Gingerbread men always remind me of my grandmother as we were either making them together or enjoying eating them together. This recipe can be used for gingerbread men or other gingerbread shaped biscuits depending on what cutters you have. Gingerbread cookies are a great way to create Christmas or party themed biscuits. They are also a great way to get the kids involved as they will love to help decorate their men and Christmas shapes.
Ingredients
75g light brown soft sugar
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 tablespoon black treacle
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 rounded teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of cloves
finely grated zest of half an orange
95g butter/margarine
half a teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
225g plain flour sifted (plus a little more if needed)
1 tube of white writing icing/sweets/chocolate/raisins (to decorate)
Method
Put the sugar, syrup, treacle, water, spices and zest in a large saucepan and bring to the boil stirring continuously.
Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and bicarbonate of soda. (You may find it better to cut the butter into lumps first).
Gradually stir in the flour until you have a smooth manageable dough. Add a little more flour if you think it needs it.
Leave the dough covered in a cool place to firm up. This may take approx 30 mins.
Pre-heat an oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. While the oven is heating, roll the dough out to 3mm thick on a lightly floured surface.
Cut out the gingerbread men, or cookie shapes as desired and re-roll the dough as necessary.
Arrange the cookies on baking sheets and bake near the centre of the oven for 10-15 minutes. The biscuits are done when they feel firm to the touch.
Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
Decorate as desired with icing, sweets and jellies.
Great Cookie Recipe Cookbooks
Why not check out the following cookie cookbooks. They contain tons of great cookie and biscuit recipes, and they aren’t only for Christmas, so you can make tasty cookies all year round. They are available in paperback, hardback and on Kindle devices too.
A latte is a coffee drink made with espresso and steamed milk. The term as used in English is a shortened form of the Italian caffè latte or caffellatte, which means “milk coffee”. (Wikipedia)
These two stylish latte glasses are made from high quality borosilicate glass so there is no risk of the glass bursting at high temperatures. They are also double walled so the inside keeps your coffee warm for longer and your fingers don’t get burned whilst holding the outside. Even more special is that these coffee glasses are hand-blown so they will make a fantastic gift for coffee lovers. As you can see, these latte glasses are very stylish and will look great in any home.
This super gift for coffee lovers costs less than £20 which we feel that this makes an excellent present at a great price. We like gifts that are attractive enough to be displayed when not in use and are also perfect for everyday drinking whenever you get the urge for a rejuvenating caffè latte
How to make a caffè latte
In Italy, caffè latte is usually made for breakfast at home. The coffee is brewed on the stove in a pot. This is then poured into a cup containing hot milk. In Italy, the milk is not foamed, whereas in the international latte version, the milk is foamed.
Elsewhere in the world, a caffè latte is typically prepared in a 240 mL (8 oz) glass or cup with one shot of espresso, commonly a single (30 ml) or double (60 ml), and filled with steamed milk. It should have a layer of foamed milk about 12 mm thick on top.
Of course, different places in the world and different coffee shops will often have their own variation of a caffè latte, but at the top of this post is how Wikipedia describes a caffè latte to be made (so it must be right)!
Essential reading
We’re guessing that if you are reading this gift idea article about latte glasses then you probably like drinking coffee. Below are some books which aim to inform you more about this magical brew and tips and advice on how to make the perfect drink. Enjoy your coffee!
This tangy orange cream cheese icing recipe goes very well with our chocolate cup cake recipe. I have to confess that chocolate and orange is one of my favourite combinations, but this topping is also great finishing off a carrot cake.
The following ingredients will generously top 12 cup cakes easily.
Ingredients
200g soft cream cheese
50g margarine/butter
200g confectioners sugar (icing sugar)
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
2 teaspoons orange flavoured liquor or orange extract.
(This can be substituted for the juice of half an orange, but you may need to add flour to thicken the topping to the desired consistency.)
Method
Place the cream cheese and butter into a bowl and with an electric mixer, beat them together until they are soft, well mixed and creamy.
Add the orange zest and extract (or orange juice and flour) and continue to mix together well.
Slowly add the confectioners sugar with the mixer on a slow setting and mix well. Continue to mix on high until the mixture is light and fluffy.
If needed, refrigerate the topping for half an hour to firm up. Spoon the topping onto the cakes, or pipe on using an icing bag in patterns as desired.
Recipe books with great ideas for cupcakes
If you want some great cupcake recipe ideas, we suggest the following books. They are available in paperback, hardback or on Kindle devices depending on which book you prefer!
Relatively new in the world of kitchen knives, a ceramic knife is made out of very hard and tough ceramic, often zirconium dioxide (also known as zirconia). Zirconia is rated at 8.5 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, which is slightly higher than hardened steel at 7.5 to 8 Mohs but less than the 10 for diamond. The very hard edge of a ceramic kitchen knife rarely needs sharpening.
Advantages that ceramic knives have is that they will not corrode in harsh environments, are non-magnetic, and do not conduct electricity at room temperature. Due to their resistance to acids and caustic substances, plus their usefulness in keeping a cutting edge for longer than forged metal knives, ceramic knives are a great kitchen tool for slicing boneless meat, vegetables, fruit and bread.
