My wife spotted this gadget online, before she was my wife, and, truth be told, it may have had a hand in our eventual espousal. You see, we both love butter, yet we don't like messy wax-paper sticks, which keep the butter too hard to spread. And we don't like tubs of aerated butter. Enter the butter dispenser, a product of such stunning genius that it has become a touchstone in our home. Every morning, we wonder at the sublime utility of the dispenser as it informs our day:"Waste not," it whispers. "Keep it clean," it coos. "Don't laugh at me just because I look ridiculous," it admonishes. Seriously, this kitchen tool is indispensable if you use small amounts of butter on a daily basis--on toast, in the frying pan, for melting in recipes. If you can get over its gawky looks (and some people can't), the butter dispenser will bring you daily dollops of pure, high-calorie joy.

Harold Check