick shaped food item (perhaps a stick of margarine that had more accurate measurements, or something.)
The problem seems to be that "smart" is an adjective, and here, "Stick" is used as a verb. Generally, adjectives go along with nouns, and adverbs go along with verbs. Since we all (well, maybe not all of us, if there are some dislexics around) read smart first, we expected a noun to follow the adjective, and stick can also be a noun.
Such a problem is only critical in pedant-filled locations such as the HB, but the name might be better revised to "Stick smartly," or "Smart sticker" or "peel-off directions."-- ye_river_xiv, Dec 24 2006 Stick is actually used here as a noun. What is happening is that the gerund of the verb "stick," "sticking," is then shortened by dropping the "ing."-- nomocrow, Dec 26 2006 random, halfbakery