Can an ice cream scoop be art? The Midnight Scoop looks like a sculpture, but its humble purpose is to deliver an orb of hard, not softened, ice cream. The design is by Michael Chou, an aerospace engineer who works with NASA and prefers ice cream rock-solid frozen. Serving ice cream to his kids, the Michigan father recognized the motion was stressing his wrists. “We use our wrists to pry at ice cream, potentially hurting yourself,” says Chou. So he devised a high-grade stainless steel, ergonomic tool with a lengthy curved handle shaped for the palm. You use a pushing motion and your arm and chest muscles, rather the wrist, do the work. An edged bowl easily digs through the frozen treat. He spent two years developing the product. It will last forever, he says. “I worked in the evenings and stayed up late many nights.” Hence the name. Midnight Scoop is available for $35 at www.midnightscoop.com.
ANN TRIEGER KURLAND