Kitchen Snob

The last two summers I have spent in the States- having my baby, attending my brother's wedding- doing important stuff State-side.  My primary residence both summers has been at one of my mother's and step-father's rental houses.  This means that my mom and step-dad have gotten to know how I live, and what it takes for me to be comfortable.  Long story short, my step-dad labeled me a kitchen snob.  :)

Now, I share this with you because I'm actually a-ok with the label.  I love my step-dad, and he's allowed to call me such things. :)

So I thought I would do a post about how and why I earned the label...  Obviously this starts with knowing that I love the kitchen.  It's definitely MY room in the house, and above all others, I have to have complete say over where everything lives, how it's set up, etc. I love to cook- for myself, for others, for my kid, for my family, for friends.  I love to cook.  I also like to try new recipes and new techniques.  I love eating something at a restaurant or someone's house and then trying to make it at home.  So the base for earning the label kitchen snob has to be my love of food and cooking.

As someone who loves to cook, I want to be able to make the best food I can without having my tools stand in my way.  I am definitely not a person who wants to buy the most expensive anything just because.  Sometimes I want the most expensive thing because it's the best, and because you can't get the same result with anything less.  Sometimes, I really don't care.  Here are some examples...

Skillets and fry pans...  Now, I don't have Le Creuset pans... but I wouldn't mind if I did.  But this is one thing that I don't NEED the best, but I can't stand the worst.  Why?  A cheap pan is a thin pan.  A thin pan equals burnt food no matter what you do.  If the pan is too thin, the heat just penetrates right through, rather than spreading around and cooking food evenly.  Cheap pans are just not worth it.  My in-laws got me two fry pans for my birthday this year and I LOVE THEM.  They are a lovely heavy weight, they are non-stick, and haven't burned a single thing in them, even with my stove top burners that have two settings- off and high. This same argument can be made for pots, although it's not quite as important to me.  I often use pots just to boil water, most often for steaming vegetables.  But, if you're cooking a sauce or soup or something, you want a pot that heats evenly as well, instead of just burning right through the thin metal.

Speaking of cook-tops and ovens... you've seen what I have right?  Look closely... ok sorry, I realize it's too small to really see anything...but I'll tell ya.  It has THREE burners, which as I said can be either off or on high- maybe medium if you're lucky, and it only has three burners!  Did I mention, three burners? Also, the oven has on, off and a dial that ranges from big flames to little flames.  That's right, you can't set the temperature! Thankfully, because I realize that even ovens that have temperature gauges aren't always accurate, I brought an oven thermometer with me.  But let me tell you- the guessing game necessary to find the right temperature means having to turn the oven on about an hour before you need it to have time to turn it up and down as needed, until you find the right temp!  So anyway... here's what I'd like:
 Oh yeah, baby.  6, yes you read that right, 6 burners!  Not only would that be nice for being able to cook many things, but it also means that even when you want to use only a few burners, you can use large pots and/or pans and they all fit.  Because that drives me crazy about our current stove.  I can really only use two of the burners at once, because I don't have small enough pots and pans for three to fit at once.  And a large oven... ah.  I brought a nice cookie sheet all the way from the States only to find that it doesn't even FIT in our oven.  So it's useless. Big- big is definitely better when it comes to ovens and cook-tops!

Nothing compares to a Vita-Mix that I know of. I got my mom a Vita-Mix for Christmas two years ago and she loves it, and I loved it when I lived with her.  A Vita-Mix will easily run you about $500, but as I said, nothing compares.  It obliterates anything you put inside of it.  Smoothies are COMPLETELY smooth.  You can even make your own flour from grains.  Unfortunately, not only are Vita-Mixes not available here, but, as I said they cost $500.  That's not an amount we can spend on a blender right now.  So I got a $100 blender, and it's pretty good.  It is a "professional grade" so it has a big strong motor, but, it has left a few chunks in my smoothies.  But, it'll do.

Now, for my coffee, I just got a cute little $40 maker (the cheapest the store had).  Cause when it comes to coffee, I'm pretty sure it's the actual coffee itself that matters.  Of course it would be nice if my coffee maker talked to me, or turned on by itself or something, but, mostly I just need it to make coffee without grounds in it.  And it does that.  So I'm happy.

A few more little things...

I got this awesome little tool for my birthday when some of my in-laws got me an Amazon gift certificate (Thanks again J, J, L and G!).  I love avocados and this little slicer just makes it so easy to get nice even slices, and to scrape all the fruit out of the peel.  Just makes life easier. Not a necessity, but, for only like $7, it's worth it!

