Knife crisis!

The tool you see in the lower pictures is the Jelly Knife, a strange creation of Compac. Compac is not the people who make the disks, or the capsules with tiny time pills. Compac makes products for the home, for pets and children and healthcare, and they came up with this amazing tool that is perfectly designed to dig out what's left in your jelly or PB jar.

Jars are funny shapes these days, aren't they? I'm sure they have their reasons. But the various knobs and lumps on the spatula-like Jelly Knife are perfect for getting those hard-to-reach places. I got mine a few years ago, either at Walmart or Shoprite (don't remember which), and it has proved to be helpful for all sorts of weird food-related tasks. It says "patent pend" on the handle, but a search of the US Patent Office system didn't turn up a patent issued for it. Come on, Patent People! Get off the stick and on the jelly knife!

I see on the Compac site that they are a company dedicated to "Our faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ," but although I applaud their open declaration of faith, that's not why I wanted to write about the Jelly Knife today. I just think it's a clever thing. We know that the vast majority of patents are issued to giant corporations, and are for complex things beyond the layman's understanding, so we love it when some little guy or runt of a company comes up with something so simple, so smart, that you're amazed that A) no one thought of it before and B) we got by without it for so long.

I salute you, Compac! Good luck with the patent. You've saved us from a lot of under-served PBJ. That makes you A-OK in my book.