Migraine? Sure. I'll buy that.The housekeeper, Biddy, has passed out in the front yard from a migraine, Dr. Gifford is able to tell right off it's a migraine and tells Louisa to let her 'sleep it off'. Hmmm. What else could it have been? A hangover? A stroke? Narcolepsy? What has Biddy been doing with the cooking sherry? I know I'm not a trained physician but I think I'd want a second opinion on this one.
Sir James has a 'fruity voice'. Okay. Let's just dance (mincingly) around this and steal a line from The Princess Bride, 'I do not think that means what you think it means.'
When making arrangements for her new flat, our heroine's landlady declines paperwork saying "I won't do the dirty on you". What a clever landlady. I think a court of law would have a difficult time finding anything bindingly legal about the phrase 'do the dirty'.
I live in a KitchenAid.
Aunt Martha's kitchen philosophy is that all she needs is a bowl and a wooden spoon...none of them new-fangled gadgets. I am not really much of a gadget chef but until this year I could not live without my rice cooker...until it broke and now I do. Also, I had let my bread machine collect dust and take up precious cupboard space until this year. Now I am churning out batch after batch of homemade dinner rolls. I don't have one of those fancy KitchenAid mixers but I am fairly sure that if you have one all you need to do is leave your ingredients on the counter and leave the room. That's when the KitchenAid elves come out of the casing and make your meals magnificent, right?
Betty Debbie notes that there is a town named Gussauge-up-Chettle. What does that mean? I found a book called Chafins of Chettle with this quote: Beyond Chettle the road mounts up over Gussauge Hill.
Now that I've wrapped up that one I will now attempt to explain the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle... ;0)
Now that I've wrapped up that one I will now attempt to explain the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle... ;0)
Don't call it a comeback.
Sir James' wife is suffering from a severe attack of shingles. I was once given 'shingles' as my word to draw during a game of Pictionary (why don't people play that anymore?) and lost that round due to the simple fact that I was attempting to draw the disease and it completely fled my mind that all I would have to draw was a house, a roof and some arrows. Grrr.
Dear Betty Keira,
ReplyDeleteSorry to disillusion you about the KitchenAid...it still takes a bit of effort.
I could have every kitchen gadget known to man...if I wanted to. Dr. van der Stevejinck is quite the gadget junkie. I have to keep my requests fairly basic, otherwise my cupboards would be quite overwhelmed. I can live without a rice cooker (I don't have a problem making it on the stovetop, and cooked rice freezes quite well), but not a bread machine (I never cook bread in it - I use it constantly for dough: bread, rolls, calzones, breadsticks, pizza crust...). What other gadgets do I love?
*slow cookers/Crockpots. I'm embarrassed to admit that I own four...possibly five. I could probably get rid of one.
*Cuisinart Ice Cream/Sorbet/Frozen Yogurt maker. I love not having the mess of ice and salt to clean up.
*Braun stick blender/mini chopper. I use this little baby at least two or three times a week.
*waffle iron.
*toaster oven. Now that we're down to only four people in the house, I use this quite a bit. I still begrudge the amount of space it takes up on the counter.
What's on my current kitchen wish list? A really good shortbread pan (I know this is not technically a gadget...but if you're reading this honey, just remember my birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks...and Amazon has free shipping). I saw one in a kitchen store in Willow Glen once, but the dang thing was cast iron and weighed approximately as much as a car...and would have been nearly impossible to fit into my carry-on bag.
Shingles--I came down with shingles (pai-n-n-n-ful)while six months pregnant with The Spare. It threw me into pre-term labor that could only be stopped with cardiac medicine (who knew?) and strict bed rest (yeah right, with 14-month-old The Heir at home). My dad got a severe case of shingles after open-heart surgery took veins from the inside of his legs for the five bypasses.
ReplyDeleteWe don't like shingles in our family....
