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.

A bad workman blames his tools.

My DH took up cooking with a capital C and bought a whole load of expensive stuff, saying cooking was just logically following a recipe. Was surprised that he could not immediately turn out perfection.

DD1 has good equipment, all the cookery books and watches all the programmes- very hit and miss results. DD2 is in tiny rental flat with no work surface, small range of kitchen equipment but cooks like a dream. I am a good cook thanks to good basic training (thank you old fashioned Cookery O level, all the basic methods that can be tweaked for everything ) years of experience and maybe a natural bent.

Agree OP, am a foodie but poor, could write a very long post...but yeah, with my Tesco pans stuff always sticks and burns on, just baked a cake that went from not done to dry and burned bits in a freaking second. GAH. It's difficult. of you, I'm sure you posted this to reassure others who are not rich and that you donate to food banks

I don't agree about the vacuum, we use Henry, so sort of branded, but cost us about £50 about 10 years ago.
My dsis lent me her Dyson and said it was better, what a pile of shit, it's just a status symbol. If people are stupid enough to pay over the top they deserve to lose their money.

Pleased you are rich OP, if working and paying tax was something you aspired to, well done.
It's so easy to put yourself down when you are struggling financially.
I'm glad you are enjoying your new pans
Good luck to you
You are doing great.

I can totally see what you're trying to say OP. I actually think the reading comprehension level on here has gone down embarrassingly over the last few years.
It's not about pans, nor about leaving mess for the cleaner deliberately, it's about how money can make your life easier beyond measure.
OP was not having a dig at poor people, she was pointing out that there is a hell of a lot of pressure. We're always told that cooking from scratch is cheaper, and how it costs nothing to be clean and tidy, but no-one acknowledges that actually, cooking from scratch with the cheapest ingredients doesn't taste as good, cheap vacuum cleaners don't clean as well etc.
She's not saying if you're poor your cooking will be crap, she's saying that you're working twice as hard to achieve good results, and good on you!
Oh, and those of you objecting to the word 'rich'....to me, those of you who can afford robot vacuums and le crueset pans are rich. The term is subjective.

Reminds me of the saying

"A poor workman blames his tools"

Have you ever thought Op that your baking has improved because you've improved over time. Experience and greater skills?

Linking your happiness to the amount of money spent on items is just consumerist crap.

As for you being rich...... meh!

I've got not one but two amazing ovens, a selection of vacuum cleaners, an actual cleaner and 30 year old stainless steel pans which are amazing. I have cooked/baked with many different ovens/equipment and because I'm good at it the results are good.

I'm not rich. I'm not even well off. My cakes are amazing though.

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 think the difference is knowledge which is free. My parents have always been skint but have always had a 'buy shite, buy twice' attitude and if you simply have to buy shite learn how to make it better.
I knew before I left home that cheap mince from the supermarket would need much longer to cook than mince from the butcher.
I knew that my first set of pans were cheap and cheerful and very thin and the low heat on my hob wasn't very low so I'd put them on my one good pan, my frying pan to help diffuse the heat, and that my cake tins were thin so they'd need extra lining.

DH didn't have the same knowledge as me and found following recipes really hard. He would take everything at face value and not make adjustments. His attempt at Jamie's quick chilli con carne took hours and hours to be edible rather than which didn't match to the book.

Are you trialing a plucky/commercial blogger voice? I think it’s a bit scary and off putting.

All the higher-order equipment you’ve mentioned looks quite nice, but I’m not convinced it makes a discernible difference in food output.

My mum and gran were excellent cooks.

I remember the amazing things they made on my gran's cast iron wood stove. No microwave, fancy mixer.

The things they did have were made very well and lasted a long time. Like cast iron cookware.

These days, many things are so poorly made, they don't work well or break easily.

It's mainly the skill

@TheAutumnHere if you feel that me finding your tone on this thread smug and unpleasant makes me a troll, please do report me and my 12 years of being here.

