my favourite things: simmer mat

This is my simmer mat, I bought it from a local kitchen shop.
It allows me to cook things without burning or catching them.
It is great to use instead of a double boiler.

Here it is with lemon butter.
I use it for all those things that need a little bit of extra care.
I would thoroughly  recommend it for any kitchen.

V slicer

This is my V slicer.
Well technically it is VCH's not mine, I bought it for him for Christmas.
He had wanted one for so long - like they used to have when he was a kid.
We bought one on e-bay but it didn't work good enough for him.
But when our new kitchen shop opened just before Christmas they had them, so I bought him one for Christmas.
It is great, he loves it, I love it, the kids love it.
It is so easy to slice onions, tomatoes, carrots- anything you want thin and uniformly sliced.
It is quick and easy to use with very little washing up.

deep fryer

This is one of my favourite things: My deep fryer.
I bought it last year and is great to make home made fish and chips in.
I also use it when deep frying other things, although I try not to deep fry too often.
It also saves us money on take-away.
When desperate deep fried chips come in handy.

my favourite things: toaster

The above toaster is my latest kitchen friend.
I have been looking for the last twelve months or so for kitchen equipment that lasts, has long warranties or can be fixed when it breaks rather than thrown away.
As we use our toaster everyday I think it is worthwhile to buy something that is going to last rather than have to constantly replace it.
I am sick of putting up with toasters that do not cook properly- the last toaster we bought drove me insane as you would have to press it down twice to get it to cook the bread and then watch the second time that it didn't burn, or toasters that last 6 -12 months and then die.
We have been using since February a toaster that we got from Paul's uncle, a little two slice toaster. It obviously couldn't stand up to the rigours of a family of eight and died last week.
A few days of cooking toast under the grill was not very successful so I went back to the internet and compared the two brands I was thinking about- this one won.
It is a Sunbeam Cafe Series 4 slice toaster.
It has a 5 year warranty on the elements and they are replaceable.
Yes it is more expensive than the average toaster but it will last me at the bare minimum 5 years, so it will actually work out cheaper in the long term.
It also has a lovely crumpet feature that we tried the other day.
I don't get crumpets too often as they contain the preservative 282.
It cooks the crumpets to perfection with the top brown and the bottom not burnt.
They were a lovely breakfast treat smothered in butter and honey.

my favourite things stand mixer

This is my Kitchen Aid Ariston Stand Mixer, I got it just before Christmas last year.
It was not technically a Christmas present, but a tax return present.
For most of last year I had to use my food processor for everything.
My blender had broken, one of the kids dropped the hand mixer and broke it, and my processor was not looking too good either but it was the only thing I had.
I decided to invest in good quality appliances that have long warranties, and that could be fixed rather than thrown out when broken.
My Kitchen Aid was one of these.
I love it!
I can actually make a lovely sponge with it and it is nice not having to stand and hold a mixer while I'm whipping things.
We use the dough hook for pizza or bread dough and it gets it done in no time.
I haven't got any attachments for it yet but am considering an ice cream attachment, and a mincer/ sausage maker.