A Scot Living in Switzerland Writing About Food and Life in General
{ Monthly Archives }
I had the most wonderful surprise this morning!! My Blogging By Mail package arrived all the way from Singapore!!!
I love Singapore, I’ve been lucky enough to visit there very briefly on my way through to Thailand a few years ago and both Stewart and I would love to go back.
Thank you so much to Mariya over at The Food Whore Next-Door for my package of goodies!!
Here is what I found inside..
I don’t often make this sauce, normally if I have a hankering for meat, pasta & tomatoes then I usually make meatballs. Today however I decided that instead of making meatballs that I would make some meat ragu for a change.
A huge thank you to Stephanie at Dispensing Happiness for hosting this round of Blogging By Mail or BBM! Finally after much deliberation over it’s contents my package was shipped last week.
I won’t tell you to whom or where it has been dispatched but I will give you a sneaky peak of what was inside!!
Ever since I was a small child I have always had a real aversion to egg mayonnaise. I love eggs and I love mayo but the combination of the two I have always detested. That was until a few years ago..
Back in 2002 I had the misfortune of being diagnosed with acute cholecystitis or an acute inflammation of the gall bladder and I was told I would need surgery to remove said gall bladder.
Any know who has ever suffered from cholecystitis will back me up when I say that the pain is excruiciating and due to the nature of this condition many foods consumed can aggravate the pain.
It was to my surprise that whilst awaiting surgery I found myself cravings egg mayonnaise and for days that was all I ate.
After surgery my cravings disappeared along with my gall bladder and to this day egg mayonnaise has never passed my lips again.
That was until this morning…
I really like both taking part in and reading meme’s and I was delighted when I found that I had been tagged for this meme by Meeta!
I am thinking about: my trip to the UK next week!
I said: desperate times call for desperate measures.
I want to: grow my hair long and withstand the temptation to get it all cut on Friday when I go to the hairdressers.
I wish: that my hair would grow faster!!
I regret: not being able to spend more time with my nieces and nephews when we visit the UK.
I hear: nothing outside, it’s peacefully quiet at the moment.
I am: perfectly content with life at the moment.
I dance: around to MTV dance far too much!
I sing: constantly around the house and in the car!!
I cry: at Bridget Jones’s Diary no matter how many times I see it!
I am not: going to spend a fortune when I go shopping with Kate this weekend!
I am: going to buy nice new shoes on Saturday when I go shopping with Kate on Saturday.
I write: not nearly as often as I would like for my blog at the moment.
I confuse: der, die das, dass in German, just like Meeta – no matter how long I live in Switzerland I think I will always have a problem with this aspect of the German language.
I need: to make more of an effort keeping in touch with some friends.
I tag: Eva, Paz and Sara for this meme, I hope you don’t mind ladies!! Anyone else who wants to take part feel free!!
I don’t think it has stopped raining and so because of this I have been in the mood for more wintery style dishes.
Yesterday I made one of my favourite warming dishes – chilli con carne. I have posted this recipe before and so I didn’t bother to write about it.
Since it is Sunday today I did the thing I usually do on a Sunday since most of the shops are closed, I looked into the fridge to see what I could rustle up with the contents.
Here is what I came up with..
I haven’t really felt like cooking over the past couple of weeks but today finally I was in the mood to cook. I haven’t had a curry in a couple of weeks and so I decided I fancied a curry for dinner tonight and so I came up with this.
Well today’s the day!! The round-up for my first ever event is finally here. I have been really delighted with the response from all of you to Favourite Kitchen Gadgets.
Thank you everyone who decided to take part!!
Without further ado, here’s what you have all been waiting for… The round-up!!
Karine from Karine’s Kitchen decided to submit her wonderful collection of Chinese kitchen gadgets!! Great for whipping up all manner of delicious Asian delights!! I’ll definately be tuning in to see what you’re cooking up with these!!
Ulrike from Küchenlatein decided to submit a wonderful collection of multi sized ice cream scoops, perfect for making certain those muffins are equal sized!!
J at Have Fork Will Travel selected an array of unbeatable gadget, I must admit I agree that they are definately all winning choices!!
Glenna from A Fridge Full of Food chose her Black & Decker mini processor, like me she decided she just couldn’t live without it. I know exactly what Glenna means, these little choppers make daily life in the kitchen just that little bit easier.
This great multi purpose bench scraper was the choice of Harry from Two Guys in the Desert. What a useful tool! Harry has had this for 20 years. Not only does he use this for chopping dough and scraping work surfaces but lifting chopped veg or meat from the work surface to the pot. Thanks Harry, great tool!
Becke at Colmumbus Foodie submitted this great entry!! I just love Le Creuset pots, I have always wanted a set of these. I can really understand why she chose it as her favourite kitchen gadget! I agree with Becke whilst they are expensive they are definately worth every single penny. With these I think it’s safe to say that you really do get your moneys worth.
Louise at Kitchen Tales chose her Polder cooking timers/thermometer as her all time most important kitchen tool. Louise says it’s saves her family from poisoning and eating burnt food and real marriage saver!! Sounds like a gadget well worth splashing out on Louise!! The two other important gadgets in her kitchen are her silicone brush and tupperware potatoe masher.
This whisk was a gift from Gemma at Part-Time Pro Bono Baker’s mum. Gemma said it sat in her drawer for quite some time until she discovered how amazing it was for making doughs and batters. An essential for any of you who are aspiring bakers!
