Great insights! I personally love my air fryer toaster oven combo... it's such a game-changer in the kitchen! I use it all the time for quick meals and it really saves on time.
We're with you on air fryers too. Our very first one was a lottery win, and we were, like, no way this ugly white elephant is hogging much-needed space on the counter, so we actually gave it away without ever using it.
Then they started coming up with so many ways to do all kinda things more quickly and more efficiently in an AF, so we finally caved and bought one 😂.
Now we "boil" eggs in it, and we've even used it to bake bread when the oven was needed for other things.
I quite fancy a pressure cooker or one of those multi cookers. But sadly I don't have the space. I've got most other gadgets and often have them working simultaneously, which makes me wonder how people manage with multi cookers if they want to make something else at the same time and need that gadget to do it.
Yeah I really miss the days when we had a narrow but very long kitchen that allowed us to set out all our appliances in one continuous row.
Dual-use appliances help a bit. We have 2 rice cookers (one for rice and another for porridge), and both can also be used as slow cookers and steamers.
(Space is still an issue though, so the rice cooker is actually out in the living room. The porridge cooker is in the kitchen cos we need to top it up with more water and other things occasionally.)
I often wonder how my mother's generation managed in the 50's and 60's. And yet, to me it all seemed normal. Pans on the cooker top and baking done in the oven.
At some point she bought a basic pressure cooker, which was endlessly steaming away in the kitchen. I used to love releasing the pressure valve at the top before taking the lid off.
The other gadget was an old fashioned style Kenwood mixer, which I once tried to have restored. I seem to remember I made all the Royal Icing for my wedding cake in that mixer.
Lovely memories - my mum was never one for gadgets, they'd often get relegated to the pantry! I'm the proud inheritor of my nan's potato masher, which still works a treat! :-)
Oh how lovely, Lynn! Such a sweet memory to carry with you.
I have a set of claypots that mum spent weeks choosing for me when I was leaving for college. I haven't used them in a long time as they do best over charcoal, but they'll always be a treasured part of my kitchen "legacy".
The trouble with memories, is that they make you aware of just how old you are and in some ways, how easy life appeared to be while trying to forget the smog, and power cuts. Shops were family owned businesses, butter was served by weight on marble slabs, and biscuits came in large wooden boxes where you did a pick and mix. Butcher shops sold meat, (sorry Will). Bakeries sold bread and cakes, sweet shops sold sweets and newspapers. Grocers sold fruit and veg, and florists sold flowers. There were no supermarkets in those days. Goodness I feel old. :-)
Actually, apart from our rice cookers and the AF, we still do most of our cooking either on the stovetop or in a wok.
But I do wish we had space in the kitchen for a Kitchen Aid mixer. Not that I don't enjoy doing bread by hand, but it would be so handy for large batches or for brioche.
Some appliances have been "banished" to the living/dining area, including the panini press and coffee grinder, but you can't really do that with mixers/blenders.
Yup, staying organised is essential when you're working in a small kitchen. We KNOW this, and we do try for intense stretches at a time, but then we fall off the wagon, and after a while we're back to:
"Hey where'd you stick the cob stripper?!"
"Never mind the corn, YOU were the last one to use the nigella seeds and now I can't find them anywhere!"
Great insights! I personally love my air fryer toaster oven combo... it's such a game-changer in the kitchen! I use it all the time for quick meals and it really saves on time.
We're with you on air fryers too. Our very first one was a lottery win, and we were, like, no way this ugly white elephant is hogging much-needed space on the counter, so we actually gave it away without ever using it.
Then they started coming up with so many ways to do all kinda things more quickly and more efficiently in an AF, so we finally caved and bought one 😂.
Now we "boil" eggs in it, and we've even used it to bake bread when the oven was needed for other things.
I quite fancy a pressure cooker or one of those multi cookers. But sadly I don't have the space. I've got most other gadgets and often have them working simultaneously, which makes me wonder how people manage with multi cookers if they want to make something else at the same time and need that gadget to do it.
Yeah I really miss the days when we had a narrow but very long kitchen that allowed us to set out all our appliances in one continuous row.
Dual-use appliances help a bit. We have 2 rice cookers (one for rice and another for porridge), and both can also be used as slow cookers and steamers.
(Space is still an issue though, so the rice cooker is actually out in the living room. The porridge cooker is in the kitchen cos we need to top it up with more water and other things occasionally.)
I often wonder how my mother's generation managed in the 50's and 60's. And yet, to me it all seemed normal. Pans on the cooker top and baking done in the oven.
At some point she bought a basic pressure cooker, which was endlessly steaming away in the kitchen. I used to love releasing the pressure valve at the top before taking the lid off.
The other gadget was an old fashioned style Kenwood mixer, which I once tried to have restored. I seem to remember I made all the Royal Icing for my wedding cake in that mixer.
Lovely memories - my mum was never one for gadgets, they'd often get relegated to the pantry! I'm the proud inheritor of my nan's potato masher, which still works a treat! :-)
My potato masher is a hand help thing. It's great for exercising the bat wings.:-)
Ye, this is just the same - a wooden handle, and a flat metal oval at the end, with holes in it. Simple, but effective! (And at least 80-90 years old)
Oh how lovely, Lynn! Such a sweet memory to carry with you.
I have a set of claypots that mum spent weeks choosing for me when I was leaving for college. I haven't used them in a long time as they do best over charcoal, but they'll always be a treasured part of my kitchen "legacy".
The trouble with memories, is that they make you aware of just how old you are and in some ways, how easy life appeared to be while trying to forget the smog, and power cuts. Shops were family owned businesses, butter was served by weight on marble slabs, and biscuits came in large wooden boxes where you did a pick and mix. Butcher shops sold meat, (sorry Will). Bakeries sold bread and cakes, sweet shops sold sweets and newspapers. Grocers sold fruit and veg, and florists sold flowers. There were no supermarkets in those days. Goodness I feel old. :-)
Haha true! It certainly wasn't all roses - power cuts and water outages. Still remember having to queue up for hours for our water rations.
Actually, apart from our rice cookers and the AF, we still do most of our cooking either on the stovetop or in a wok.
But I do wish we had space in the kitchen for a Kitchen Aid mixer. Not that I don't enjoy doing bread by hand, but it would be so handy for large batches or for brioche.
Some appliances have been "banished" to the living/dining area, including the panini press and coffee grinder, but you can't really do that with mixers/blenders.
Now I don't feel so bad about my small kitchen...and that vegan tofu salmon-like recipe - well, that looks like something I need to try!
It's amazing just what can be achieved in small kitchens.
Yup, staying organised is essential when you're working in a small kitchen. We KNOW this, and we do try for intense stretches at a time, but then we fall off the wagon, and after a while we're back to:
"Hey where'd you stick the cob stripper?!"
"Never mind the corn, YOU were the last one to use the nigella seeds and now I can't find them anywhere!"