However, ceramic knives are brittle and they may break if dropped on a hard surface. They also are not suitable for chopping through bones or frozen foods, or in other situations which require prying. This can result in chipping, snapped points or catastrophic failure. There are a few higher quality brands that now offer a blade created through an additional hot isostatic pressing (HIP) step, and this does improve the toughness of the ceramic knife.
One of our favorite manufacturers of ceramic kitchen knives is Kyocera. We are especially impressed by their range of high quality but well priced Kyocera FK Series White Ceramic Knives. Unfortunately Kyocera have updated their range of knives since we wrote this article and the FK White Series Ceramic Knives range is no longer for sale. However, Kyocera still make an amazing choice of ceramic bladed kitchen knives and below are a few of the great options available to buy today.
At Kitchen & Cook Shop we have found that vinegar has many uses in the kitchen and home so in this article we have gathered together some great tips and advice on how you can make use of vinegar in your cooking and when cleaning your kitchen.
In most cases you will want to use white distilled vinegar, but when using vinegar in cooking you may opt for a different specialty vinegar to add flavour if the application suggests so.
Food and Cooking with Vinegar
Cooking fish
Try soaking fish in vinegar and water before cooking it. You will find that it will be sweeter, more tender and hold its shape better. When boiling or poaching fish, a tablespoon of vinegar added to the water will keep it from crumbling so easily. Icing cakes
Cake icing can be prevented from becoming sugary if a little vinegar is added to the ingredients before cooking. The same is true when making homemade candy. Boiling eggs
If you are boiling an egg and it cracks, add a little vinegar to the water and it will prevent the white from escaping into the water. Keep potatoes white
Try adding a teaspoon of white distilled or cider vinegar to the water in which you boil potatoes. This will keep them white and looking lovely. You can prevent peeled potatoes from turning dark by covering them with water and adding 2 teaspoons of vinegar. Freshen up wilting vegetables
Slightly wilted vegetables can be freshened up by soaking them in cold water and a little vinegar. Washing fruit and vegetables
Wash fresh fruits and vegetables in about 500ml water that has had 2 tablespoons of white distilled vinegar. Rinse thoroughly. Research has shown that vinegar helps kill bacteria on fruits and vegetables. Frying doughnuts
Before frying doughnuts, add ½ teaspoon of vinegar to hot oil to prevent doughnuts soaking up extra grease, but be very careful when adding the vinegar to the hot oil. Flavour boost
Add flavour and taste to a can of soup, gravy or sauce with a teaspoon of your favorite specialty vinegar! Meat tenderizer
As a tenderizer for tough meat or game, create a marinade of half a cup of your favorite vinegar to a cup of heated liquid, such as stock or bouillon. For steak, you may wish to use a mix of vinegar and oil. Rub well into the meat and allowed to stand for a couple of hours. Fluffy Egg Whites
Soak a paper towel with 1-2 tablespoons of white distilled vinegar. Using this vinegar soaked paper towel, wipe the mixing bowl and whisk/beaters, then dry with a cloth or paper towel before whipping your egg whites. Super Rice
For great tasting, fluffy rice, add a teaspoon of white distilled vinegar to the boiling water before adding rice. The resulting rice will be less sticky and easier to serve. Emptying out jars
If you are struggling to get the last bit of mayonnaise or salad dressing out of the jar, dribble in a little of your favorite vinegar, tightly put the cap on and shake well. It will surprise you at how much you can retrieve from the jar!
Cleaning with vinegar
Streak-free windows
Cleaning your windows with vinegar will make them shine! It will not leave streaks on the glass and is a trick that I believe many professional window cleaners still use. Mix equal parts of white distilled vinegar and warm water. Dry with a soft cloth or crumpled up newspaper. Washing your woodwork
Washing woodwork, painted walls and Venetian blinds can be made easier by using a mixture of 200ml ammonia, 100ml white distilled vinegar and 50ml baking soda with 3.5 litres of warm water. Using this solution, wipe the walls or blinds using a sponge or cloth. Afterwards rinse with clean water. Dirt is easily removed and this technique will not dull the paintwork or leave streaks. Wood stains
Stubborn rings on wooden surfaces as a result from wet glasses being left standing can be removed by rubbing with a mixture of equal parts of white distilled vinegar and olive oil. Rub gently with the grain and then polish for optimum results. Metal polish
Brass, copper and pewter aren’t as common in kitchens as they once were, but cleaning with vinegar helps these lovely metals to shine. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt in 1 cup of white distilled vinegar and stir in plain flour until it turns into a paste. Apply this paste to the metals and let it stand for about 15 minutes. Always test in an inconspicuous area first. After cleaning, rinse with warm clean water and then polish until dry. Remove Refrigerator Smells
Pour 250ml of apple cider vinegar into a glass and place it in your refrigerator. Within a couple of days the smells will have disappeared. Wine stains
Small spots caused by wine can be removed from pure cotton, cotton polyester and some other fabrics if done so within 24 hours. Simply gently sponge white distilled vinegar directly onto the stain and rub away the spots. Afterwards clean the garment or fabric according to the directions on the manufacturer’s care tag. Fruit stains
When peeling fruit, especially berries, you often find that your hands get very stained after a while. To remove fruit or berry stains, simply clean your hands with vinegar. Make lunch boxes fresh again
To remove stale smells often found in lunch boxes, just dampen a piece of fresh bread with white distilled vinegar and leave it in the lunch box overnight. Get rid of cooking smells
Simmer a small pot of vinegar and water solution on the stove for a while after cooking. Be careful not to forget about it though!
