Canadian Gift Guide

I had a ridiculously hard time selecting today’s gift, mostly because the place I first spotted it has endlessly amazing ideas…ones that I plan to share here in due time. It’s definitely one of those designer-y, artsy gifts that you definitely have to be a bit of an entertaining connoisseur to appreciate, but damn I’m impressed.

The Polar Ice Tray’s main feature is the fact that it produces crystal clear ice. Sound bizarre? Think about it – how often do you have cloudy white ice when you make it in your home freezer? How much more appetizing-looking is that sparkly clear stuff you get from hotel ice vending machines? How much would you like to make stuff of a similar quality at home? Well this handy dandy ice tray allows you to do just that, through a unique feat of engineering, which also leads to uniquely shaped chunks of ice instead of uniform cubes.

Beyond that, the tray comes with two other neat features. The first is the ability to freeze decorative items inside a block of ice – like flowers, decorative glass stones, or seasonal-themed trinkets. Throw Sashimi sushi on a block for your next party, chill dishes of fruity gelato, or simple have it out as a centrepiece. If you want to get really fancy, the second Canuck-friendly option is to create an Inukshuk ice sculpture using the included mold.

The Polar Ice Tray is available in three different colours – red, white, and black – to go with virtually any kitchen decor. It retails for $55 CAD – as I said, given its artisan, high-brow, design-y function, you’ve got to be willing to splurge a little to walk away with this puppy. I can easily give you a dozen options for more affordable and funky ice tray ideas, but this one stuck out as one of the coolest, most versatile options I’ve seen to date.