These 12 handy tips will save you a lot of time and headaches in the kitchen. Your kitchen is for enjoyment and spending time with family and friends.
Go ahead and try these next time you are in the kitchen
Whipping up vinaigrette can make you wish you had three hands -- one to whisk, one to pour the oil, and one to hold the bowl steady. A damp kitchen towel can do the trick. Just twist the towel securely around the base of the bowl to keep it in place.
No-Stick TrickFor brownies and bar cookies that don't crumble or stick when you remove them from the pan, try this: Butter the baking dish, then place a sheet of parchment, also buttered, inside, allowing about 2 inches to extend beyond two opposite sides. Bake according to the recipe's instructions, and let cool. Pull up on the parchment to lift the dessert from the pan before cutting.
Slicing Bacon StripsWhen a recipe calls for sliced or diced bacon, freeze the strips for easier cutting: This way, they won't slide under the knife.
Separating Yolks and WhitesTry this quick and clean method for separating yolks and whites. Gently crack an egg over a slotted spoon set atop a bowl. The white will flow through the openings, leaving the yolk intact and your hands mess-free.
Citrus Trick
To get every last drop from an overly firm lemon or lime, zap it in the microwave for 10 seconds. The heat will soften the fruit, releasing its liquid. Slice it in two. Using one hand, squeeze half (cut side against your palm) over a bowl. The seeds will collect in your hand as the juice flows into the dish.
Peeling Ginger
The next time you have a recipe that calls for fresh ginger, reach for a spoon. It removes the thin skin easily, even from the knotty areas. Hold the spoon, concave side facing you, and draw it toward you. Manoeuvre the spoon and ginger as necessary to get into all the crevices.
Non-Slip Cutting Board
To keep a cutting board from lurching or wobbling while you chop, set it on a piece of non-slip mesh -- the same rubber pad that's used to keep area rugs in place. Available from housewares stores, a rubber pad works under unsteady mixing bowls as well.
Self-adhesive felt protectors -- like those used to prevent chair legs from scratching the floor -- have another handy application. Stick them under kitchen appliances, such as the toaster, coffeemaker, and electric can opener, which will then glide across the countertop for easy access.
Kitchen Helper
Don't leave that bench scraper in a drawer, waiting for your next baking project. In the same way that it efficiently removes bits of dough from a work surface, it can transport every last chopped vegetable from the cutting board to the prep bowl in one pass.
Grinder Care
Freshly ground seeds of cumin, coriander, and fennel don't just spice up your cooking, they also cling to the grinder. For a quick cleaning, run soft, fresh white bread through the grinder to pick up lingering spices and absorb the oil they leave behind.
Sieve Shield
Foods that sputter and spatter as they fry, such as bacon and soft-shell crabs, can be a hazard to the cook and anyone else within close range. If you don't have a spatter guard, a large sieve can stand in for protection -- just place it facedown over the food cooking in the pan. For safety, turn both handles toward the back of the stove, resting the sieve's handle on top of the pan's.
Opening Stubborn Jars
Try this trick for opening stubborn jar lids: Place one rubber band around the lid, and another around the jar. With one hand, grip the jar where the rubber band encircles it; use the other hand to twist off the lid. The rubber bands provide friction, so your hands won't slip off the jar or lid.
Let us know the handy tips you have that can save us all time.
You probably don't realise it but the kitchen is the most dangerous room in the house.
It is also the most complex room in the house because you are combining water, gas, electricity and people (and traffic) in one area. No other room in your house has to handle all this activity and actions at once.
The 6 most common Kitchen Accidents are:
How many times have you touched a pot or pan that is still hot?
How often have you tasted a sauce or soup and it is too hot to taste.
Most burns will occur after you have removed your cooking from the oven and it is still burning hot but sitting innocently on your benchtop.
There is no sensible reason why you would want to touch something that's hovering around a couple of hundred degrees but most of us have done it.
Other burns occur whilst either putting something or taking it out of the oven or touching a hot pan.
Never, ever, ever leave a cooking pot unattended. With our busy lifestyles, smart phones, IPads, televisions it is easy to forget something or become distracted.
A ringing phone has many times become the catalyst for a major kitchen accident. If there is one area of your home that should be phone free then it is your kitchen especially when you are cooking.
If you have something cooking and you have to leave the kitchen please check back frequently.
Also be careful on how the handles of the pots are facing and remember that small hands can touch them as well. So keep them out of reach.
Do you remember the scene from the movie "Mrs Doubtfire", when she reached over the cooking and started to burn her clothes?
Leaning across a burner, especially a gas burner can easily lead to a fire.