Other uses of vinegar in the kitchen
Vinegar as an ant deterrent
If you live in a place when ant invasions are common in your kitchen, you can often deter these pesky insects by washing all major areas of your kitchen (counter tops, cabinets and floors) with white distilled vinegar. Make flowers last longer
Help to keep fresh flowers lasting longer by adding 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons white vinegar to the vase of water (approx. 950ml). Trim the flower stems and remember to change the water every five days. Get rid of fruit flies or gnats
Fill a bowl with 250ml water, 2 tbsp. sugar, 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar and a couple of drops of dish soap in your kitchen. This will attract the fruit flies for you to then remove. If these insects are attracted to an over-ripe piece of fruit (for example), bin it to remove the source of attraction.
Essential Reading
You can find thousands of other uses for vinegar in your home by reading the following books. As you can see, vinegar is such an amazing liquid!
In our household I do more of the cooking than my partner, but the honest truth is that she is the better cook, however there are some dishes that I can cook pretty well. I don’t attribute this to skill though. It’s more due to the fact that I’ve practised lots and lots, and learned from my many mistakes!
One of the recipes that I have got down to a ‘t’ now is my Slow Cooker Pork dish. On a Sunday morning, I’ll prepare the pork, place it in the slow cooker and let it gently cook until late afternoon. It gives the two of us a tasty Sunday evening meal and two to three meals during the week, so it is not only easy to make, but practical for our busy lifestyles and very good value.
Below is my slow cooker pork recipe. It’s so simple and tasty so if you have a slow cooker give it a try!
Honey and Mustard Slow Cooker Pork
Ingredients
Pork joint
Clear honey
Wholegrain mustard
Pasata
Worcestershire sauce
Soy sauce
Mixed herbs
Pimenton/paprika
Ground black pepper
Method
First things first, do you have a slow cooker? If not, get yourself one. They’re awesome! If you only have a tiny kitchen and are looking for a small slow cooker, read our 1.5 litre Slow Cooker comparison review article for some great choices.
Next, buy a nice pork joint. I’m calculating the following ingredients and timings on a pork joint weighing approx. 1000 grams. Unpack it and wash it under cold running water. Place on a clean plate and pat dry with kitchen roll. If there is some fat on the top of the joint, lightly score it in a pretty criss-cross pattern like a TV chef might do.
In a bowl, add 2 dessert spoons of honey, 1 dessert spoon of wholegrain mustard, 1 dessert spoon of pasata, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, a splash of soy sauce, a sprinkle of mixed herbs, a shake of pimenton/paprika and a few grinds of black pepper. These quantities do not have to be exact. Make it up a little. Add some other ingredients. Have fun!
Mix up these ingredients in the bowl so that it makes a nice sticky liquid and smear a little all over the bottom of the slow cooker pot where the pork will be sitting.
Next, place the pork joint into the slow cooker and pour and smear the ‘marinade’ all over the pork. Make sure that every part of the meat is covered. Some people say that when using a slow cooker one must always add some fluid to the bottom of the pot. I’ve found that this is not required in any dish that I make in our slow cooker. It is a pretty old slow cooker and perhaps I’m not doing it correctly, but I always find that the meat and marinade create more than enough fluid without adding more, therefore I never add any extra fluid. If the instructions that come with your slow cooker note that you must always add liquid then perhaps you had better do as they say.
Lastly, put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for about 7 hours. Feel free to peek inside a couple of times and if possible gently splash the fluid at the bottom over the top of the pork, but it’s not entirely necessary. After 7 hours, remove the pork and place on a plate. Cover and leave to sit for at least 30 minutes to an hour before slicing. Keep the juices from the pot and use it as a very flavoursome stock for gravy. It’s outstandingly good!
Et voilà, as they say in France. Succulent pork which is perfect with roasted vegetables or place it in the fridge and serve cold in sandwiches or with a salad. Whatever takes your fancy!
If you do try this slow cooker pork joint recipe, please let me know how you get on. Did you change the recipe? What experimental additions worked for you? I’d love to know.
Essential reading:
If you’d like some great pork recipes why not look at these three books available on Amazon. They all look excellent!
If you are looking for a more traditional-looking gift for a young boy or ‘young-at-heart’ gentleman then why not consider this excellent set of four mugs from UK designer Cath Kidston. These fine bone china mugs show four different exciting images that young boys from the past would crave after, such as a racing car driven by Fangio or a Wild West cowboy on horseback with his lasso spinning above his head!
This is a lovely gift for family members, especially uncles, nephews or cousins, or treat yourself – you’re worth it! You can buy this very special mug set from Amazon UK: Cath Kidston Set of 4 Boys Larch Mugs
Abut Cath Kidston
Cath Kidston MBE is a very talented and much loved designer from the UK. Her passion for nostalgic vintage chic combined with bold modern designs stems from happy childhood memories. Each of her design collections pays tribute to enjoyable moments from her childhood, and they offer many of us a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Many of her designs are re-workings of the traditional English country house style and she has become a cult success at home and abroad. Her style fuses nostalgic vintage chic and bold modern designs which work well in a wide range of products, large and small.
