Appliance Love: My Cuisinart Food Processor

If you couldn't tell from the amount of pesto I've been making lately, I am head over heels in LOVE with my food processor. It's a Cuisinart Prep 11-cup that I got as a birthday present from my wonderful parents (probably hinting a little when they decided on an 11-cup over the 9 or 7) in a beautiful stainless steel color, but it also comes in white. The 11 cup is a bit pricey at $200+ but the 7 and 9 are much more affordable at $130+ and $150+ respectively, but don't come with the dough control technology, which I'll admit, I haven't used yet as I make my dough's by hand but will probably take advantage at some point in the near future.

Did I also mention that it is insanely easy to use. So much so that when I first put it together I was making it much more complicated than it needed to be, but it does come with a handy little DVD that you can watch to actually see how it comes together. Basically it just slides and snaps in. And... if you recall one of the many reason why I hated my former food processor, this one is quiet. Not silent by any means but I don't feel like I'm in danger of disturbing my neighbors, much less my ear drums. It also processes fairly quickly to allow you to get those great silky smooth purees but not so fast that you don't get the chunky quality when desired. And 11 cups is perfect for me to double, or even triple a recipe, as I am quite fond of freezing things back, though when I do make individual servings it doesn't hinder the machine either.

Unloved Appliances and Cold Soup

I started looking into some recipes for chilled soups, a personal summertime favorite when the days are sweltering, just to be prepared ya know, and chatting with a few friends about nothing in particular while listening to some good ol' GT... and bam. That strange spring melancholy just melted away. Food and friends and good music... the combination never fails as a perfect pick-me-up. 

The perfect accompaniment to soup is an excellent immersion blender. This I do not have...

So I begin making lists (call me crazy but I just adore making lists) of all the soups I want to make again, or soups I want to test out. Just like pesto there seem to be endless combinations of chilled soups I can't wait to try once the weather takes a turn for the worst in terms of scorching heat. And then I added a little post script to my list: buy a new immersion blender.

Coffee Monday

Today is one of those days where coffee is constantly on my mind. I've only had 1 cup too, my typically soy latte from the coffee bar at work, but I'm missing that extra punch of caffeine that I usually get from my French Press before work to get me out of the non-stop haze from the weekend.

They come in all kinds of pretty color options too.
Mine matches perfectly with my French Country kitchen color scheme

As you might imagine, Saturday was a long, very wonderful, once in a lifetime day. It reminded me how much I love this city and how blessed I am to have genuinely good, fun people in my life. And Sunday was a different kind of long... a lot more mellow but one of those days you are fighting against to ever let end because it was just so unexpectedly amazing. Maybe more on that later but now I'm sitting here, and work has slowed, and I have a lingering smile on my lips every time I think back on the past few days and I just wanted to document this feeling as best as possible with physical words because I'm fully aware how rare and beautiful this state of mind is.

Appliance Love of the Week: Rice Cooker

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I love rice. More than bread, more than pasta... it's my carb of choice and when asked what the one thing I could survive on for the rest of my life would be... easy. Rice. But made stove top is just a giant fail for me. I cannot get it. There's too much rice, not enough water, too much water, it's burnt, it's bland, it's turned to mush. Fail.

So can I tell you how much I love my rice cooker? It's seriously the easiest appliance I own, and while you may be thinking that it's an unnecessary waste of shelf space, I make it work and I have a NYC sized kitchen (read, tiny!). If you cook rice a lot, or couscous, or quinoa, or even like to steam veggies you should seriously look into one.

La La Love You

Oh. You thought I was talking about the Pixies song? Well I was actually referring to my 3.5-qt Le Creuset dutch oven... but yeah, the Pixies are pretty awesome too, though No. 13 Baby would actually be my fav song on that very amazing album. Speaking of, I'm not a person with very many regrets in my life but not going to see the Pixies when they did their Doolittle tour a year ago is probably one of my top 3 regrets of my life. Even though I'd been laid off for nearly 8 months, with no job prospects and a rapidly dwindling bank account. Rent or Pixies? If I could go back practical me would probably still pick rent... but it'd be a very tough choice, again. There's always Canada though...

Appliance Love

I have a ton of kitchen stuff. And for the people who are aware of exactly what I have tend to ask my advice on occasion. I promise to be completely honest about really liking something or absolutely despising it to the point where I don't even bother to move it from one apartment to the next. And I'm always looking for good recommendations for things to add to my collection in return. Being appliances I know they won't last forever and the one I love may be discontinued, or I may want to upgrade to a better model, who knows.

So appliance love of the week goes to my Oxo tea kettle. I use this, no joke, every day. In the morning to heat water for my French Press coffee and at night for my tea.  I received it as a gift a few years back from my dear friend Marcus and his lovely wife Laura and while it may seem a little pricey for a tea kettle ($60-70) it's great. The handle never gets too hot, it comes in lots of lovely shades, and it's a snap to clean. Oh, and it also boils water pretty quickly. All pretty solid qualities that a kettle should have.

If you are in the market, I can't say enough good things about mine. And look how pretty and cream colored it is, after over 3 years. Just a steel wool scrub and some soap every few months. That's it. One of the best things I own.