Productopia | Scott Nyerges

We haven't revisited the topic of ice cream in more than two years, so we decided that it was high time we took another look at this sweet subject. Specifically, we wanted to see if Haagen-Dazs Vanilla was still the best vanilla ice cream, or if another brand had emerged as a challenger. We were also curious to know whether Breyers Double Churn Light Creamy Vanilla still is considered the best light ice cream.

We haven't revisited the topic of ice cream in more than two years, so we decided that it was high time we took another look at this sweet subject. Specifically, we wanted to see if Haagen-Dazs Vanilla was still the best vanilla ice cream, or if another brand had emerged as a challenger. We were also curious to know whether Breyers Double Churn Light Creamy Vanilla still is considered the best light ice cream.

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Last week, we recommended a couple of pancake mixes. But pancakes by themselves are pretty boring -- and dry -- without syrup, so this week we're taking a look at choosing the best pancake syrup. Much like pancake mix, there are countless brands of syrup that you can drizzle over your hotcakes. We take a look at what some experts and foodies have to say about maple syrup and pancake syrup and how well various brands stack up.

Kitchen timers may not seem like a necessity, but these gadgets can be handy when you're cooking multiple dishes or your range's timer is broken. And unlike the timer on your oven or microwave, cooking timers are portable -- you may not hear your oven's timer if you're in another room. When it comes to choosing the best kitchen timer, however, we found an total lack of consensus. Most professional cooking timer reviews focus on form, rather than function, and the majority of reviewers are more interested in cutesy designs than whether the timer actually works well. Rather than choose a single best product, we're offering some tips to make picking a kitchen timer easy.

I'm writing this from somewhere in the middle of Connecticut, on my way from New York City to Boston. I'm taking the BoltBus, a bus line in the Northeast that runs between Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. One of their big selling points is free Wi-Fi on board, and since the trip is over five hours long, I figured I'd bring my laptop along and get some work done, maybe do some reading, chat online or even stream a movie to pass the time.

Unfortunately, as I discovered, the mobile Wi-Fi leaves something to be desired. Namely, it's slow as heck.