In 1993, Cath opened her first shop in Notting Hill selling vintage fabrics and old furniture, but it wasn’t long before her empire had grown to almost 140 outlets in the UK alone. See all of Cath Kidston’s items on Amazon UK.
I have to admit that I do like a glass of wine every now and then, and I suspect that I’m not in the minority. I don’t take wine drinking too seriously, but there are many wine lovers that do so we are collecting together a few suggestions of great gifts for wine lovers. To begin with we will start by suggesting some gift sets that incorporate ways of opening wine, making it easy to pour and then keeping it safely stopped.
These three gift sets range in price from about RRP £20 to £80 but often there are special offers which can reduce the price of these wine gift sets immensely. They all include a corkscrew and bottle stopper, and whilst some have a wine pourer, others have a drip collar or foil cutter.
Rioja Wine Gift Sets
I like Spanish wine so may I suggest the following wine gift sets that all feature wines from one of my favourite Spanish wine growing regions, La Rioja.
Slow cookers have been around for years. They are a very cheap and easy way of making a meal, and they are especially good for the busy lifestyles that we lead today. Simply put all the ingredients in the slow cooker, stir them around, turn it on and leave it to cook throughout the day. They are especially good for cheaper cuts of meat as they gently cook the joint making it tender and very tasty. Curries, chilies and stews all cook perfectly, as well as soups and broths. My mum swears by them, and now so do I!
In this article we will take a quick look at three small slow cookers that have been designed to cook up to 1.5 litres of ingredients. This size is perfect for one to two people and is also excellent for taking camping or in a caravan. They are easy to clean, affordable to use and buy, and will improve your meal times no end. They all cost between £17 to £30 (updated Feb 2021) and all have great reviews on the UK Amazon website.
Swan 1.5 litre Slow Cooker
Let us begin by looking at the Swan 1.5L Slow Cooker (SF17010N). Swan is a British brand with a long history. They have always been well known for their quality kitchen products, but it has been quite a while since I have seen their products for sale. I’m glad to see that they are still around although it appears that they have been through the mill a little. Fortunately, they are now owned by Tefal so you can be sure that they have a quality company supporting them.
There are over 1,330 reviews of this Swan Slow Cooker on Amazon.co.uk with very favourable results. This seems to be a quality slow cooker with the only complaints being from people how clearly did not bother to read the description of the actual product that they bought! It has a two year guarantee and as with most slow cookers it has a removable crock, three temperature settings and a glass lid. It is perfect for a single person and does not take up much space on the worktop so it would be great for students who are always struggling for space.
The Swan 1.5L Stainless Steel Slow Cooker (SF17010N) has an RRP of £29.99 but is often cheaper to buy on Amazon UK. You can also purchase this product in 3.5l and 6.5l sizes for when you want to cook a greater amount of food.
Morphy Richards 1.5L Slow Cooker
The second small slow cooker we will look at is made by Morphy Richards – one of the best known manufacturers of slow cookers. Since 1936, Morphy Richards have been supplying our homes with a wide range of electric household items at good prices. They have an enviable reputation on Amazon with most reviews of their products earning four or five stars.
This Morphy Richards 1.5L Slow Cooker is an attractive slow cooker with a small footprint, so it is perfect for small kitchens and motorhomes. The most commented feature about this item is that it is perfect for two people – or a big meal for one if you’re feeling greedy! Reviewers often mention that it is easy to clean and simple to use.
Finally we shall review the last slow cooker in this article made by a manufacturer that features a lot on Kitchen & Cookshop. This VonShef slow cooker is very highly recommended on Amazon. There have been a couple of bad reviews about product defects but it would suggest that these problems are quite unusual considering the amount of these VonShef slow cookers sold. Out of the many positive reviews on this slow cooker, people really like the warm function and it is often noted that this small slow cooker is excellent value for money.
At the time of writing, this VonShef 1.5l Slow Cooker costs £29.99 but we have seen it for sale at just £17.99, which we at Kitchen & Cookshop consider an absolute bargain. The silver colour is attractive and is sure to match the colour of any kitchen. It is also available in 3.5l and 6.5l versions.
Slow Cooker reviews over… which is the winner?
So, what do we think at Kitchen & Cook Shop? Which small slow cooker reviewed here would we buy if it were our money? All of these slow cookers are recommended by people that have purchased them on Amazon.co.uk and all these slow cooker reviews are mostly positive which makes choosing our favourite an impossible decision.
We really like VonShef products so the VonShef Slow Cooker would be a good choice for us, however the Swan Slow Cooker also looks great. What might sway the outcome for us though is the reliability and years of manufacturing knowledge that comes with buying the Morphy Richards Slow Cooker.
Any of these brilliant little slow cookers would be a great bargain at their RRP which is often around the £15 to £30 mark. Whichever 1 or 2 person slow cooker you choose from these three, you are going to get a quality product which will make your life in the kitchen so much easier and healthier. Don’t delay – get a slow cooker today!