I would take burglars straight to the flat-screen tv (like they could miss it) but let 'em try to get my Keurig coffee machine -- I'd pull my RDD karate moves on them. My husband, the health nut (jogs 6 days a week, exercise bicyles in the winter, lifts weights every other day) -- had 5 juicers in our smallish house at one point. I had persuaded him to cut it down to 3 when my mother-in-law gave him a 4th for his birthday in August. What was she thinking? I'd been whining about the number of juicers for years. Hubby makes revolting juices out of carrots, apples, celery, etc. -- doesn't seem to matter what he makes, everything turns out brown! (FYI, my idea of exercise is putting on my exercise clothes. After struggling into the sports bra and jogging clothes, I'm exhausted and need a nap.) Husband is hinting about an ice cream maker -- not for ice cream, of course, but for fruit sorbets. I think that Ben & Jerry's and Haagan Daz make perfectly adequate sorbets and don't want to give up any cupboard space to the ice cream maker. I do make my own bread, without a bread machine!
ReplyDeleteShingles are horrible, but the closest I've come is my aunt's second husband. (I didn't like him much either, but even so he didn't deserve to get shingles.)
ReplyDeleteI don't have a bread machine; if I want dough, I make it with the Kitchen Aid. I don't have a slow cooker; I gave one to Betty Henry, though, figuring he could throw stuff together in the morning and let it cook all day. Like the Kitchen Aid, it still requires some effort.
I would die without the food processor, but never got around to getting the hand-held blender. It would get used, I just don't remember.
What is a shortbread pan? Shortbread as I know it just gets baked in a "slow oven" (275 to 300 degrees); the pan doesn't matter. Betty Debbie, could we see a picture?
Oh, but you said the sadly magic words: waffle iron. I'm generally not opposed to those laws intended to protect people from their own stupidity (e.g., motorcycle helmet laws -- where conceivably I could be less paternalistic if, along with the repeal of the helmet law was a bar on personal injury lawsuits against the hapless driver who has the misfortune to be responsible for way-worse injuries just because the motorcyclist didn't think he should have to wear a helmet)...
Ah, yes, sorry -- waffle irons used to be super hot & made much better (lighter, crisper, yummier) waffles and now they're not as hot because I might burn myself. I won't burn myself, dodohead legislator. I will die of heart disease because my raised waffles are so yummy, but that's a different issue.
Anyway, I have two 50s era waffle irons, and the better of the two is broken and can't be fixed. If all you lovely Bettys shopping at the Good Will see one of those stainless steel waffle irons, I will reimburse the cost, postage, handling and a 10% "finders fee."
Betty Kylene has had shingles, it really sucks. Dr Moose Steuve van der Haar is quite skilled Pictionary.
ReplyDeleteBetty Barbara here--
ReplyDeleteI am sooo gadget deprived, by your standards, anyway.
Anyhoo--I do have a waffle iron (1970's vintage and it does NOT get anywhere near as hot as my Mom's old one), which I use maybe once every 5 years. I have both a toaster and a toaster oven, used daily. My Cuisinart died several years ago through lack of use and has never been replaced.
You will take my microwave oven away when you pry it from my cold, dead hands! But really, in this day and age, a microwave is not really a gadget.
And my mixer--a hand-held Hamilton Beach!
In spite of the lack, I do cook everyday and my family considers me a good cook.
On my wishlist for the kitchen--All Clad pans!
(Need to marry RDD to afford them, though, and Maryland has such strict laws against bigamy!)
Hm, lots of gagets here. Breadmaker, I use to mix, but shape and bake the GF in the oven. Kitchen Aide Mixer, food processor, bullet blender, toaster oven, three crockpots. rice cooker, waffle iron (somewhere). I have/had cast iron shortbread pan, actually used it for cornbread.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't give up my microwave or toaster oven.
I have to agree that it's not so much gadgets as pan types. I made a cheese strata for church with a whisk and a bowl (have to get a couple of wooden spoons, now I think about it). But I would love to have a madeleine pan, ramekins for custards and such things, tart pans, etc. I was amazed at how expensive these things are, since they all seem to come from places like Sur le Table. :)
ReplyDeleteThe scene where they cook together -- adorable! He comes back after shelling the peas and asks "meekly" what he should do next ... :) I think they'll do all right, yanno?
fruity
ReplyDelete› (of a voice) deep and pleasant