I still don’t have my regular refrigerator in my house. The smaller one that was already here is still in place, and I’m tired of not having enough room in it for a fridge pack of Cokes to sit the right way for accessing the cans inside. The way it is now, I have to practically ram food containers into this small fridge in order to keep things cold. If anything is the least bit forward, the door of the fridge won’t shut!

I’d also like to have my ice maker running. I’ve been buying ice, which is crazy when I’ve got a fridge that will make all the ice we need. I’ve just got to get a couple of other guys over here to pull the other refrigerator out and install mine. A former tenant obviously had an ice maker refrigerator because the water line for that is already in place.

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We cooked way too much food yesterday. We always do when it comes to cooking out. That’s because we cook enough of each meat so that everyone present can have some of all of it. Now we have brats, burgers, salmon, kebob casserole, and sides left. That’s OK, though, because Son and I will make good use of the leftovers for the next couple of days. All we’ll have to do is warm them up and enjoy great, grilled foods without any of the mess of starting up the grill.

I have my microwave here, and will warm up some things with it. The meat, however, I’ll warm in the oven. That way, it won’t wind up being so dried out and tough. The microwave just isn’t any good for cooking or warming meat, in my opinion. Real heat from the oven is the only way to go as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve also got plenty of pasta salad and potato salad left to put with the other things, so we should have several well-rounded meals for the next day or two. Any meats that are left after that will go into the freezer. I know that after a couple of days, we’ll get tired of eating from this stuff, so freezing it for future meals is the best way to go.

Technorati Tags: grill, microwave, oven, freezer

I’ve got a number of handy counter top appliances, but right now they are all still in the storage unit. We are getting that stuff moved in little by little, but I do miss a lot of my gadgets. I use my steamer, my food processor, my crock pot, and my electric roaster a lot, and not having them here right now really puts a crimp in my cooking style.

There are some things I really need to replace. My electric mixer has seen better days, and the food processor has a crack in the lid. I might want to get a centralized motor base that will operate several appliance attachments, instead of buying all the appliances separately. It would be funny if I were shopping for that and came across air tools for the kitchen. Can you imagine a blender that runs off a blast of compressed air? It could blow the lid off! Seriously, it could actually be a good idea in a commercial kitchen where the compressor could be house outside the kitchen itself and all the kitchen tools run from hoses instead of electrical cords. It might even be safer.

Technorati Tags: counter top appliances, gadgets

Wow! It’s been several days since I posted here. I can’t believe how many! But, I’ve been really busy with work since I’ve been transferred to a new store. I’m liking it better. Far less stress which will translate into better control of my blood pressure.

This is a new McDonald’s located inside a Walmart store. Most of the equipment is brand new which means not much down-time from it. I like that. It’s really nerve wracking to have to deal with equipment break-downs and try to explain to customers that there’s really nothing I can do about it.

A few days into the transfer, a terrible storm came through and knocked out all the power. When the electricity came on, the beautiful, shiny, new, nearly Cadillac grills weren’t heating up again. The display screen on them kept showing an error message. Yes, the grills and all other equipment are controlled digitally, and while that’s a really good thing, that day, it wound up being a road block.

Repairmen came in and reset everything for us, replaced a breaker in the grills that had blown out from the storm, and got us going again. However, it takes about 30 minutes for them to heat back up. I thought we’d have to get a couple of electric griddles from Walmart to be able to make burgers!

Technorati Tags: McDonald’s, grills, electric griddles

My old percolator finally gave up the ghost, which means I had to buy a new coffee maker. I usually buy percolators, but this time I opted for a drip coffee maker. I think I’m going to like it just fine. It makes coffee in about five minutes. It also has a timer and clock so I can set it up the night before to come on in the morning.

It’s called a Professional Series Collezioni Digital Coffee Maker. It’s the model PS77611, and is a sleek, black coffee maker. I really like the looks of it and I actually need less coffee in it than I did in my old percolator. I also like the feature that shuts it off after two hours, just in case I forget to turn it off before I head to work!

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I’ve got a small pork roast in my tabletop roaster oven now, and have just added green beans to another pan in the roaster. I really haven’t utilized this appliance nearly enough, so today seemed like a good day to give it another trial.

I had some drippings from another pork roast, so I just added them to the pan with this one. It’s really smelling yummy now and I’m getting hungry!

I put the green beans in a pan in the roaster after the pork roast was beginning to get pretty well done. It still has enough time left on it to cook till it’s fork-tender, and that gives the green beans plenty of time to finish cooking to a turn, as well. I’ll get rice into the steamer so everything gets done at the same time. It takes about 30 minutes for the rice. By the time it’s done and I make some sauce from the drippings, we should have a lovely, hearty meal for this chilly winter’s day!