Essential Reading:
If you are reading this small slow cookers product comparison article, we think that you might also enjoy these slow cooker recipe books on Amazon. They are available on Kindle devices and in traditional print. Enjoy your slow cooking!
I have to confess that this Thai Red Curry is one of Nigella’s recipes that I have adapted. Hers was Prawn and Mango, mine is chicken with extra chilli. Here at the Kitchen & Cook Shop we love chillies and spicy food so you can expect to see many recipes to give your taste buds a lift! We add extra chillies to this curry as for us the red thai curry paste just isn’t spicy enough, but you don’t need to add extra if you prefer a milder curry.
Ingredients
For a curry that will feed 4 to 6.
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil or Wok Oil
1 Onion finely diced
6 or 7 fresh mushrooms
250g Chicken Breast cubed
Half a large green pepper
150g-200g diced sweet potato
150g-200g diced butternut squash
1-2 tablespoons of Thai Red Curry paste, or to taste
1 400ml can of Coconut Milk
half a chicken stock cube
2 or 3 Hot Chillies chopped or whole to taste
3-4 tablespoons of fresh chopped coriander or use dried to taste.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Method:
In a wok or large saucepan add the oil, chicken and onion and fry until the chicken is golden. Add a little of the thai curry paste as you are frying to colour the chicken.
Add the mushrooms, pepper, sweet potato and butternut squash and stir fry for one minute to heat through, then add the extra chillies.
Break up the stock cube over the vegetables and then pour over the coconut milk. Stir and simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. As it simmers you will notice that the sauce thickens up.
Stir in the coriander and season to taste. This Thai Red Curry is great served with rice or a jacket potato if you have leftovers for lunch.
Great Indian Food and Curry Recipe Cookbooks
For more great curry recipes, we suggest checking out these excellent books which can be found different formats, including in hardback, paperback, and for Kindle devices.
Cooking in the kitchen should be fun and interesting, but sometimes it can be a dull place to be, especially when you are waiting for eggs to boil or your meal to finish cooking. Adding a fun timer to your kitchen is sure to make you smile and make your visitors laugh. Novelty kitchen timers also make great gifts – kitchen gifts that are both practical and fun! Below are some of our favourites.
Fruit and Veg Shaped Timers
I remember that my Grandma used to have a tomato shaped kitchen timer when she was alive, and when I see one now it always makes me smile and think of her. Apron around her waist and rolling pin in hand, she would always treat her grand children to freshly baked jam tarts when she was in a baking mood. Happy days! These three novelty kitchen timers are great to look at and are sure to brighten up any kitchen. I especially like the garlic shaped timer. I’ve seen fruit and vegetable shaped kitchen timers before, but never a kitchen timer shaped like a garlic clove – brilliant!
In our kitchen we have a large pink pig shaped biscuit barrel so the either of the piggy style kitchen timers seen here would fit into our kitchen perfectly. Yes, slightly embarrassing, I know! The Ladybug Kitchen Timer is very cute and I love its shiny folded wings. This would make a great gift for a child that is interested in cooking or helping in the kitchen. As too would the Gingerbread Man timer. Imagine children timing their baking creations using a one of these novelty timers – What large smiles you would enjoy seeing when the bell rings!
As always, we like to suggest some good books for readers of our articles, and today is no exception. For children that are showing an interest in cooking and baking the following two books are very highly rated and are sure to help you and them get involved together in the kitchen:
For adults we have chosen the following two recipe books. Both are brilliant for young families and are chock full of wholesome and healthy recipes, as well as having a few treats amongst the pages!
In our household we have a vegetable peeler that has clearly seen better days! It is uncomfortable to use, isn’t very sharp anymore and looks tatty and worn out. It’s obvious that we need to purchase a new peeler sooner rather than later so I have been doing a little research on Amazon.co.uk. Below are the two peelers that I find most a-peel-ing (did you see what I did there?).
OXO is a manufacturer of kitchen utensils, office supplies, and housewares based in New York City. They are committed to making everyday objects easy and comfortable to use, and judging by user reviews of OXO Good Grips Peelers they are surpassing themselves!
Our current peeler is of the swivel type. I have tried using the Y peeler variety but I found it a little more difficult to use, although I am sure that over time I would find it just as easy to use. OXO peelers have an excellent reputation for being comfortable to hold and use, and the large handles of both the OXO Good Grips Y Peeler and the OXO Good Grips Swivel Peeler mean that holding the vegetable peeler is safe and easy. Many comments from reviewers mention that the OXO peelers are great for those with arthritis or similar problems. The oversize handle absorbs strain from hands and wrist and it is also grippy, even when wet.
OXO have really studied peelers and looked at all ways of improving them. They seem to have taken it upon themselves to ‘re-design’ the humble peeler so that it is the best it can possibly be. The blades are stainless steel and are very sharp, the peelers have potato eye removers and both of these highly rated peelers are dishwasher-safe. What more could you ask for? Oh yes, the price is excellent too; both cost less than £10 each. They probably aren’t the cheapest vegetable peelers available, but you are certainly paying for a quality peeler that is sure to stay sharp and last for years, unlike my current vegetable peeler!
Just to let you know, we purchased the OXO Good Grips Swivel Peeler not long after first writing this article and it has performed flawlessly for the last 5 years. It is still sharp and looks as good as the day we bought it. I am very impressed and happy with this purchase!
