Early Cooking Lessons with Mom and Sis

A few weeks ago, I got a care package from our eldest sister who sent over some of our favorite dishes that she used to prepare for us when we were in college.  It was a simple fare of Spaghetti in Puttanesca Sauce, Homemade Garlic Bread, Grilled Chicken, and Freshly Baked Mango Squares.  

As I take each bite of these flavorful and lovingly prepared dishes, I get transported back in time when my mom and my sisters would bond in the kitchen as we prepare meals for family gatherings.  It was then when I learned my first cooking lessons.  We have used a wide variety range cookers that grew and improved along with our cooking skills.  Here are some of the early cooking tips that I learned from my mom and our eldest sister.

On Cooking Pasta:  Pasta is best enjoyed when cooked Al dente, this means that the pasta is cooked with a soft yet firm consistency.  This means that you have to keep a close watch to your pasta as it gets close to the cooking time specified in the pasta label.  Once the pasta has expanded, take a piece of it from the pot and cool it for a few seconds before taking a bite.  It should be soft enough to bite through but firm enough to remain a bit chewy. Remove pasta from heat and drain water immediately once this consistency is achieved.  Leaving the pasta in the water even when the heat is turned off will lead to over cooking.

On Sautéing:  Heat pan first before putting the oil or butter in.  Add a little oil before placing the butter in so that it won’t get burned easily. Start with medium fire when heating the pan and turn it down to low when sautéing finely chopped vegetables. 

On Grilling:  Lightly brush the grill with oil before cooking to prevent of minimize sticking. Watch over the cooking temperature especially when using charcoal grills.  Temperatures can be adjusted by a sprinkle of water or moving the charcoal around to lower heat of fanning the flames to get more heat.  Marinating helps in tenderizing the meat you can marinate tough meat cuts longer to get the tenderness that you desire.

These are some of the first things I learned about cooking when I was young and it came handy when I had my own family and started preparing meals for them.  Until now, I still consult my mom and my sister whenever I am faced with difficult or tricky dishes to cook. 

Domestic Appliances of the Future

Kitchen appliances have come a long way since they first became available for sale to the general public several decades ago. Although they might have seemed advanced at the time, the very first fridge freezers, washing machines and dishwashers were bulky, unreliable and, at times, didn’t work properly. However, technology moved on very quickly, and kitchen appliances became more sophisticated and, before long, they were seen as essential for any home. Today, you might expect a Fridge Freezer from appliancesdirect.co.uk to do far more than keep food chilled or frozen. Not only that, but nowadays it is much easier to find someone to do appliance repair in waukesha, making life around the kitchen so much more pleasant than it used to be.

Refrigerators first entered kitchens in the UK and US in the 1930s, and seemed like something from the future. Electric Commerical Dishwashers were first sold in the 1940s, and were based on a manual version first created in the 1880’s, and like fridges, they were seen as innovative at the time. As newer appliances came out, they became more innovative to the point that today, many new fridge freezers, tumble dryers and the like are viewed by many as being smart appliances that do far more than just the basics you would expect them to do.

Kitchen appliances today use less energy than their predecessors, work faster, work more efficiently and can do things that older appliances couldn’t. For example, many modern washing machines have numerous settings that allow users to wash different materials such as wool, silk and nylon using specific wash cycles, with near-perfect results. Many smart washing machines also perform a full wash in the space of half an hour, while some models come equipped with a ‘daily wash’ programme. While this is what you should expect of technology today, what does the future hold for kitchen appliances?

The general consensus about kitchen appliances of the future is that all that get made available for sale will be energy efficient appliances. They’ll use even less energy than those on the market today, and will work even faster and better. It’s likely that many new appliances will take into account health, sustainability and even ease of use, which is one of, if not the main purpose of any kitchen appliance. However, you could also expect to see so much more than that from future domestic appliances.

Touch screens and internet connectivity are two features that could come as standard with some fridge freezers and washing machines. One manufacturer is currently working on a fridge freezer with a touch screen that can make video calls, look for recipes simply by scanning food items across it and even with the ability to see whether the contents of the fridge freezer are running low. Although this technology isn’t available at the moment, it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a standard piece of kit.

If you have appliances that don’t currently work, it may be worth considering organising a firm to have a look at them for you. My friend recently had to organise for Junior Appliance Edmonton to fix both her dishwasher and washing machine because they broke on the same day, typical! Most firms will strive to offer a professional service and can solve your problem immediately, but it is definitely worth finding a firm that suits you best.