The idea that good things are worth waiting for is disappearing in our faster-equals-better culture. Convenience and instant gratification are what we desire, and when it comes to cold wine, we can have it even if we forgot to put the bottle in the fridge. The Ravi instant wine chiller ($50; pictured) transforms room temperature chardonnay, pinot grigio, even vodka as you pour, provided you keep this amazing device in the freezer when not in use. When needed, just insert it into your wine bottle and pour. The wine passes through a frozen steel chamber on its way to your glass, arriving delectably chilled. Of course, there isn’t a whole lot of romance or visual flair with Ravi. While you’re sipping that first delicious glass or two with a friend who just happened by, let them know not everything has to be spur of the moment. Place the rest of the bottle in an illuminated ambiance chilller ($180) or a Nice Ice wine chiller mold ($25). These are perfect for parties. The illuminated chiller uses a rechargeable eight-hour battery or can be plugged in for nonstop action. As your bottle soaks in the bucket of plain old ice — it still works like a charm to make things cold — the bucket glows and slowly changes color from yellow to green to blue to violet to pink to red. The Nice Ice mold will wow your guests and give you a chance to be creative. Just fill it with water and fruit (or other freezables), freeze and voilà: you’ve got a decorative cooler for the next few hours (until the mold melts into the attached base). True, these are really more holder than fast chiller. If you want something worthy of a professional, Sharper Image has the Waring pro double-bottle wine chiller ($150). It accommodates two bottles, each with its own temperature control and features a library of 33 presets for various types of wine. Need a gift for someone who’s serious about wine? Look no further than this baby.

Widely considered the Rolls-Royce of cooking appliances, a La Cornue range is the stuff that Top Chef dreams are made of. La Cornue was founded 100 years ago by Albert Dupuy, a gourmet who invented the gas oven for the home. Although the company is now part of the Aga Foodservice Group, it is still led by a Dupuy descendant and continues the family tradition of making quality ranges by hand and produced to order. La Cornue’s hallmark is Dupuy’s vaulted oven, perfect for roasting and baking, with doors that open laterally. The Château line is the crème de la crème. These spectacular stoves come in six models (the Grand Palais 180 is pictured) and an array of colors that make our American obsession with stainless-steel appliances look downright blasé. Scroll down on each model’s page to the “Create your La Cornue” section, where you can select your color, trim, and fixtures and then configure your cooktop with a variety of burners and options in gas or electric or a combination of both. Each range comes with an engraved plate certifying its authenticity; of course, the price is just short of Rolls-Royce range ($20,000 to $41,000). Stateside, you can purchase Château ranges from Pennock Appliance or Joanne Hudson Basics. One of the company’s new offerings is the more affordable La CornuFe line of pre-manufactured, hand-finished ranges. The color choices are limited and they’re not produced to order, but the cooktop still has those powerful professional gas burners, and the range comes with two electric ovens ($8,600 plus $1,300 “white glove” delivery at Williams Sonoma). Plus, it’s got that distinctive La Cornue look. Oh, to be in a kitchen with a La Cornue!

Scandinavian influences are hallmarks of contemporary design, particularly home objects that combine form with function and sleek good looks. Look no farther than Iittala, a leading design company that dates back to 1881, when the company was founded as a glass plant in southern Finland. In the 1920s and 1930s, Iittala made the transition to modern home décor and tableware, led by legendary Finnish designers Kaj Franck (1911-1989) and Alvar Aalto (1898-1976). Franck’s question, “Is not the ultimate meaning of beauty to be essential, functional, justified, and correct?” guides the Iittala philosophy today, and the company continues to spotlight work by premier Scandinavian designers. Although you can browse through Iittala’s spectacular offerings at the corporate Web site, to bring Iittala home, you’ll have to look elsewhere. Aalto.com has the classic Savoy vase (pictured), designed by Aalto for the 1937 Paris World’s Fair, in a multitude of colors ($48 to $123). At FinnStyle, the line runs the gamut from cookware to flatware; we were charmed by the Moomin Collectibles line based on the Moomin Valley children’s books by Finland’s Tove Jansson. FinnishGifts.com features the Iittala Hackman cookware line, such as the Neo casserole, which is almost too striking to tuck away in a cabinet ($100 to $135). Unica Home specializes in Iittala’s glass home accents, such as the stunning four-piece flower bowl set designed by Alvar Aalto ($1,950) or the jewel-toned glass jars by Pentagon Design ($50, $60 or $65). AllModern.com’s selection includes the cheery striped Origo dinnerware collection, along with flatware and kitchen utensils. For sheer beauty, the bird figurines are at the top of the pecking order, particularly the gorgeous cloud tern egg from Bloomingdale’s ($235).