Essential Reading
If you are like me, you probably get a little bored with plain old boiled veggies with your meals, so perhaps it’s time we took a look at some books for great ideas on how to put some interest back into cooking with vegetables. These books about vegetables come in either hardback or paperback and may also be available on Kindle devices.
As well as the great Star Wars character moulds show above, there are many other Star Wars mould designs available for making ice cubes or chocolate treats including a detailed Millennium Falcon mould! The Death Star mould seen below creates a large ball of ice that it is sure to keep your drink cool for much longer than a standard ice cube, or even better, it can be used to create a huge chocolate Death Star ball of goodness! It’s definitely on my Christmas wish list.
These ice cube trays add fun to every cool drink that you have and they are an excellent gift. They are certainly a talking point. As mentioned earlier, an added bonus is that they can also be used to make chocolate, jelly and even ice cream shapes. It’s great that a simple kitchen product can be so much fun!
For those that like to cook or bake, a set of decent kitchen scales is an essential piece of equipment for the kitchen.
In this article we will take a quick look at three different style kitchen scales that have been designed to weigh up to 5kgs of ingredients. They cost from about £15 upwards and all have good reviews on the UK Amazon website.
Let’s begin by looking at the cheapest kitchen scales that we have chosen for this comparison, the Salter Slim Design Electronic Platform Kitchen Scale in Black. These kitchen scales measure up to 5kgs in weight in increments of 1g, very useful for being accurate with your quantities. They are slimline in form and modern and attractive to look at. I would guess that they are easy to store due to their slim design and I like the stainless steel platform and the LCD display looks easy to read.
Salter have a long history in the weights and measures business and the reviews of this kitchen scale are generally favourable although the biggest gripe that people have with these scales is that they only tend to last a year or less before packing in. This is certainly not ideal but perhaps you get what you pay for? Although Slater offer a 15 year manufacturers guarantee on these scales, for the most part it probably isn’t worth the hassle of sending them away for a refund if they have broken. A common problem with these scales seems to be that they are susceptible to water damage so using large quantities of liquids on or near them is not recommended. Damage by liquids would probably not be covered by guarantee anyway.
These Salter Kitchen Scales are also available in white and silver:
Next we have the Duronic KS5000 Large Digital Display 5KG Kitchen Scales. The RRP of these kitchen scales is £50 but often they are available to purchase at about half that price. As with the other kitchen scales compared here, they have a maximum weight capacity of 5kgs and measure in 1 gram increments. I love the very clear round display and the way that it shows the weight being measured with large numbers. It looks very sci-fi to me! It is supplied with a lovely stainless steel mixing bowl which makes the price of these scales great value. These scales have a zero/tare function and auto switch-off to save battery power.
Reviews by Amazon.co.uk users are mostly excellent. There are a couple of complaints of customers receiving a faulty product and some mention that the bowl and scales seem a little flimsy, but the overall feeling is that these really are top notch scales with great features at an excellent price.
Morphy Richards 3-in-1 Digital Kitchen Scales
Finally we come to the Morphy Richards 3-in-1 Digital Kitchen Scales. Morphy Richards are a very well known and respected name in the home and they make a wide range of electronic products for the kitchen so let’s see how these scales compare to the Salter and Duronic makes, shall we?
As you can see, these scales are a different design to the others on this page however they too can weigh a maximum of 5kg. The bowl is part of the scale itself meaning that with the tare feature which includes a fluid volume indicator, you can conveniently weigh all your ingredients in the same bowl. How useful this is, I’m not sure. Morphy Richards says it saves time, saves using lots of different bowls and saves on the washing up, and perhaps your measuring is more accurate, but this is only true if the function works well.
The digital jug scale has a choice of measuring options with both solid and liquid conversion features due to the integrated water, milk and oil volume indicators. The stainless steel bowl looks great and detaches from the scale with the click of a button, however some people say this is a little stiff so it might be a problem if you have a disability in this area. The other biggest complaint is that you have to squat or bend down a little to see the digital readout clearly. This too can be a problem for those with mobility issues.
The Morphy Richards Kitchen Scales seen here are red but they are also available in black and graphite:
For me, the answer is simple. Although the Morphy Richards 3-in-1 Digital Kitchen Scales are well rated and look great, I would opt for the Duronic KS5000 Kitchen Scales. The reviews tell me that this is a decent product and I love the design. Personally, I would be wary of buying the Salter Kitchen Scales mostly due to the negative reviews it has got regarding breakdowns but it is the cheapest scale here so it might be worth the risk.
You can view these three kitchen scales plus some others that are also highly rated on our Storefront on Amazon.
Essential Reading:
If you are reading this kitchen scales product comparison article, I am guessing that you might be a person that likes to bake or is thinking about baking. If so, then below we have three highly regarded books about baking that you might be interested in. They are available on Kindle devices and in traditional print. Enjoy your baking!
It is generally agreed by nutritionists and medical professionals alike that juicing is good for you, especially if you or those in your family are not keen on vegetables. Investing in a juicer can really improve your health if you use it sensibly and follow a well designed nutritional plan.
