Daily Archives: January 1, 2016

Daily Life, Eating Out

A great New Years evening

Leave a comment

For a second year, we had opportunity to ring out 2015 and 2016 in with our friends Elaine and Rob.  After completing our last day of work for the year, we met at Fiesta Mexicana for a nice Mexican meal.   We have been to this eatery on a number of occasions, and the dinner was very good as usual.

A wonderful creation of pâte à choux, carmelized evap milk, whip cream, bananas and chocolate. It was very nice!
A wonderful creation of pâte à choux, caramelized evaporated milk, whip cream, bananas and chocolate. It was very nice!

We then headed back to Rob and Elaine’s for drinks, a very nice dessert and a selection of baked goods from her kitchen and ours.  We played with their dogs, chatted and visited until we turned on the TV to watch the fireworks from the Seattle Space Needle.  10-9-8-7-6-5…

After 2015 moved into history, and 2016 was toasted into existence, we spent another couple of wonderful hours visiting and snacking.  We so much prefer quiet intimate celebration with friends, than loud bustling alcohol fueled events, and the time spent with our friends on this night again proceed this preference right.

Thanks to Rob and Elaine for a wonderful time, and I hope that everyone our there had an equally wonderful New Years Eve, however you chose to spend it.

All the best for an awesome 2016!

SCK

Eating In

Must Haves – Item #4 – Mixing Bowls

Leave a comment

All the fanciest ingredients in the world won’t be of much use if you don’t have bowls to mix them in. These big brothers to the prep dishes  definitely make the list of must have’s for the kitchen.

Now, most everyone has a bowl or two in the kitchen, and really the science behind them has been around for millennia.  Make a container out of whatever you have at hand, and seal it so that the wet stuff can’t get out.  Pretty basic really…  Of late, there have been some interesting attempts to create the better mousetrap, but basically, a bowl is still a bowl.

I have these in my kitchen, and find them very good for the tasks at hand:

20151230_174543 20151230_174509 20151230_174617

The stainless ones are of medium gauge, so they don’t feel flimsy but I don’t need a crane truck to move them around. They have a sufficiently large flat spot on the bottom to ensure they are stable on the counter, and high enough sides to whisk dry ingredients without sending them flying.

The only other thing that I look for is that they nest together for storage. This also works together with having a variety of sizes to choose from, as having the right size bowl for the job is really handy.

The glass bowls are basically the same idea, but just in a heavier and more ‘hot stuff’ friendly format.

I have seen and had opportunity to work with some of the new silicone bowls that are out there…  All I will say is that my momma said if you can’t say anything nice…

The other bowl I value greatly is the ‘mondo’ stainless bowl that I use when working with large quantities of ingredients, like my Italian Burger mix. It doesn’t see daily use, but when I need it, it is indispensable.

Being a bit OCD (stop it Dear, I hear you) and being used to my own kitchen, when I go to another kitchen it is always an adjustment to working with others gear. It surprises me how so many people only have 2-3 bowls, and that can creates a challenge for any large cooking project.  The value in a good number and selection of mixing  bowls  in your kitchen really can’t be overstated.

Besides, what good is a cleanup crew, if you can’t leave a large selection of dirty bowls for them??

Enjoy!

Next Up – Sticky Stuff Measuring Cups