Cooking season

[Cinisajoy]

Here is a thread for all things cooking.
What small appliances do you use frequently?
Favorite recipes.
What are you doing for the all you can eat day? Aka Thanksgiving.

[Cinisajoy]

I own many small appliances. I discovered this summer, the West Bend slow cooker makes an excellent warmer.

[tempest@de]

I love baking and I don’t particularly like cooking, but I like to eat home cooked meals so cooking is a necessary evil, and I love the appliances that do the work for me the ones I use every week are:
- the moulinex cuisine companion, this days I use it to prepare the yogurt, make soup and deserts,
- the instant pot I usually use to cook lunches, as it can be programed so when we arrive home the food is done,
- the standing mixer works every Sunday, and usually several times, I can’t seem to bake only one thing, I start with one idea of what I’m going to make and then I add something more, since I have the ingredients out and are turning the oven on might as well bake.

Depending on the weeks I use the food processor with the shredder accessory and the vacuum sealer when I go to the store. I have others but they have less use.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by tempest@de

I love baking and I don’t particularly like cooking, but I like to eat home cooked meals so cooking is a necessary evil, and I love the appliances that do the work for me the ones I use every week are:
- the moulinex cuisine companion, this days I use it to prepare the yogurt, make soup and deserts,
- the instant pot I usually use to cook lunches, as it can be programed so when we arrive home the food is done,
- the standing mixer works every Sunday, and usually several times, I can’t seem to bake only one thing, I start with one idea of what I’m going to make and then I add something more, since I have the ingredients out and are turning the oven on might as well bake.

Depending on the weeks I use the food processor with the shredder accessory and the vacuum sealer when I go to the store. I have others but they have less use.

I agree with you completely on the oven. If I am going to turn it on, I might as well bake several things. The only exception is cornbread. That is in a hot oven for only a short amount of time.
My manual food chopper gets used almost constantly. My electric one, once in a while.
My stand mixer gets used more in the winter than the summer.

[Cinisajoy]

Toaster oven/convection oven. I own the Oster that will fit a 9 by 13 pan. The only thing I hate about it is the very short power cord. It is used frequently in the summer. I just moved it out of the kitchen for the winter. Does anyone else own one?

What kind of slow cooker do you have?

[Hemmi]

I use my oven a lot. So much easier to bake chicken breasts or steaks than fry them up. Some nights, I'm so wiped after work and I still have to cook for 3 and the oven is just wonderful!

I use the microwave a lot also. Have quite the stash of frozen veggies and I like to serve veggies with every meal and 5 minutes in the microwave is just perfect.

I buy meat in bulk and use the vacuum sealer probably once a week. I'm so glad I invested in that!

I want to use my slow cooker more but that requires planning ahead more than I seem capable of a lot of the time. We have an old green crock pot that perfect for soups and a new larger one for bigger meals like a pot roast.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Hemmi

I use my oven a lot. So much easier to bake chicken breasts or steaks than fry them up. Some nights, I'm so wiped after work and I still have to cook for 3 and the oven is just wonderful!

I use the microwave a lot also. Have quite the stash of frozen veggies and I like to serve veggies with every meal and 5 minutes in the microwave is just perfect.

I buy meat in bulk and use the vacuum sealer probably once a week. I'm so glad I invested in that!

I want to use my slow cooker more but that requires planning ahead more than I seem capable of a lot of the time. We have an old green crock pot that perfect for soups and a new larger one for bigger meals like a pot roast.

About once every couple of months, our local grocery store puts their steam in bag vegetables on sale for $1. I stock up.

I need meat next year.

[crich70]

I don't do much cooking myself. I do often have instant soup with noodles (just add hot water) and to get the hot water I have a small 4-5 cup coffee pot that I just use for heating water up.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Here is a thread for all things cooking.
What small appliances do you use frequently?
Favorite recipes.
What are you doing for the all you can eat day? Aka Thanksgiving.

Microwave

Marie Callender's

Watching football, baking Marie Callendar's Pumpkin Pie, and microwaving Marie Callendar's Roasted Turkey Breast & Stuffing dinners.

[Hemmi]

Our grocery stores often have the steam in bag veggies for $1 a bag. There's also Target and they are around $1 a bag all the time and often on Cartwheel for less than that. I stock up all the time!