As you can see from looking at the products we have chosen below, you do not have to spend a vast amount of money to start living a healthy lifestyle. Electric juicers can range from £25 to over £300 depending on what you want to juice, in what quantities and with how much power, but our choices below all cost under £75.00. We feel that the three juicers we have picked are great for those that are just starting to juice their fruit and vegetables and who do not want to spend too much money as they begin this new venture.
Let us start by looking at the Philips HR1832/01 Viva Collection Compact Juicer. The Philips juicer is the smallest in size but still produces the same amount of juice so they’ve manufactured a miracle machine here! This electric juicer has a 500W motor that seems to perform very well. The design is modern, compact and stylish. The RRP of this juicer is £75, so it is the most expensive juicer here, but it is very highly rated so perhaps the higher cost suggests a high quality product.
The Philips compact juicer can make 1.5 litres of juice in one go and incorporates ‘QuickClean’ technology for easy cleaning in approximately one minute. Its transparent pulp container means that you can see your fruits and vegetables being juiced and it has mess free pulp collection. It also has a clever spout that twists to prevent juice dripping onto your counter top after you’ve filled your glass.
Reviews on Amazon.co.uk for this juicer are generally very good. There are some poor reviews where people have experienced total failure of the machine, sometimes in as little as one month or less. A common problem seems to be an arm part that is fragile and snaps meaning the juicer is rendered useless. Philips don’t appear to be particularly good at customer service either. Other complaints seem to be that the pulp is too wet meaning that it had not juiced well enough. Good reviews include buyers loving the compact size of the machine, the fact that it is easy to clean, and that it does produce very tasty juice.
VonShef Juicer Machine for Whole Fruits and Vegetables
This VonShef Juicer Machine has a 400W motor that runs at two speeds to tackle hard or soft fruits. It has an extra large feeding chute to handle different sizes of fruit, a 500ml jug to collect the juice and a 1.5L pulp container. With an RRP of £39.99 it is the cheapest juicer here, and it does have the smallest motor of the three, but it is still a well regarded juice machine.
It is a stylish looking juicer having a good looking stainless steel finish and the manufacturers claim that is easy to clean. It fits together well and all the removable parts are dishwasher safe. Most purchasers would agree that this electric juicer is simple to clean but some find it not quite powerful enough for their needs. Another good point is that so far there have been only a couple of complaints about breakdowns or faulty products, so it looks as though VonShef are improving on their already great reputation.
Duronic JE10 Whole Fruit and Vegetable Juicer
Lastly we take a look at the Duronic JE10 Whole Fruit and Vegetable Juicer which has an RRP of £59.99. This juicer has the most powerful motor here at 1000W motor but is a bit cheaper than the Philips juicer so let’s take a look at it more closely. It looks similar to the VonShef juicer in design but is larger overall and has a capacity of almost double. It has a 2.5 litre pulp container and a 1.1 litre juice collecting jug. The fruit chute is large (85mm wide) and it too has two speed settings.
As with all juicer manufacturers, Duronic claim that their juicer is easy to clean but not all the buyers would agree. In general, reviews of this product are good, but not great. As with many juicers sold, there seems to be a few problems with machine failure and people have complained that it does not produce enough juice and the extracted pulp is still very wet. However people love the affordability and many say that this juice machine is better than other juicers that they have purchased in the past.
Which Electric Juicer would we buy?
If we were just getting into juicing, here at Kitchen and Cook Shop, we would most probably plump for the Philips HR1832/01 Viva Collection Compact Juicer. It costs more than the others (sometimes double the price) but it tends to have less problems and is much more compact which suits our small kitchen. We like both VonShef and Duronic as manufacturers and their products are enjoyed by thousands of people, and the two juicers here are cheaper than the Philips machine so if you’re just beginning juicing then either of these electric juicers would be a good inexpensive purchase. The price of these juicers change frequently so check online often and aim to get a bargain!
After comparing many juicers – not just these shown here – one thing that I find common to all is the problem of machine failure. Perhaps these cheaper juicers have all been built to a low price point and a juicer simply needs to be built better to overcome the tremendous strains that are put on its parts.
If we were seasoned juice makers and we wanted to upgrade we would seriously think about purchasing a more expensive juicer, such as the very highly rated Sage by Heston Blumenthal – The Nutri Juicer Plus.
Essential Reading:
If you are just starting to enjoy the benefits of juicing, these books are certain to help you find the best recipes. They are full of tips and advice for juicing and dieting with juices and are available on Kindle devices and in traditional print. Enjoy your juicing!
Please note: This article was first written in October 2014 and since then the design of this Microwave Rice Cooker has changed, however the excellent results still remain the same. Pictures shown below are of the most recent design.
It’s not very often that something you purchase completely changes the way that you do something. It might be a car or a golf club or a mobile phone, but for me it was a simple, plastic microwave rice cooker! I purchased the Kitchen Craft Microwave Rice Cooker almost 10 years ago and I haven’t looked back since. What is even more amazing is that this rice cooker usually costs less than £12.00 – Bargain!
I had always struggled with making good rice on the stove. It almost always boiled over and the end result was usually a burnt pan, messy stove top and sticky rice! I used to hate planning meals with rice as I knew that there was always lots of cleaning up to do afterwards.