The term “biodegradable” is generally interpreted as a good thing when it comes to talk of protecting the earth, but in fact no legal definition, set of standards or regulatory agency currently exists to make it so. The descriptor has been used for products that can take hundreds of years to decompose or that break down into harmful toxins. Which is why the Federal Trade Commission has stepped in with guidelines that limit the marketing of biodegradable products to those that “break down and decompose into elements found in nature within a reasonably short amount of time when they are exposed to air, moisture and bacteria or other organisms.” To get up to speed on what biodegradable products are available to consumers this Earth Day 2008, visit the Biodegradable Store, where the product categories include food containers, plates, bowls, utensils, cold cups, hot cups, bags, napkins, trays and accessories made from corn, sugarcane and paper. Imagine taking compostable utensils on your next picnic. Made of non-GMO vegetable starch, these forks, knives, and spoons are suitable with food up to 200 degrees, and they are 100 percent guaranteed to return to nature in 30 to 45 days “under commercial composting conditions.” Home composting may take longer, and throwing them into the landfill with your other trash will impede biodegrading ($5.95 for a pack of 50 forks or $54.93 for a case of 1,000). Another great product is the compostable Biobag for Dog Waste (50 bags for $5.49). It makes no sense to “clean up” after your dog using plastic bags that will preserve their poop in landfills for the ages. Don’t have a dog? These bags are big enough and versatile enough for many uses. I’ve seen them at the supermarket, being used to hold fresh produce. At Independent Ad Specialities, the makers of “all that promotional stuff” with company logos on it — pens from the bank, air fresheners for the car, tote bags, balloons — now has pages of biodegradable alternatives. Soon to come in consumer-friendly quantities (hopefully) but available to mass retailers: biodegradable pots (pictured) and dinnerware from Enviroarc. Plastic is forever, folks. How unnatural is that?

Whether you grow them yourself or buy them in the produce section of the market, there is nothing like a meal made with fresh rather than dried herbs. The flavors are cleaner and more intense. Plus they pretty up a dish and smell great in your kitchen. But sometimes you only need a pinch of oregano or a tablespoon of dill and end up throwing away most of what you bought before you can use it. Which is where the new Herb Savor by Prepara ($30) comes in. It extends the life of your fresh herbs for up to three weeks inside of the refrigerator door by keeping the leaves protected from the moisture in the air while the stems stand in a little well of water. Used with a pair of Endurance stainless-steel herb scissors ($11), also new on the market, fresh herbs are as handy and simple to cook with as salt and pepper. These feature five sharp blades which make it quick and easy to mince, chop or cut the exact quantity you need right over a pan or a plate. Once you taste the difference and get hooked on food flavored with fresh cut herbs, you might like to grow them yourself. At HerbKits, the best-selling product is the Garden Stacker and Indoor Culinary Herb Garden ($60). Each kit includes lots of seeds (for growing multiple parsley, thyme, cilantro/coriander, basil, dill, oregano, sweet marjoram, chives, savory, garlic chives, mustard and sage plants), 50 peat packets to plant and water them in, and a small greenhouse that provides the perfect climate for propagation and growth within a few weeks. Transfer the plants to the hangable indoor/outdoor Garden Stacker (pictured). You can go the traditional route with fresh herb seeds, planting ideas, assortments and advice from Burpee. And if you live in a rural area or like to hike, Bulk Herb Store has a DVD, Making Herbs Simple ($30), which will teach you how to recognize herbs in the wild and show you the right way to wash, dry and store them. This site is devoted to the medicinal and health-promoting use of herbs and also explains the steps necessary to make poultices and tinctures.

The morning ritual of putting the kettle on and steeping my favorite morning tea blend (at the moment, Hazelbank Assam from The Steeping Room) is a soothing way to start the day, thanks to the sleek little aqua Bee House teapot that I received recently from one of my tea-totaling friends ($29). That raises the question: How best to heat things up for tea? Fante’s Kitchen Wares Shop lists the advantages of all types of kettles. Glass takes a while to warm up, but the water stays pure; for sheer simplicity, we like this glass kettle from Adagio ($34). Copper heats up quickly and evenly, thanks to the metal’s conductive properties. Angloteaphiles will adore the classic Simplex copper kettle (pictured), which is made in England for gas stovetops; its base heats faster than an ordinary flat-bottomed kettle ($140). Cast-iron kettles like the Hues N Brews bamboo kettle ($50) can either be used on the stovetop or for steeping (please check manufacturer’s recommendations). If you’re going electric, the Toastess glass kettle can make tea as simple as plugging in, plus, it’s a stylish addition to any kitchen countertop ($60). The brushed-aluminum Bosch Porsche Designer Series kettle is an even stronger design statement, plus it heats up quickly while the outer surface stays cool ($200). Cuisinart’s electric kettle combines convenience with tradition ($80).  As for teapots, you can’t get much more British than Fortnum & Mason’s teapot for one in its elegant box ($150). The classic Brown Betty pot is made from red clay, which retains heat, and the shape allows the tea leaves to swirl around inside the pot ($24 to $34). If you’re having the girls over for afternoon tea, the Teapot Shoppe’s bountiful selection of imported English china teapots has all the flowers and frills a lady could want . Their Royal Patrician pansy teapot’s unusual square shape caught our eye ($162). Pour a cuppa, crook that little finger and sip away!