Christmas Culinaria?

Well, what was it, gift or get? A Pacojet? That $2,400 “Pallet of Le Creuset”? A single, perfect truffle? A beer helmet?

I was holding out for an Anti-Griddle or a piece of Napoleon’s table service, but it’s not gonna happen…

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Santa brought just what I wanted - a Falk 24 cm gratin (Classic line).

Also, a bonus gift of a paint can full of potato chips.

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We got chocolate from my in-laws.

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Not a gift, but a refurbished appliance I bought on eBay, probably 20 yrs ago, that never made it out of the box. At the time I had a basic microwave that I thought might crap out soon. It lasted another decade. By that time I was no longer able to lift more than 30# so didn’t nuke for over 5 years.

Two days ago, visiting friends helped me get it onto the counter (40#+, almost 20" deep x 20" wide. This 900w Sharp microwave/ convection/grill is probably vintage by now. But it looks new and passed the boiling 8 oz of water test. I didn’t realize when I bought it that it can also broil/grill. There are independently controlled heating elements on the ceiling and floor of the unit. At one point I had a convection microwave given to me by a friend who was moving cross country and no longer needed it. But I never knew there were models that could broil/grill. Curious how it will perform. I assume they did not catch on with most home cooks.

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I’m still using a MWO that came with convection baking and grilling. Past tense–those functions were little used, weren’t very good, and stopped working 20 years ago. The nuclear function continues on, but the turntable recently spun its last. I’ve yet to replace it only because I like the simple controls.

I miss my Amana Radarange.

Oh, that Falk is pretty. Congrats.

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You’re going way back in time. A le classmate of mine actually had one.

My mom inherited the Radarange from a rich uncle, I’m guessing in the late 60s, since he was a technophile, with oil wells to prove it. She and Dad used it, but somehow it ended up sitting unused in a barn. I dusted it off (along with the '48 GE Airliner) , maybe mid 80s, and it worked perfectly. Three blender buttons, two dials, easy peasy. All SS inside.

Looked like this: https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/313914/ Unfortunately, it went in the barn auction.

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Yes. That’s the one.

My first microwave was an Amana Radarange, in 1979. It died after 10 years of heavy use. Its replacement, the aforementioned convection microwave given me by a friend, was also an Amana.

I didn’t get one damned thing to cook with this year.

OTOH, I mentioned this in another thread, but I got daughter #2 a refurbed KA standmixer pro-600 line for dirt cheap from KA, candy apple red. We also got her a 6 quart Amazon Basics Dutch oven.

My oldest daughter got a 7.5 quart LC ECI Dutch oven (you might recall, I bought a second because I thought the first was defective, until you helped me understand the basics of the LC enameling process).

Daughter #3 got all her knives sharpened by Dad, and I used chain mail on 2 of her Demeyere 5-ply SS to remove the polymerized oil. And I got her a 3-pack of the chain mail for her future use. Plus, I found on eBay a set of 4 Sonoma “Winter Fields” mugs and a matching “Winter Fields” serving platter (images below). We’d had the mugs in the house for decades and they were her favorites for tea but they’d all gotten broken over the years.

Son (kid #4) got a Ninja Blender, a PUR water filtration thingie (water in his college town really smells) and a pack of 100 air fryer liners so he doesn’t have to wash out the basket so much.

Me? I got a really cool camp chair (rocker style) for my (near) daily fishing. Also this week, I ran two of my old Griswold #8 cast iron pans through the oven cleaning cycle to burn off the old seasoning and then re-seasoned them so the eggs slide around like air hockey pucks. I’m in heaven. :slight_smile:



Mug
image



Platter

image

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Those things are the best! Otherwise, it’s impossible to keep the basket clean.

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What a sweet sentimental gift.

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Santa gave me this olive oil in my stocking, as well as a lb. of locally roasted coffee:

Then, picked by me: an OXO large cookie scoop and Norpro bamboo toaster tongs with a magnet.

Also this scraper paddle for my new mixer:

And a Christmas assortment of truffles from French Broad Chocolate.

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We got a home-made fruitcake from my SIL. Very moist and very tasty. She drizzled crème de cassis over it; it is not detectable at all. I just polished off a slice left out on a plate overnight. It did not dry out.

I gave my 10-year-old great-niece, a keen baker, a copy of RLB’s “Pie and Pastry Bible”, after having previously given her other RLB books and an Alice Medrich book. Her grandpa told me that when he asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she said an air fryer!

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Pardon my ignorance, but what would you use that for? Would you take off your normal paddle, then use the scraper as a last step?

I think you use it in place if the regular one, and it’s supposed to eliminate the stopping to scrape…I think…:sweat_smile:

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I use it in place of the regular paddle, especially with more liquidity batters instead of stiffer doughs

Also just nice to have an extra around if the dishes aren’t washing themselves as fast as one would like

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I’ve never tried them - does it impede air flow very much? We mostly use our own air fryer to reheat pizza, and I want the crust to get crispy again, and that tends not to be too bad in terms of grease. Otherwise as you say the basket gets very messy and it’s a basic X-pattern expanded metal mesh, so it also shreds the sponge while trying to clean it.