One day, that all changed. I met a colleague’s wife who happened to be Chinese and she let me in on a little secret. The first thing she did when she moved to the UK was to buy a microwave rice cooker. I was shocked – but also very intrigued… If it’s good enough for her, it must be good enough for me.
I did some research on Amazon, found the Kitchen Craft Microwave Rice Cooker and took the plunge. A few days later my rice cooker arrived and after a quick clean I made my first pot of rice following the instructions. It was very good indeed – not perfect – but better than anything I had made in the previous years on the stove.
After a few tweaks to the instructions, I now produce excellent rice every time. In fact, this microwave rice cooker is so easy to use that I will happily make rice for lunch or dinner. I even look forward to it! It is simple to use, easy to clean and has proved to be very durable. Our rice cooker has been in weekly use for ten or so years and it still works as good as new. It is the only way I will ever cook rice now.
Here are my personal tips for using this Rice Cooker:
2 measuring pots of rice to 3.5 measuring pots of BOILING water. Boiling water turned this good microwave rice cooker into an exceptional rice cooker!
Stir a little oil into the rice before adding the water
Cook for 6 minutes (full power), take out, stir, then cook for another 5 to 6 minutes (full power). All done.
Place the rice cooker on a plate in the microwave because if you get the quantities wrong it will bubble over.
Optional: Try crumbling in a stock cube, or add herbs/spices for extra flavour.
All in all, this is an excellent kitchen rice cooker and highly recommended by us at Kitchen & Cook Shop.
Kitchen Craft Microwave 1.5 L Rice Cooker Reviews
All of the words above are my own, and as you can tell, I love my rice cooker and would not be without it. Perhaps you’re thinking to yourself that just one person’s opinion is not enough, and I agree with you. It’s good to get a range of opinions and thoughts before buying any kitchen product, be it a vegetable peeler or a food mixer, so with that in mind I thought that I would let you know about a couple of things. Firstly, the Kitchen Craft Microwave 1.5 L Rice Cooker is the most reviewed microwave rice cooker on Amazon.co.uk with over 1,600 reviews. It also has a star rating of 4.3 out of 5, which I think is excellent.
Of course, there are always going to be some negative reviews. I would agree with these people that the instructions are poor and that it is prone to leakage, but once you have the technique correct, you’ll never make bad rice again. Other negatives include people saying that brown rice does not cook very well and that it is too small for a family of four or more.
The majority of reviews are positive with the most common plus points being the quality of the product, the great results of perfect rice and the fact that you can also throw in some other ingredients and create a ‘one pot wonder’. Get yours today!
It may seem a little over enthusiastic to write a review about a silicone spatula, but a good spatula is something I think is essential in cake making and a necessary tool for the kitchen. Kitchen & Cook Shop’s Paul managed to melt my previous plastic spatula whilst making a batch of chilli oil – I guess it was hot oil in both senses of the word – and I really missed that particular tool and the temporary replacement he bought for the kitchen just wasn’t up to the task.
In my experience a good spatula is slim and bendy with no bulges or other design features that hamper its use. For example, some spatulas have a lump in the scraping part of the spatula where the handle joins the flat spatula part. This lump means that you cannot easily scrape all the cake mixture of the spatula without leaving some residue you can’t get to around the lump. This I find particularly annoying. It also means that you cannot use the spatula to slide underneath a cooling cookie to remove it from greaseproof paper as there is not enough of the flat part and again the ‘lump’ gets in the way causing the cookie to break up.
For me, the Kitchen Craft Colourworks Purple Silicone Spatula is the perfect design. It is formed in one piece so it is smooth all the way from the handle to the tip of the spatula, allowing it to be used for many different purposes. It has a very handy length of 28cm and now comes in 9 different colours! It is also silicone, so Paul can’t melt this one, unless his chillies are so hot they can melt anything!
Reviewers on Amazon UK agree that this a very useful spatula, well designed and also comes in a wide range of colours. They say that once you have used a silicone spatula you won’t want to go back to using a plastic one.
The Kitchen Craft Colourworks Silicone Spatula is the perfect tool for me and I would be lost without it.
If you love baking like we do then take a look at these wonderful cake making and baking books to inspire you:
Did you know that the colour red can stimulate the appetite, and it is often used in restaurants for this purpose. It increases our craving for food and other stimuli. Red is also the color of energy. It can excite our emotions and motivates us to take action.
Red Dinner Sets
Having a vibrant dinner set makes mealtimes fun and interesting and red crockery is great at displaying certain foods really well, especially dishes such as soups, curries and puddings.
A red dinner set always brings a smile to your face when you take it out of the cupboard. If you are tired after a long day at work and can’t be bothered to cook, then this stimulation of the senses can make you more positive about the meal you are preparing and eating. Consider a red dinning set as a quick pick-me-up!
Red crockery can also make an excellent gift. It is a fun present for a friend or family member so if you know of someone whose crockery is looking a little tired or faded, why not surprise them with a vibrant gift for the kitchen!
Below are some of our favourite red dinner sets. They are available in plain or patterned, porcelain or stoneware, and they are sure to make each mealtime a pleasure.
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Take a look at Kitchen & Cook Shop's Ideas Lists on Amazon. All of our best recommendations in handy lists ready for you to buy with a quick click. Including gift ideas, party essentials and more.