Remember to use the correct oven mittens and not towels. Towels can easily hang down, get caught or rest against something hot and begin to burn.
As dumb as it sounds, fire related accidents are the most common ones and the ones that could cause you more harm, as well.
Avoid wearing loosely fitted clothing while cooking. Sleeves, sashes and shirt tails can get caught on knobs or catch fire.
We use a variety of liquids in the kitchen; water, oil, vinegar, wine etc. Most of these when spilt on the floor, will be invisible to the naked eye, or we are distracted doing something else and we don't see them.
Slipping on something you have spilt is the easiest way to get injured in the kitchen, or someone else slipping as they walk into your kitchen.
The majority of these accidents go unreported since there aren't a lot of people anxious to brag about their own accident.
Between all the oils, liquids, and even flour that gets tossed around in the average kitchen there's plenty of ways to create your own little skating rink. Even small puddles of liquid can cause you to slip and fall.
Another seemingly avoidable accident that typically comes about from just not paying close attention to what's going on.
Knocking over a pot of boiling water (or a similar hot item) is a great way to immediately ruin even the best of days.
Sometimes it's the result of a handle that was left askew, and other times it's a misplaced elbow bumping into something it shouldn't have.
Either way, spilling hot water on yourself is a clumsy accident that can do a huge amount of damage.
Cutting yourself while attempting to slice food claims more fingers and palms than any other item.
Knives Are More Threatening Than They Look!
Be sure to keep your knives in a safe place in your counter or in your kitchen.
If you’re not a trained cook, be sure to slice slowly and in a dry enough place.
Do not lose attention and be careful of those little distractions.
A well-designed kitchen can help with reducing accidents as you have your cooking triangle, think about how people will enter and exit your kitchen, how many people in your kitchen, using induction cooking.
Today we all are more conscious of the environment and how we all can help to protect and save the environment.
We all can take certain steps to ensure our home is more and more eco-friendly. Some actions just start with all of us individually. We can take more responsibility.
These 17 tips will help you get started on making improvements around your home.
These free and easy ways can be started straight away in your home.
Lower your water heater’s thermostat to 48 degrees, to restrict heat loss.
Run full loads, air dry, and skip the pre-rinsing. Energy Star dishwashers can be more efficient than hand washing, so consider replacing an older, less-efficient model.
Energy Star dishwashers can be more efficient than hand washing, so consider replacing an older, less-efficient model.
Avoid harmful herbicides and pesticides in your garden; create and use compost, and practice organic gardening techniques.
Lower the air-conditioner this winter to conserve energy without sacrificing comfort.
Turn it down at night and when you’re not home -- or install a programmable thermostat for automatic adjustments.
According to the EPA, an average family of four that recycles only plastic waste can save the equivalent of nearly 340 pounds of carbon emissions per year.
Many household appliances continue to suck electricity even when switched off; minimise leaks by unplugging idle electronics.
About 90 percent of the energy used for a load of laundry goes to heating the water.
Some stains demand hot water, as do bed linens (to kill dust mites).
Wash all other loads in cold.
These small Purchases will make a big difference in your home.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs consume a quarter of the electricity required by comparable incandescent bulbs and last up to 12 times longer.
Maximize savings by changing at least five frequently used bulbs.
To reduce hot-water consumption, replace older showerheads with ones that spray no more than 9 litres a minute.
Experts’ concerns about the proliferation of fragrances have to do with their potential effects on our health; essential oils and natural fragrances are safer alternatives.
High-octane chemicals are known to be harmful to both your family’s health and the environment; select natural cleaning and laundry products at the store, or use homemade natural cleansers.
Typical linens are made with conventional cotton, which accounts for about 25 percent of the world’s insecticide use, and many manufacturers’ dyes are derived from petroleum (a non-renewable resource) in a highly polluting process.
Choose an eco-friendly alternative such as organic cotton or renewable fibres such as bamboo instead.
Consider these smart Investments for your home;
Conventional flooring choices can harm the environment and potentially you and your family’s health.
Whether you’re remodelling or simply want to replace your carpet, choose healthy, sustainable flooring materials such as bamboo, cork, true linoleum, natural-fiber carpet, or FSC-certified wood.
Many paints contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are linked to various health problems.
When shopping for paint, choose low- or zero-VOC varieties, or paints made from natural materials, such as milk or clay paints.
Refrigerators use more electricity than any other appliance. Older ones are worse, so give top priority to replacing a pre-1993 fridge. Sleep on a Chemical-Free Mattress Many mattresses
Older ones are worse, so give top priority to replacing a pre-1993 fridge.
Many mattresses are treated with toxic chemicals called PBDEs to reduce their flammability.