[Angst]

I use two relatively new gadgets when cooking. The first is an instant pot. It is a combination of slow cooker, pressure cooker, rice cooker, steamer and saute. Having only one gadget for all these functions, and only having one pot to clean make this an attractive choice. The second is a sous vide gadget. I primarily use it for cooking meats. Steaks are placed in a sealed bag and placed in a heated water bath until pasteurized/tender. (1-24 hours). Remove and sear when done. I had a tendency to overcook my steak previously. It's also great for tenderizing lesser cuts meat.

[Deskisamess]

I’m not much for single use gadgets, but I do cook mostly from scratch. Our out of town sons and their wives, and the 5 grandkids are here for the week for Thanksgiving.

At this moment I’m having a cup of coffee before prepping the 21.5 pound turkey that is on the counter, waiting to be put in the electric roaster. I made 6 pies yesterday, 2 each apple, cherry, and pumpkin. Everything from scratch except the pumpkin purée.

The casserole mashed taters are also done ahead, just waiting for the oven, and I’ll make noodles, stuffing, and sweet potatoes. Our granddaughter has a severe egg allergy, so that makes it interesting, and the need for finding substitutions in some recipes. The noodles and pumpkin pie are just kept away from her, and if you eat them, hands and faces have to be carefully washed before getting near her.

I like most of the frozen veggies, but won’t cook them in their bags. I have an aversion to cooking in plastic, so I use a small covered Corning Ware dish.

Hubby still works, so I still make dinner at least 4 nights a week. My favorite prep tools are a sharp knife, a good cutting board, and a 12” cast iron skillet. I have several crock pots of different sizes and try to use them in the summer to keep from having to turn the oven on.

I try to stay away from any boxed prepared foods because of salt content, for hubbies blood pressure, and msg because I am very allergic to it. I like knowing what is in the food we eat. Before the egg issue with granddaughter, I had no idea how many products some sort of egg is in, and the multiple names used for those ingredients.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

I’m not much for single use gadgets, but I do cook mostly from scratch. Our out of town sons and their wives, and the 5 grandkids are here for the week for Thanksgiving.

At this moment I’m having a cup of coffee before prepping the 21.5 piund turkey that is on the counter, waiting to be put in the electric roaster. I made 6 pies yesterday, 2 each apple, cherry, and pumpkin. Everything from scratch except the pumpkin purée.

The casserole mashed taters are also done ahead, just waiting for the oven, and I’ll make noodles, stuffing, and sweet potatoes. Our granddaughter has a severe egg allergy, so that makes it interesting, and the need for finding substitutions in some recipes. The noodles and pumpkin pie are just kept away from her, and if you eat them, hands and faces have to be carefully washed before getting near her.

I like most of the frozen veggies, but won’t cook them in their bags. I have an aversion to cooking in plastic, so I use a small covered Corning Ware dish.

Hubby still works, so I still make dinner at least 4 nights a week. My favorite prep tools are a sharp knife, a good cutting board, and a 12” cast iron skillet. I have several crock pots of different sizes and try to use them in the summer to keep from having to turn the oven on.

I try to stay away from any boxed prepared foods because of salt content, for hubbies blood pressure, and msg because I am very allergic to it. I like knowing what is in the food we eat. Before the egg issue with granddaughter, I had no idea how many products some sort of egg is in, and the multiple names used for those ingredients.

Your dinner sounds good.

I perfectly understand slow cooker summer.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by Angst

I use two relatively new gadgets when cooking. The first is an instant pot. It is a combination of slow cooker, pressure cooker, rice cooker, steamer and saute. Having only one gadget for all these functions, and only having one pot to clean make this an attractive choice. The second is a sous vide gadget. I primarily use it for cooking meats. Steaks are placed in a sealed bag and placed in a heated water bath until pasteurized/tender. (1-24 hours). Remove and sear when done. I had a tendency to overcook my steak previously. It's also great for tenderizing lesser cuts meat.

There's an instant pot thread here
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=276252

[Purple Lady]

I'm having baked french toast for dinner made in the slow cooker. I'm going to try putting cream cheese in the middle. I forgot to put the cream cheese in the freezer last night, so I hope it's frozen enough to slice easily this afternoon.

Has anyone else ever froze cream cheese to make it easier to slice? I haven't but I'm hoping it will work.