Stainless steel measuring spoons!  They don't have to be expensive (some are, some aren't), but, when you use your measuring spoons as much as I do, if you have plastic ones that have the amounts printed on them in ink, the ink wears off!  And then you're left guessing, or trying to remember what is what!  These stainless steel measuring spoons have the measurement engraved on the arms of the spoons.  No washing away or wearing off.  Same goes for measuring cups.  Also, these things can be dunked in hot stuff, withstand a flame, etc... I mean, stuff happens sometimes in the kitchen.  Plastic melts.

One thing I don't think I have ever had is a very, very nice knife.  But so far, I have done ok with the knives I have as long as I have a good knife sharpener!!!  Probably if I ever got a truly nice knife, I would never turn back, but, for now, as long as my knives are sharp, I make do.  Sharp to me means you can slice a tomato without squishing it.  I almost lost my mind when someone in Angola told me they just use serrated knives to slice tomatoes.  So not right.  When I couldn't find a knife sharpener in Angola, that was one thing my in-laws had to send us.  I was thankful!  Also, must have a bread knife.  Nothing worse than having your bread squish down because you're using the wrong kind of knife to cut it!

Another thing I'm particular about is cutting boards.  I like to have several.  One is a designated meat board.  It is the only board meat gets cut on, and it is a plastic board, not wood.  Because, ew, germs.  I like to have a small one for cutting things like onions, garlic and other strong foods.  Because what is worse than digging in to the mango you just sliced up only to taste onion on it?  Ew.  So yes, I like to have a few boards, and I make sure that my husband knows which one is the meat board.

I have to have some wooden spoons in addition to other cooking utensils.  They don't have to be expensive or special, but I have to have them.

I really love my metal steamer basket.  It's simple and easy to use and cheap and fits in most pots.  And yum for steamed veggies.

This is the actual one I have, and I love
that the bowl comes off.  Means you can wash
it easily, or use something else in its place. 

My kitchen scales have become very important to me.  The set I have are electronic and can handle more than a kilo of weight (I'm not sure on the max weight, but my point is that it's not just for spices, etc).  Being able to measure food by mass, instead of volume is a relatively new concept for me, as I grew up using only measuring cups and spoons.  But there are some times when the scales are so much easier, so much more accurate. So I love them too.

Now, just in case there is anyone out there looking for gift ideas or something...


I don't have and really, really want a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer.  
This is the kind of thing that I want desperately, but, I will refrain from buying, or asking for as a present until we settle down.  It's a big piece of machinery, and I couldn't bear the thought of the cost of shipping or having it and then selling it when I was going to move.  Someday.  This puppy lives in my dreams for now.

One thing that I would like, and I think could be attainable here is a Crock Pot.
 A cool piece of machinery, I'm intrigued by the one pot meals that are possible as they slow cook... and I like the idea of not burning stuff on a too hot burner, etc.

So there you go... now you can decide for yourself whether or not you think I'm a kitchen snob.  As I said, I don't need expensive just for the sake of being expensive.  I think people who get the most expensive just because are people who have more money than they know what to do with.  But these are the things I like and want in my kitchen because they make a difference to what you can achieve in the kitchen.  Of course, this stuff is all in addition to the local, organic raw ingredients that I'd prefer to cook with as well! :)

What about you?  What's a gotta-have item for your kitchen?  Does it have to be the best?

ETA: I've just been informed that there exists such a thing as a tomato knife and it has a serrated edge.  I've googled and confirmed, but I'm not convinced that such a thing is necessary if you have sharp knives.  Hmmm... I know one person who loves hers... anyone else???

The good news and the bad news...

Maybe it's all good news...

I haven't been to a proper market yet, and I'd really like to go to one, buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut... we went to the "mini-mart" where my BIL/SIL tend to shop, and I was SUPER impressed.

I'm not sure why everyone calls them mini-marts.  When I heard that there were no grocery stores but only mini-marts, I'll admit, I had a little bit of fear about doing all my shopping at what I thought was going to be a 7-11.  I was afraid that the selection would be similar to a 7-11 or a gas station or something.  Nope. Not so.  Yes, the store is smaller than your average grocery store and doesn't have the massive displays of food a real grocery store might, but, what I saw today was plenty ok!

Just to list a few items that impressed me, they had... soy milk, almond milk, hazelnut milk, BLACK BEANS (canned and dry!!!!  I may or may not have bought all 6 cans that they had today!), castor sugar, brown sugar, some local, brand of yogurt that has no extra anything, a big assortment of cheese including things like parm, cheddar and cream cheese, an assortment of healthy cereal, fresh really nice bread, lovely veggies (including broccoli and mushrooms which are so nice to see after the drought we had of those in Angola!), tahini, all kinds of coffee, including several organic ones, some Tex-Mex imports (salsa, tortillas, etc), a lovely range of pasta sauces, chocolate chips, Vegemite, Mint Slice and Tim Tams (Australian cookies) and more.  Honestly, I would have to say that this one store probably had better variety and range of product to impress me than any store I saw in Angola or Latvia.  And the best part is that although some of the items were a bit pricey, nothing in there was as overpriced as a lot of the things in Angola were.  Needless to say, I am happy.  Very happy.

