INSIDE & OUT : It’s a Snap

A flick of the wrist is all it takes to click the flip-top lid on Snap*Ware, a storage container line for dry goods and cold liquids manufactured by Flotool of Tustin.

Flotool’s president, John Lown, and Mayercheck Design of Irvine created the product, which was awarded a silver medal by the Industrial Designer’s Society of America for excellence in design and function.

“It’s a snacker’s delight--it’s great for grazers,” says Perry Smulson of Flotool. “The gasket in the lid forms a full, airtight seal, which keeps chips and other snacks crisp for months. The lid design is a modern-day version of the Ball jar.”

The containers are made of PET plastic--the same material used to contain soda pop--which is impervious to air, a key to keeping foods fresh.

It’s not dishwasher or microwave safe, because such heat melts the plastic. But Snap*Ware can be used in the freezer or refrigerator.

The line is available in four colors. Soon, glass and acrylic tinted bottoms with matching lids will be available.

The containers, which sell from $3 to $8 for quart to 2 1/2 gallon sizes, are available at Albertsons, Hughes, Target, 3-D Bed and Bath and selected Price Club warehouses in Orange County.

Home Cookin’

Healthful gourmet meals are as close as your freezer, thanks to the U.S. Personal Chef Assn. The service, the brainchild of husband-and-wife team David Mac Kay and Susan P. Titcomb, matches more than 800 personal chefs across the nationwide with hungry, eat-at-home clients.

Customized meals are the result. Chefs shop, cook and store two weeks’ worth of entrees in your freezer. An added bonus: they even clean up the kitchen when they’re done.

The meals are made to go from freezer to table in about 15 to 20 minutes. “Storage is the key to our business,” says Mac Kay of his business, which is based in Corrales, N.M. “We train our chefs to prepare foods that taste just as if they were made that day.”

Two chefs who helped Mac Kay and Titcomb get started are Santa Ana-based Tom Manning and Nadine Gold. Both serve as regional directors for the association, in addition to being personal chefs.

On average, the service costs about $10 to $12 per person, per dinner.

For more information, call (800) 995-2138.

Contemporary Curves

Visu Creation’s entertainment wall system appears to be in motion. That’s what Francine Couture had in mind when he designed its curves and modular elements.

The Barbara system, which won two Canadian awards for design excellence, has three basic components: the base unit, back panel and shelves.

It has one to four drawers, and is available in two heights, 48 inches or 60 inches ($2,725 plus shipping). There are two finishes--anigre and amarella--and 10 hues, ranging from olive green to caramel, in addition to a natural finish.

Accessories for the system include a television swivel, extension shelves, VCR, compact disc and audiocassette rails.

For more information, call (514) 562-0767.