Rolling out a new line of Tovolo products ...

Our Tovolo silicone ice cube trays have been flying off the shelves ever since the Wall Street Journal wrote a story about the importance of perfect ice cubes. They recommended the Tovolo tray – specifically, this one – because it generates large ice cubes that melt slowly, so your drink won't get watered down.

But Tovolo (which has an office here in Seattle) makes many other great products. You should check them out. Carolyn, our diligent product builder, just finished updating ChefTools.com with over 100 new Tovolo products.

There’s a line of silicone spatulas that come in an array of cool colors like cotton candy, raspberry fizz, sea foam, green apple and soymilk. There’s also a bunch of holiday, sports, and horticultural-themed turners – ever flip an egg with a two-dimensional basketball?

But two product lines stand out. One is a line of pie molds. They come in a couple of different shapes (an apple, a heart, a star, a pear, etc.), which is fun, but the really cool feature is that you can use these to shape dough. I want one so I can make a homemade version of those delicious Hostess apple (or cherry) pies. You know the ones: two for $1 at your local convenience store, packaged in a loud wrapper, and they come with that sheen of brittle glaze.

Then there’s the ice cream sandwich mold; another home solution to a convenience store classic. For some reason, an ice cream sandwich always seemed too complicated to me to reproduce at home. Like you needed some special factory equipment to make them just right. Apparently not; all you need is this Tovolo cookie mold, a log of cookie dough and a dollop of your favorite ice cream (I’d choose Breyers all natural vanilla, the kind with the little black flecks of vanilla bean mixed in – but that’s just me).

So how about this: at your next summer picnic (or graduation or Mother’s Day jam), bake a couple of portable apple-shaped apple pies, a tray of ice cream sandwiches and a bowl of lemonade swimming with a half dozen Tovolo king-sized ice cubes. And do not forget to save some ice cream for on top of the apple pies!