To limit your exposure to these dangerous toxins, cover your mattress with an organic wool or latex pad, or when buying a new one, choose a PBDE-free mattress.
Energy Star-qualified windows with insulating glazes, gas fills, and better framing materials reduce the demand on heating and cooling systems, saving energy and money.
These simple steps will benefit you and your home.
A dishwasher is a great addition to any kitchen.
It can give you freedom from all that washing up allowing you to do other things in your home.
But to get the most from your dishwasher and to protect your kitchen goods there are some simple rules you must follow.
Do use only the recommended amount of detergent -- too much can leave behind a residue, and too little can result in dirty dishes.
Do run only full loads.
If the dishwasher is partially full, use the rinse-hold cycle to remove odour-causing foods.
This is more economical than rinsing dishes by hand, which can waste up to 20 extra gallons of water per load or 6,500 gallons per household each year
Do use a rinse aid.
They lower the surface tension of the rinse water so droplets don’t form.
Particularly helpful if you have hard water, they also help dishes dry faster, which can be helpful when using the Energy-Saving Dry cycle or air-drying dishes
Do dry dishes on the lowest temperature setting.
Hotter temperatures can leave spots on glassware.
Don’t put the following into a dishwasher:
Don’t spill dry dishwasher detergent on flatware, it can cause dark spots.
Don’t jam too many pieces into the silverware basket, which can lead them to get scratched.
Don’t mix sterling or silver-plate and stainless steel flatware in the dishwasher, even when using the rinse-hold cycle.
A reaction between the two metals can damage both finishes.
Since most knives, including sterling ones, have stainless-steel blades, keep them away from other silver pieces too.
You can download a copy of these tips Here.
Check out our range of dishwashers for your home.
We all love our leather bags. They are just lovely.
They feel good, they look good and they are such a fashion necessity.
However, leather bags can be tricky to look after especially in extreme weathers.
Every leather has a type and every type needs a different care.
If you buy the leather bag from a manufacturer, then it would be wise to follow the instructions given by him for only enhancing the leather quality and appearance.
There are a few everyday tips you can follow in order to make your bag look even more beautiful and stylish.
2. If you spill water on your bag or it gets wet in the rain, dry it slowly. Room temperature with gentle air works better than direct heater time with hair-dryer, as that can dry out and crinkle the leather by changing its chemical structure. And make sure while drying to keep it in the shape you want it in.
3. If leather gets too dry, rub something moist onto it. Pick a leather dressing or cream, preferably recommended by the maker. Leathers can have paints, waxes, oils and all sorts of things applied to their surface, so you probably want to pick something you are familiar with.
4. Do not use soap if the leather gets dirty. Soaps are harsh and can affect the chemical structure of the skin. Just use a damp cloth.
5. Don’t overfill your leather bag as it can lose its shape! Leather easily stretches out, but not back: Once de-shaped, it will never really return to its former taut self. If you stretch a leather bag when wet or very humid, it will move even faster. Just learn to carry the right amount, and this takes care of itself.
6. If packing your leather bag for a longer stretch of time, make sure it can breathe Think of leather as having the life frozen rather than completely killed. What you’re really trying to stop is any mildew growth, so keep some ventilation going
7. Give it a good cleaning once a year. It’s not just good wardrobe hygiene—taking your bag to a leather specialist once a year prolongs the bag’s life, cleaning away buildup and germs so the leather’s natural character continues to show through. Most cobblers will care for bags too.
8. Soften the leather by hand. Your bag becomes buttery-soft on their own, but you can speed up the process. Lay the bag on a flat surface and, starting from the bottom, roll it up. Reroll starting from a different side of the tote. Then turn it inside out and roll it again.
9. Resist the urge to treat stains. If you carry your favorite bag like we carry ours—that is, all the time and everywhere—accidents happen, from grass and grease to ink and wine. Thankfully, a leather specialist knows just how to remove stains without ruining the leather, or the patina it’s developing.
When buying new clothes or accesories you not only want it to look good but to feel good too.
12 reasons why this alpaca fiber garments are a stylish addition to your fashion accessories.
Its most remarkable quality is its softness – alpaca fibre is inherently soft. This is due to the fact it has less scales on each individual fibre, compared to sheep's wool which has many, and more prominent scales on each individual fibre. (Suri alpaca have less scales than huacaya alpaca so their fibre is even softer.)
Strands of alpaca fiber are smooth and so feel less prickly or itchy next to the skin.
Even at its coarsest, alpaca is inherently softer than sheep's wool and often a certain percentage of alpaca fibre is added to sheep's wool during the woollen process to enhance the handle or feel.
