Gadgets: French/Dutch Oven

They call it dutch ovens if you can use it on stove top and in the oven Le Crueset and

Staub they are the best to cook with. The flavors are infused cooking time is significantly reduced.

Because it is made of solid iron, it is heavy and therefore a pain when cleaning but that I don't mind it is just a great thing in the kitchen.  A little pricey, but it has a lifetime warranty and they will replace it with regular wear and tear.  Sorry, do I sound like I am a spokesperson for the french ovens? I grew up with iron pots, hardly anything like these ones, also good. You hardly run the risk of burnt offerings and food cooks evenly.  There was a blogpost that I read advising folks who are furnishing their kitchens the first time, not to overdo it.  A rice cooker two of these babies are all that's needed, one for stewing and the other for deep frying.  You don't have to have a separate gadget for everything.

My trick for these hard to justify, high ticket items, is to have a separate account that takes a small amount from my paycheck, the cost of coffee or similar expense, before you know it, you have more than enough to purchase.

Cheers!

Gadget: Vacuum Cleaner - Sebo

Do you ever feel like you are in a vacuum sometimes, where everything is contained without any outlet or means of relief? It can be excruciating.

Two vacuum cleaners ago, I got tired and purchased this Sebo brand. I would have gotten the Dyson because of this British guy's ad. But I was railroaded by the sales person.  True, I was in hurry, another thing that you shouldn't do while shopping. Marketing and Sales technics really makes you change your decision, another reason why I like shopping online.

The Sebo has its pluses, it cleans really good, but it's not a roomba where it will work on its own, you still have to move your furnitures and do the actual moving of the vacuum to clean the surface.

For some reason I associated it with doing penance, in the Catholic Traditions it is also called confession. Where you actually go to a priest and bring my sins to be cleansed.

How is that for an analogy? :)

Gadgets do we need it: Baster

I had planned on reviewing the gadgets that I have, what works and what doesn't. When I noticed that Amazon does this, a link to the products it it selling.

In a friend's kitchen, while K was basting the turkey with her baster, a new one, because she threw away the old one a while back, not having a use for it. L, was mesmerized but what it can do, commenting that there she didn't know that such a tool existed.

I responded that sometimes the practical cook does not really need that, especially if they are not in America. She is from France and she is reminiscing her grandmother's cooking.  My family didn't have too many kitchen gadgets either, until the advent of the motorized appliances. Ha ha, my mom is such a acquirer when it comes to things for the kitchen, sometimes she does not even use, some of which we  kids refer to as "for display only".

Remember, the marketing tactics post, how the advertisements are designed for us to be familiar with the product and to desire and sometimes obsess with it. It worked for me ha ha, I have obsessed for many a product that at the time that I was purchasing it, I was pretty sure that it will help me with my kitchen chores that I have no recourse but to purchase it. Thing is, I have a small kitchen, which has now extended to the dining area, ready to take over my living room, all for the satisfaction of owning ha ha.. what a consumerist world.  So a baster, is it really needed, how much roasting do we do in a year.  I have a baster too, of course. L said her family uses a spoon, makes sense, tilt the pan a little bit and the drippings is there to baste.

Guess, we can do away with it. Thoughts?