Things I have learnt since becoming rich (a.k.a. fuck you: Nigella and Jamie)

[TheAutumnHere]

1. Having an oven that holds temperature stops cakes falling
2. A stand mixer simplifies baking by a factor of at least 4, and improves the results
3. Branded vacuum cleaners actually remove dirt from the floor
4. Le Creuset pans don't stick, and just wipe clean
5. Baking with children is delightful japes, when timed the morning before the cleaner comes
6. Corn fed chicken is the bomb

Just leaving a note to my past self - who never cut herself any slack and thought she was a slattern and a crap cook.

OP, have a beautifully baked and decorated from me.

Smug, goady, supercilious, braggy, contemptuous much? Just because you say you used to be poor and inept, doesn't mean you aren't being totally offensive to people here who can't afford Le Creuset and all the other expensive kitchen shit.

Plenty of people make lovely food, feed their families (and the fucking PTA too-often-bake-sales) with ordinary reasonably priced pans and equipment. How patronising to say otherwise.

Brool story co

I always feel embarrassed for an Op when they clearly envisage everyone ploughing in agreeing and laughing with them, when in fact the response is more or

Fuck me how did people cope before kitchenaids, lecreuset and flats with lifts?

I learnt pretty quickly that my first oven and the ovens in recipe books were not equal but you time accordingly.

My cakes and baking are IMO really good and I've never had a stand mixer.
DH tried to persuade me to include a kitchen aid when we were refurbishing the kitchen but I decided against as I only really wanted one because they look pretty.

Vacuum cleaners vary. The worst I've had was a Dyson and I mourned my cheapo Hoover until the Dyson eventually died and I a Miele which was waaay cheaper then the Dyson and 1000 times better. I also love my Eufy.

My pans are all from TK Maxx sale except one from Lakeland sale. Not one cost more than £14.99 and they've lasted nearly 18 years.

Baking with children is a necessary evil, but the most important part is teaching them to clean up.

Good quality ingredients are important. I've always bought the best I could afford. When we were very skint we just ate less of them.

One day I’m going to be you. Right now I’ll happily blame lack of money (and Nigella and Jamie).

I'm not rich don't have a stand mixer and only have a bog standard fan oven but I am a brilliant baker so not sure top spec equipment is the be all and end all. It might make it easier and quicker (and yes I would love somebody to clean up after me) but if you have skills you can adapt recipes and timings to fit the equipment you do have.

Do you call your cleaner minion?

I always feel embarrassed for an Op when they clearly envisage everyone ploughing in agreeing and laughing with them

Ah well, at least she still has her pans.

@BendyLikeBeckham - have a Mumsnet 🐥 chicken back from me.

I was on MN at the time - & I know plenty of people produce great stuff in all sorts of circumstances.

I just couldn't at the time - despite busting a gut. And I never allowed for how much my kit influenced it - I literally became a great baker overnight.

I'm hearing that 'old me' would apparently be hopping mad at how smug I am now at how much easier life is with kit. I can say for sure that old me wasn't helped by being told the opposite - that loads of people are great bakers with 99p tins and a can-do attitude.

I'm sure you are - but also - lets get real how much harder it is. Being coy about it doesn't help people starting out.

It's the same as people not being secretive about their salaries favours people who already know the score with what the best careers are & how much their labour is worth - but when people do speak about their salaries its seen as insufferable boasting.

Ah well, at least she still has her pans.

Doubt many RL friends though!

I agree. I got a MagiMix recently for my 40th birthday and can't believe how easy it makes deliciously smooth hummous (for example).

My family were not rich by any means, but they all had good kitchen tools. Many were given them as wedding presents.

Good tools are an investment, and can last a lifetime of use.

Me too @Lovemenorca especially when, in their mind, they are the darling of the PTA

Sooo, unless I've missed an update whilst RTFT, sorry if I have, you will only bake with your children if you can leave the mess for the rest of the day and overnight for the hired help to sort out in the morning..?

I'm not rich, live in rented accommodation, have very cheap pans and bakeware , an oven that only cooks on one side, necessitating turning everything halfway and an ordinary cheapo vac. My cakes are always enjoyed and my house isn't a hovel.

Maybe you could pop out to some fancy store and buy some class and a grip with all that extra dosh you now have?

@HowlsMovingBungalow - lentils twice a week, potatoes 4 times a week, soup once a week and garibaldi biscuit for snacks. HTH.

TheAutumnHere
@SnugglySnerd I used to do all my own cleaning badly . Now I work & pay taxes & employ someone else to support me with the household.

The crumbling of moral values right there (!)
.................
Not a bit of it! Good for you.

I've summoned my Aberdonian granny from the grave and she says away and boil yer heid. Her cooking was flawless and all done without gadgetry.

Her sponges were the talk of the church picnic. If they'd have been any lighter they'd have floated in the air, apparently.

The only maid in her kitchen was her.

79andnotout

Good tools are an investment, and can last a lifetime of use.
........
Too right!

Yes! My fancy new oven makes brilliant cakes. Im not just inept. The old one scorched the top whilst keeping the middle raw.

@MorrisZapp I think we shared a Granny

Really good baker who has plenty of money but bakes using a £3 Argos value hand mixer and Wilko cake tins signing in. 💁

I get you OP. Being poor is shite and all the lovely MC people with their not shite pans and access to 7 million ingredients make you feel like crap sometimes.

Corn fed/free range chicken in Asda @£3.90 a kilo or less when in sale fridge (other supremarkets are available). le Crueset can be found in eg TJ Hughes (other outlets may be offer the product)

Erm, you know TV cook shows are edited to fit programme length. Of course they don’t do it all in 30 mins. There’s a huge crew, lots of takes and finally edited for the show.

I think the tribe of preppers and clearers is more key than kit. And not sure you needed to put ‘now I’m rich’. I think buying decent cooking equipment is not out of reach for anyone but the rich.