What is the one appliance you can’t live without?
I guess most people would say something like their phone or their computer or their tablet etc… And really, yes it’s true, but generic at the same time… So I’m going to have to think outside the box…
When I think about appliances that have changed my life, there are three standouts for all different reasons:
First up – my stand mixer.
No, it’s not a Kitchenaid. Truth be told, I’m not a fan of Kitchenaid (can you hear those gasps of horror from all the bakers out there?!), Instead I opted for a Breville Scraper Mixer Pro. It’s brushed stainless steel looks so damn good sitting on the bench, and even more attractive with some delicious cake batter in it.
Before this point, I only had a hand mixer, and it was so old, every time I’d use it, it would make this burning electrical smell, and I wondered if this was the moment it caught fire… But it never happened. I did, however, take great pleasure in packing it all into the bin, and unboxing my fancy new mixer. I loved it simply because it had a scraper paddle – that alone was enough to save me time, and it has different settings for different things like combining, beating, whipping, whisking etc. And it has a timer, so I can set it to whisk egg whites for 10 mins and leave it to go, whilst I go prep other ingredients. And the best bit is that everything can go in the dishwasher afterwards!!
Following this would have to be my blender. Again, made by Breville, it’s called THE BOSS!! It’s their top of the range blender that will do everything a regular blender does, but is so powerful that it can even mill flours, and make things like nut butters, without skipping a beat.
My favorite thing I’ve made in it had been Soup. Yeah, soup. We cheated by pre-steaming our veggies, and then put in some chicken stock and some cream and set it to the soup function and in six minutes it had created this unbelievably delicious ‘product’. I don’t even really know how to adequately describe it – it was a soup, but had the consistency of a semi-runny mousse. It was as light as air, and unbelievably smooth. Instead of just having one serving each, we ended up having three serves each, simply because it was so incredible.
The other thing it does an awesome job with is green smoothies. Everybody keeps banging on about some other small personal blender that is made for making smoothies, and how it crushes everything into a pulpless ‘blast’, but everybody I know who bought one has said it certainly doesn’t do what it does on the infomercial… Surprise, surprise.
The Boss can handle it. I’ve put things like frozen berries, ice and broccoli into my green smoothies and it pulverises everything, into as delicious liquid breakfast without three big chunky chewy bits of vegetables.
… But given the price of it, it would bloody want to be a superior product!
The last appliance I’m going to Martin is my front-loader washing machine.
Yes, a washing machine.
It was one of the first things that hulk and I bought when we decided to move in together, and although I was quite pissed that he bought it without consulting me, and utilising my ability to scour the web to find the best price, we bought it and I love it.
I have some bizarre obsession with front-loaders and I really don’t know why. But I love them. If we ever go to an appliance / electrical goods store, I always look at the tv’s, the Dyson’s and the washing machines.
Ours in particular plays as little tune when it ends a cycle, but it keeps that tune on repeat when it’s got an error – like being unbalanced.
adorablyobnoxious 