So that is the truly good news.

The bad news is, it looks like I might have to learn to drive a stick.  I never had a need until now, but we've found a vehicle we like, that seems to be in good condition (we're going to take it in to a reputable mechanic before we buy it), but it's a stick.  It's a Hyundai Santa Fe.  The truly bad news is that it is an ugly color. :)  It is a coppery bronze- a color very similar to one that seemed to have just gotten very popular in the States before we left there, and which made me shudder every time I saw it on the road.  So, that sucks.  But, like I said to Joel, at least I will be able to recognize our car easily when I've forgotten just where I parked!  But obviously, finding a car we like, and will be able to afford, is actually good news, whether or not it is a stick or an ugly color.  And learning a new skill- like driving a stick- is actually good too, isn't it.  We'll see how that goes though... I'll keep ya updated!

In other good news, I got myself a new phone and a phone number and we should be starting our house search tomorrow.  We were supposed to do that today, but, it was raining again and the agent only had a moped, not a car.  So, we rescheduled for tomorrow.  I think he's supposed to have the car tomorrow.

Oh, I remember the really bad news.  The store that sold the phones also had an appliance section.  So we wandered back to take a look at what they had.  Good news- they had a dryer.  Bad news- it cost somewhere around $1300!!!!!!  Not cool!  We're going to keep looking to see if we can find a cheaper one (we had about $400-$600 budgeted for a dryer), but if we can't, I'm SOL.  Even I know it's not really worth it, to spend that much on a dryer, but, you better believe I'll be crying in my Cheerios if I don't end up getting one.  And my laundry will keep taking 3-4 days to dry as it is now, and my jeans and tank tops will never fit again without a dryer to shrink them back down to size.  :(  Cross your fingers for us finding a cheap dryer!

More good news?  I still love it here.  :)

What's your thang?

My awesome sister-in-law Mook (yes that was her you saw in the comments) and I have been having a conversation about dryers all day today. The conversation started out of yesterday's post about diapers. I would have to own a whole lot more diapers than I do, to live without a dryer.  That is because the diapers we use would take days to air dry.  In any case, this post isn't about diapers anymore...it's about my thang... the dryer.

I tried to live without a dryer for a while.  That was in 2006/2007 when my husband and I were living together in a tiny (yes, it was 35 sq m/377 sq ft) little apartment.  We had a portable washing machine that could wash one tiny load at a time.  We had to drag the machine from the kitchen into the shower, and hook it up the water supply in there to use it.  We had no dryer though- we had one drying rack which was ALWAYS out and ALWAYS covered in clothes because they took so long to dry in that climate.  Also, by the end of the time we lived in that apartment, my socks had grown in length by at least 30%, and there was a whole pile of cotton shirts I could no longer wear because they had completely stretched out and lost their shape.  Why?  Because of no dryer, of course!

I can't stand crunchy sheets and towels.  I hate having to wait days for my laundry to be done.  I hate not being able to simply start and finish the job of laundry.  Also, I HATE ironing, and if you don't use a dryer, I don't know how it's possible not to iron.  Well, scratch that, I don't think I ever ironed that year I lived without a dryer, but, I'm sure my wardrobe was limited to things that dried fairly wrinkle free on the line.

So, the dryer is my thing, my THANG.  Isn't there a song... with the lyrics... what's your thang...I don't know... anyway... I just don't want to live without a dryer.  My life is better with one.  It is easier.  It is worth it!  And yes, I feel badly that apparently the dryer is the worst appliance in the whole house for energy consumption, but... I just can't give it up. Maybe, maybe, if I lived in a climate like where my sister-in-law grew up without a dryer in Australia, I could live without one... but... I think I would have had to grow up there.  I mean, come on, I'm from Michigan... if you didn't have a dryer in Michigan, it was because you didn't have a washer or a dryer, you know?   In the last 8 years we've only owned a car for 7 months and we use reusable grocery bags.  That's gotta count for something, doesn't it (to offset the use of the dryer, that is)?

My sister-in-law on the other hand, she doesn't want or need a dryer.  She doesn't mind hanging her laundry on the line to dry, and finds the whole process easier and smoother without a dryer.  To each their own!

Hmmmmm.... I don't have a coffee maker.  And I can happily live without one. 

What's your thang? The thing that someone else might happily be able to live without, but you just need in your life???