Alpaca fiber is softer due to their low micron count, resulting in a luxuriously soft texture.
Baby Alpaca is the most rare and finest classification of Alpaca fiber. Don't worry, it is simply a measure of fiber density, not fleece from baby alpacas.
Alpaca fiber is a natural thermostat. It contains microscopic air pockets that keep body heat in cooler temperatures and releases it in warmer temperatures.
Alpaca fiber is similar in structure to sheep wool but it is warmer the sheep wool.
The alpaca has a fine and light fleece. It does not keep water, is a thermal insulator even when wet and can resist solar radiation effectively. These characteristics guarantee the animals a permanent and appropriate coat to protect against extreme changes of temperature. This fiber offers the same protection to humans.
In testing at the Yocum-McCall Testing laboratories alpaca fiber was shown to be three times warmer than sheep’s wool.
One reason is that alpaca is more heavily medullated: in other words, there are tiny hollow areas in the centers of many individual alpaca fibers. These areas hold the warmth and, in addition, make alpaca lighter in weight than other animal fibers.
As each strand of alpaca fiber is hollow this gives it tremendous thermal capacity. This gives you a breathable fiber with an insulating nature.
Alpaca insulates from cool and warm temperatures. This gives you a jumper, scarf or throw that you can use all year round. Especially a scarf which can be worn all year round as a necessary fashion accessory.
Alpaca fiber is a light weight and breathable material that allows you to wear it next to your skin.
Your scarf or throw won't be restrictive on your skin and will allow you to easily move and stretch your arms. You won't feel weighed down by a heavy garment.
The alpaca fiber is smooth not prickly like sheeps wool.
Sheep's wool has a different physical make-up than that of alpaca fiber. The outside of each strand of wool has tiny, microscopic scales along the length of the strand. When garments made with wool are worn next to the skin, these scales catch the surface of the skin and cause some wool to feel prickly.
These feelings do not occur with alpaca fiber
Alpaca fibers have a higher tensile strength than wool fibers. In processing, slivers lack fiber cohesion and single alpaca rovings lack strength. Blend these together and the durability is increased several times over.
Alpaca does not contain lanolin, making it easier to process than sheep’s wool.
Some fabric experts say alpaca is more resilient and wrinkle resistant than cashmere. They also suggest that it has a lower tendency to shrink than wool and cashmere.
No lanolin which makes it hypoallergenic, which means fewer allergic reactions.
As Alpaca fiber is lanolin free (lanolin holds dust and microscopic allergens that create allergies to wool), which allows for the hypoallergenic nature of the fiber.
This makes alpaca fiber safe for you to wear.
People have long observed that alpaca fiber is water resistant.
Tests at Gaston College in 2009 proved that. Their representative told the Alpaca Fiber Symposium that alpaca is virtually water repellent. In the testing process they found it all but impossible to saturate alpaca fiber to do the test.
This extreme water resistance may be the reason alpaca so successfully wicks moisture away from the body. The many fans of alpaca socks tell us that the socks are very warm but that their feet don’t feel sweaty while wearing them. Thus, while wearing alpaca socks, one’s feet remain comfortable in cold, wet conditions.
The water resistant quality of alpaca may be a reason some report that it resists odors better than other fibers, even in socks.
The designer Armani has used Suri alpaca to fashion men's and women's suits. Alpaca fleece is made into various products, from simple and inexpensive garments made by the indigenous communities to sophisticated, industrially made and expensive products such as suits.
An alpaca that grows soft spongy fiber, has natural crimp, thus making a naturally elastic yarn well-suited for knitting.
Alpaca is more flame resistant than plant or synthetic fibers. Also in case of fire, it does not melt onto the skin like synthetics do.
Fiber diameter is a highly inherited trait in both alpaca and sheep. The difference in the individual fiber scales compared to sheep wool also creates the glossy shine which is prized in alpaca.
The lack of scales and smoothness of the fibre also gives alpaca a natural brightness as the smoother surface reflects the light better. Suri alpaca (because it has less scales) reflects the light like a mirror and is renowned for its deep lustre, as well as its luxuriously smooth handle.
Alpacas come naturally in 22 color variations; the spectrum includes white, fawn, brown, gray and black, with all the natural shades between.
Alpaca dyes beautifully and is available in a variety of dyed colors. The color spectrum is as vast as your imagination if you choose to dye your own yarn.
Alpaca was the fiber reserved for Inca royalty dating back thousands of years. In the mid 1800's Sir Titus Salt (England) discovered the alpaca fiber and fashioned the first modern alpaca garments.
These special characteristics makes alpaca fiber garments a must.
Check out our range of scarves and throws for you to choose from.
