Color-changing butter tray works like magic

The Taylor TEMPerfect Butter Tray changes from orange to white when removed from the fridge. The visual cue helps determine when the butter is ready for spreading.

No sleight of hand necessary with the Taylor TEMPerfect Butter Tray. Sur La Table

We hardly think about it, perhaps because it happens on a regular basis, but everything we do in the kitchen is about change. That big metal box that opens and closes is the center of it all. No, not the refrigerator -- that's probably the one thing in the kitchen designed to stop change. The other big metal thing in the kitchen is the bringer of change: the oven. We put ingredients in, and out comes food. It's almost like magic.

If there is magic to be had in the kitchen, it will require ingredients. When it comes to baking, often that ingredient is butter. The Taylor TEMPerfect Butter Tray ($13) brings its own kind of magic to the kitchen -- changing colors depending on the temperature.

Disguised as an unextraordinary one-stick butter tray, the everyday kitchen item hides its true colors until it's called into action. The show starts in the fridge, where the tray is orange; when removed, the tray turns white as it warms to room temperature.

Depending on the application, temperature does matter. When working with dough it is often preferable to have cold butter, while having butter that is easily spreadable is a magic trick every toast eater can appreciate.

Brian Krepshaw Brian is the author of the culinary based novel Stealing Food Road. A lifelong Californian, he has been consistently exposed to some of the best food in the world. With a deep appreciation for the kitchen, he is always on the lookout for that perfect appliance that combines style and grace with the ever-popular ability to save time. See full bio

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Exclusive: Nokia Lumia 1020 sequel still in the works?

Microsoft plans to carry Nokia's cameraphone torch

Microsoft still intends to bring out high-power cameraphones now the deal to purchase Nokia is complete, confirmed Jo Harlow, Corporate Vice President of the Phones Business Unit at Microsoft.

The Pureview brand, which was first shown off by Harlow at MWC 2012, was the first phone to use the powerful 42MP sensor, a tool that has since been brought to Windows Phone on the Lumia 1020.

However, it's been over a year since the 1020 launched, leading some to speculate that Microsoft was more focused on using the Pureview brand to improve lower-end devices.

But Harlow confirmed to TechRadar that the brand was still looking at the dedicated cameraphone space when asked if a phone with the power of the Lumia 1020 could still appear:

"Absolutely – we're not end of the mission in camera technology, or in computational photography.

"We continue to invest in that area to bring the next greatest thing in high end imaging."

While Harlow predictably wouldn't be drawn on a timescale for such a device, its feasible that it could launch before the end of the year, given cameraphones can be seen a better gift in the holiday season, and it would make sense for Microsoft to launch something by November to take advantage of that.

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