1. What is the one appliance you simply couldn't be without?
My coffee grinder. I am a coffee snob. I like my freshly ground coffee. Yes I buy $10 a lb beans. Not Starbucks. I hate Starbucks. My favorite is Gloria Jeans but the closest I can get it is either Omaha or Minneapolis - both places about 3 hours away. Hmm...I see now you can order it online. I may have to do that! My grocery store has recently started selling Burgees coffee. That's just about as good. I like my coffee strong and black.
I'd have a tough time without my microwave. I use it to boil my water for my coffee. And I eat a lot of left overs. And I have eleven cats so the vacuum is pretty essential. I have an Oreck I got talked into by a salesman at the Nebraska State Fair. It was pretty pricey but I'm very happy with it. And I didn't realize how much I appreciated that "8 pound vacuum" until it was in the shop and I borrowed the church's upright vacuum cleaner. Yikes - that was heavy!
Oh yea and the garbage disposal - I went a week before getting it fixed and that was NOT FUN!
2. What if anything would you happily give up? Hmmm...I have a waffle iron I don't use much - especially now that the kids are gone most of the time.
3. What is the most strangest household appliance you own? I'm thinking pretty hard but I don't believe I have anything strange. I have a food dehydrater --some people may think that's strange.
4. What is the most luxurious household appliance you own? I don't own it but I have a dishwasher in the parsonage - this is a luxury I've never had. It's really wonderful and I will be sad if I ever have to do without one.
5. Tell us about your dream kitchen- the sky is the limit here...
Well first of all I would have a gas stove. I don't like electric, I don't believe you can control the heat as well. And I have that stupid glass top that people say is so easy to clean - um no it's not. I would have a coffee maker with a timer that would have my coffee ready for me when I get up at 4 am. I could probably afford one but it seems really decadent. I would really like a good quality Cuisinart so I would not have to chop onions and I could blend up pesto. I have a little food processor I got at Good Will but it doesn't blend the pesto so well. I would have one of those big counters in the middle of the kitchen to work with, and an opening with a trash can or compost pail underneath. Maybe I'd even keep some composting worms under the sink. I may still do that someday. I would have really good sharp knives. I'd have state of the art pressure canner. And a nice new water bath canning kettle. I need a new one - mine is all rusty. I'd like some sort of device so I could rice more than one potato at a time - which I would only use once a year for making lefse. I think that is the hardest part of making lefse - ricing all those potatoes. Skies the limit I'd have an outdoor kitchen...with both a gas and charcoal grill and a smoker and a refrigerator. Oh and speaking of refrigerators - at my old church they bought a new refrigerator with the freezer on the bottom. That is such a good idea....thinking of older folk like me who really don't need to have to bend over every time I want to make a salad. But I should have to bend over if I'm reaching for the ice cream!
Now you've gone and done it--you had to mention the outdoor kitchen, too! My dreams just keep on growing...
ReplyDeleteWe have a food dehydrater too! But it has been sitting in the cupboard unused for several years! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, an outdoor kitchen under your grape arbor!
ReplyDeleteAlmost all fridge-freezers here - at least, the ones with a decent sized freezer, not the kind that only has room for one litre of ice-cream and a packet of frozen peas - have the freezer section underneath.
ReplyDeleteI too am a coffee snob, and I'm very happy with the beans I get from Equal Exchange, the free trade coffee my congregation sells. You can get info on it from LWF, I think. Love the outdoor kitchen idea! Especially the part where I lived in a temperate enough climate to need one.
ReplyDeleteI was waiting for someone to bring up the fair trade issue :-) I like fair trade coffee too and I buy it as well. But I really like the toffee mocha berry vanilla chocolate flavors and I haven't seen those in fair trade.
ReplyDeleteA couple of years ago while making the rounds of yard sales, spouse and I got our hands on a Cuisinart coffee maker that grinds the beans itself just before brewing. And it's programmable. Instant love.
ReplyDeleteOH now that was a treasure find!
ReplyDeleteWorm-bins are wonderful! Go do it!!! We got ours after a bear came through the area last year and started ripping our compost bin off its moorings to get at the yumminess inside. The tub is a basic rubbermaid storage bin with several small holes drilled near the top for air circulation and a cork-plugged hole at the base for "worm tea" drainage. We used it all winter and it never stank or looked bad-- in fact, we kept the bin in the living room because our kitchen's so small!
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