Cool Range Find a Home
Long Branch beach had put me in the mood for a little an extended break and I returned to find myself smack in the middle of a house move and a kitchen makeover, plus two kids I can no longer afford to have away at summer camp!
It’s been fun picking out bits and pieces for my (hopefully) exciting new kitchen. One of the toughest decisions, though, was deciding on a free-standing range or stove.
I needed something practical, easy to clean, with a great oven and both a low-heat simmer burner (so I no longer have to use a bain-marie, or double boiler, for melting chocolate) as well as fast-boil super-BTU’d burner (so I don’t have to twiddle thumbs for too long for my umpteenth cup of tea). Did I mention the range also had to be good looking? (more…)
Eye Candy for Design-Hungry Kitchenistas
I have a weakness for shiny things. And colorful things. And sleek, cleverly designed things. If a shiny or colorful thing comes in a beautifully designed package, then I have no choice but to get the credit card out. From where we once lived in central London, I didn’t have to go far to find a plethora of design-centric stores inspired by creative geniuses in Britain or Europe, which offered me perfect visual inspiration, if not gratification for any urgent kitchen-related needs. Apart from the smaller stores on Islington High Street, there were Habitat, Heal’s and The Conran Shop, which luckily came across the Atlantic too.
I came across Joseph Joseph’s attractive website recently, set up by a pair of equally fetching UK-based twin brothers, and noted with glee that they will, for a fee, deliver to the US. As the items are priced as invitingly as the contents of Joseph Joseph’s online shop, I have already popped one (guess which) into my virtual shopping basket.
It’s sitting there for now because I don’t need this beautiful thing, I merely covet it. But if one of you has a special occasion coming up , let me know. It could inspire the right amount of pressure my finger needs (which isn’t much) to push that Buy Now button!
Non-Stick Pans Linked to Thyroid Disease: Whom Can I Sue and Will the Charges Stick?
The last of my formerly complete set of Circulon pans, a wedding present 11 years ago, was solemnly sent off to the Cooking Pan Graveyard recently. As I researched the best replacement for the much-used, much loved matrimonial gift, I found that Amazon offered a fabulous deal on a new range of Circulon pans, which came with a free casserole dish worth $100. It would have been foolish to have let it slip. The purchase took place without a hitch – shopping online, time and money saved, prompt doorstep delivery, feet and nails intact.
The new pans, heatable to 400F (as high as I generally need the oven to go), are practically self-clean. Before I’ve picked up the sponge and doused it with washing-up liquid, the caked-up food has fallen off and the pan is, well, like new again. I hypnotically go through the motions still, of washing, as a matter of habit, as the pans themselves are bright and brimming with confidence.
So, I should be really, really happy.
But no, a dark cloud, reeking of burnt plastic, looms on the horizon. (more…)
Best Thing … Since Bread was Last Sliced
Are you (like me) a klutz? Have you been avoiding sharpening your knives for fear of adding unwitting bits of meat to that chopped salad? Are you fed up of slicing stubborn heads of cabbage with spoons in knives’ clothing?
In the old days (2008 to be precise) in Canada, despite a fear of sharp objects, I would happily wait for the eerie music of our neighborhood Knife Sharpening Guy, whose tunes were only a touch less sinister than those of the Ice Cream Man and of Psycho’s shower scene (coincidence that a sharp shiny object is involved in the latter??) Thereupon I would grab my 20 once-super-sharp German kitchen knives and a stash of spare Ikea knives - NOT by the blade end – and rush down the two flights of steep stairs to the street, across it and up to KSG’s van, sighing with relief that I had made it without tripping and falling upon all 30 knives, (more…)