Helen at Grab Your Fork chose this wonderful gadget as her kitchen essential. ‘What is it?’ I hear you ask.. This is a Japanese turning slicer!! It grates a whole Chinese white radish in 20 seconds! As Helen says this gadget is perfect for preparing the ingredients for coleslaw, rösti, salads… the list goes on and on…
This beautiful gadget belongs to Haalo from Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once. It is of course a truffle shaver! Haalo’s holiday last year was organized around a truffle festival in Italy and everytime this shaver is used instant memories of Italy come flooding back!
This entry is from Ilva at Lucuillian Delights, it’s her passaverdura. This is one of Ilva’s main tools in her kitchen and she says that when she travels this is the main thing she wishes she could bring with her. Indispensible for making tomato sauces! Ilva also mentioned her silicon cooking straps, perfect for keeping those unruley joints of meet together whilst cooking!
Back to basics for Jeanne from Mommy Cooks! Jeanne picked her “Poppy Trail” mixing bowl and her wooden spatula as those essentials which she just couldn’t cope without in her kitchen. Gadgets don’t need to be fancy to be favourites, I have a favourite serrated vegetable knife which I have sharpened so many times that the serrations have all but disappeared so I understand exactly where you are coming from!
Sam from Becks & Posh chose this nifty little tomato corer as her top gadget! I think out of all the gadgets and tools I’ve surveyed for this post, this is definately the one which I would run out and buy!! I almost never peel tomatoes but I always remove the seeds and core, this little piece of kit would save me so much faffing around. Compact, simple and to quote the advert ‘it does what it says on the tin!’. Perfect!
Staying on the subject of tomatoes Ed over at Tomato chose his sieve as his favourite gadget, he uses it for making wonderful stocks everyweek!
Ellie at Kitchen Wench had quite a hard time trying to decide what to choose as her favourite kitchen tool and then whilst she was flipping through one of her cookbooks she realized that it was here electronic scales!
Anupama of Food-n-More decided to submit this incredible chopper and cappuccino frother. The frother was only 79p from IKEA , I’m thinking of investing in one since Anupama says that she has received lots of compliments about her coffee since starting to use it. Apparently my coffee skills are severly lacking (accorning to Stewart since I don’t drink the stuff) so maybe this is a way of improving them?? The chopper Anupama brought from India, I’ve never seen anything quite like it before it definately looks like it does the job alright.
Last but in no means least is my bud Meeta from What’s For Lunch Honey? Meeta chose her multi purpose blender!! Just like me.. Snap! As Meeta says they’re so versatile and easy to use, in Meeta’s kitchen as in mine it’s unbeatable!
Eva at The Golden Shrimp chose a three favourite gadgets, the first was her multi purpose mixer, the second was an unusual one – an egg clacker and the third was the sweetest of all the submissions – her princess grater!! Isn’t it just precious!
As I mentioned above and in my post from yesterday my favourite gadget is my Braun multi for exactly the same reasons as Meeta mentioned. Easy to use, easy to clean, quick to use and efficient. Perfect!!
Again, thank you to everyone who took part!! I had a great time putting together this round-up and reading about all of your favourite tools!!
Jackie from Nerd Family submitted her Pampered Chef Probe Thermometer, she says that both her and her husband love this funky gadget. It not only acts as a timer but you can also push the probe into your piece of meat and the timer will go off and alert you when your meat reaches the desired temperature!! Isn’t that just a great piece of kit! Apparently Pampered Chef are not selling these at the moment but there are lots of other vendors offering something very similar.
Favourite Kitchen Gadgets
Brilliant job everyone!
Pamela
Precisely 2 weeks and 3 days after my suitcase disappeared at London Stansted Airport it has finally reappeared!!
Last night I received a call from Swissport at Basel airport informing me that my baggage had finally been located and their courier was poised to deliver it between 7 and 10pm.
Not wanting to tempt fate in anyway I decided that since I live very close to the airport that I would drive over and collect it in person.
Stewart and I hastily jumped into the car and sped over to the airport… there is was sitting on it’s own looking a little battered and bruised but pretty much none the worse for it’s 2 week long vacation.
Did Swissport give me an explination as to what happened? Did they tell me where my luggage has been? Will I get any compensation for the inconvenience I suffered??
NO, but I don’t care.. I have my stuff back.. My leather jacket, my new clothes, my new pyjamas, my slippers, my chargers and all of my cosmetics!!!!
Thank you Swissport!
Tomorrow is the deadline for posts for my Favourite Kitchen Gadgets Event and so I thought I would publish my entry…
Drumroll…………
here it is…
taaaa daaaa!!
I have lots of kitchen gadgets, drawers and cupboards full of the things, everything from potato ricers to mezzalunas. In my kitchen you will find all manner of slicing, dicing, sharpening and crushing devices but the one pictured above whilst not the most exotic or exciting is definately my most useful and frequently used gadget – it is of course my ever faithful Braun multi.
Whilst I have a full size food processor I don’t use it very often, it’s great for making meatballs and things like that but if I want to liquidize soup or make ginger/garlic paste then it’s my multi that I reach for, it’s size is perfect and it’s quick to wash up.
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been hearing about a whole manner of different favourites from all of you, I’ll post the round up tomorrow so if any of you still want to take part then you’d better get cracking and get that post published!!
If you do want to take part then please tag your post with the following tag and send me a permalink to your post along with a picture of your Favourite Kitchen Gadget. Can’t wai to hear from you!