I’ll make a nice honey mustard glaze to go on our slices of pork roast when it’s all ready to plate up. I’ll add another picture of this feast on the plate later today!

Technorati Tags: pork roast, tabletop roaster oven, steamer

One of my best friends in the kitchen is my slow cooker. I use it for the ordinary cooking tasks you’d expect. But I also use it for other things. For instance, I make small batches of dressing in it instead of using the oven. The dressing turns out moist and delicious. I’ve even used it for making baked potatoes by wrapping the potatoes in aluminum foil, putting a little water in the bottom, and laying the potatoes on a rack in the bottom.

My crockpot is really old. I’ve had it for about 22 years and the only thing wrong with it right now is the lid broke a couple of years ago. I use a pan lid I already have that fits it nicely and keeps the steam in. However, I have recently been looking for a new slow cooker, which means doing some research. I want to know the appliance I get will last a long time, will cook efficiently and evenly, and will be versatile.

One place I can do some of that research is at Wize.com, where they show you user reviews, brands, prices, and a number rank for the slow cooker I’m looking at. I can do some side-by-side comparisons and be ready to buy the exact one I need for my uses.

Technorati Tags: crockpot, appliance, Wize.com

I didn’t have many opportunities this past summer to cook outdoors. This is really unusual since I have always had one or two meals a week that I cooked on my grill.

I have one of those heavy Lufkin grills and I’ve had it probably 15 years or so. We replaced the steel liners once, after the original ones burned through finally. We used a heavier gauge steel so these will last a lot longer. The liners help prevent the actual bottom side of the grill from burning or rusting out.

While I can use charcoal in the grill, I never do. It’s designed to use either wood or charcoal and I have alway chosen wood. Generally, I’ve used hickory but at times I’ve added cherry to it. What an aroma! I have also put rosemary in the fire to add that flavor to the meats being cooked.

While this old black grill isn’t as pretty as a billet grille for a new car, it has served me well over the years and I think I’ll keep it around until it can no longer stand on its own four legs.

A word to the wise: Never use oak in your grill. It smells like you’re burning a wet dog and makes your food taste awful.

Technorati Tags: grill, Lufkin grill, charcoal, hickory, cherry, rosemary, oak

I got a new kitchen gadget last night. It’s a Hamilton Beach electric roaster. It’s also called a tabletop oven. This roaster is a large capacity, able to roast up to an 18 pound turkey or ham. I can also use the buffet pans for cooking smaller quantities or keeping foods warm. It came with a meat rack, as well. I found it at Kohl’s on sale for only $30, so it really was a good deal and I’ll get a lot of use from it all year long.

It will cook a turkey in about half the time of a conventional oven, although the use of a meat thermometer is recommended to be on the safe side. I do have one, so I’ll use it.

The reason I wanted the roaster was to make cornbread dressing for Thanksgiving. We’ll be going to my Mom’s and that was what was requested that I bring. I took it last year, too, and it seemed to be a pretty big hit.

The reason I needed this large capacity roaster is that my oven won’t light anymore. You see that brown stove in the background? Yeah, it’s a really old stove and it’s starting to be unsafe to use, so I don’t even have gas hooked up to it anymore. I’m currently in the market for another gas stove, but as long as I have a good variety of countertop appliances, I can actually get by pretty nicely without it.

Technorati Tags: Hamilton Beach electric roaster, tabletop oven, roaster, countertop appliances

Eventually, your refrigerator, and mine, will either quit completely or become such an ineffective appliance to keep around that you’ll be shopping for a new one. Large appliance purchases are not undertaken lightly. I research everything I buy, and this would especially apply to purchasing something like a refrigerator.

First of all, I want to know that what I’m buying has a good warranty against defects, and that the warranty isn’t so flimsy that it will be discarded by the dealer at the first sign of trouble. I also want to know that the appliance I purchase has a good energy rating, so my electric bill doesn’t start to skyrocket. Additionally, I want to purchase locally and save the money I’d have to pay for shipping from some other location.

If I were interested in General Electric Refrigerators, I’d want the above standards met. Finding just the right dealer, though, can be a problem. Krillion.com offers to simplify my search and show me the local stores that sell these refrigerators.

Like most people, while I have good internet access and can research for reviews of appliances, I’d still want to buy them in my hometown, if at all possible. I believe in supporting local merchants. They are our neighbors, after all, and their contribution to the community often extends beyond the front door of their businesses.

Technorati Tags: refrigerator, appliance, shopping, Krillion.com