I'm not 'triggered' by my real-life experience of breathtakingly unpleasant dicks, just by you being an online one.

It's good to have decent pans. I have never used a free-standing mixer and have no desire to do so. But I don't understand why you're making so much fuss about the clearing up. If Jamie says the recipe takes 30 minutes, it's pretty obvious that doesn't include washing up and cleaning the kitchen. Having a cleaner would make my life easier, but it wouldn't make my cakes any nicer.

Exactly @ThumbWitchesAbroad. It's the buy cheap buy twice method. I've learned that myself so many times. It's much less wasteful to buy something a bit more expensive that will last the duration.

When I got my first job 15 years ago I bought myself a set of le creuset pans on ebay (from a miserable looking man who was surrounded by wedding gifts he was ebaying, not sure what happened there) and they're still going strong. Ditto the steel kitchen knives.

All ikea kitchen stuff has been thrown and replaced several times now so I'm not buying them anymore.

Having said that, I think ikea furniture is great, and I love their kitchen units and would recommend them to anyone over more fancy brands (although with nicer fronts). It's not necessarily about price, but quality and suitability for the task.

Rachel Khoo makes some good food in her Little Paris cookbook with minimal tools though, definitely not saying it's impossible, it's just easier if you have them, and a good cook will be a good cook regardless.

Wellmet
I think this is exactly what the OP was trying to say.

^It's not about pans, nor about leaving mess for the cleaner deliberately, it's about how money can make your life easier beyond measure.
OP was not having a dig at poor people, she was pointing out that there is a hell of a lot of pressure.^
This, that's exactly how I read the OP.

I have Denby and Le Creuset pans, bought from the outlet stores or free with my Good Food Magazine subscription. They are great, but I also have a couple of dupes from Sainsburys that I use just as much. And my omelettes would never stick or burn, because my cheap Tefal frying pan that came from TKMaxx, and the amount of butter that I use, means they are cooked properly.

My oven is a disaster zone. The grill part is held in the right place by a wing and a prayer, and sometimes falls down. The main bit of the oven is OK if using the top shelf but if you are using a lower shelf the temperature has to be raised considerably, it's slow and useless. And I only have two hobs that work, neither of which have knobs on, I have to use pliers to turn the gas on.

Despite this, I frequently win bake offs at work and am always being asked when I'm baking next. I think its years of experience, knowing and making allowances for the peculiarities of my kitchen, and being happy to experiment that has made me a good baker (and indeed a fairly good cook). Nigella's recipes are excellent for cakes for work I find.

Not sure where I fall. Have had a cleaner, Le Creuset pans, Kitchen Aid mixer & all sorts of gadgets & utensils for yrs. Not a great cook & plenty of things fail. Think I had better results with my £9.99 hand mixer in my dorms.

Can we talk about how you managed to get rich :). Fever the baking LOL!

...it's about how money can make your life easier beyond measure.

Does anybody really need that explaining?

^*@IfWishesWereFishes @Lovemenorca @NormaBean

the thing is - all you guys are hating on me (and in a bit of a trolly way, imho) - but you don't know 'me'. You're triggered by the stereotype of the well groomed mum trotting her perfect cakes into the school bake sale. Presumably because this is someone you've seen IRL.

So you know these people exist - but you need them to do a little "I was just born this way" modest shrug and not talk about their journey or experiences?

Telling you that my Spanish omelettes turn out better with waxy potatoes is sharing knowledge - but telling you that they turn out better in le Creuset pans makes you feel bad...? Unlike how you will feel when your omelette turns into a burnt stuck on mess...? (Which it won't - because you're great cooks on Wilko pans).*^

I don't think so, OP. I think the basic point you are making is fine - "in my opinion, having good/expensive tools for cooking/baking makes it easier to get good results. Does anybody agree?"

Unfortunately though, you have wrapped it up in a really odd, smug, self-congratulatory way; mention the fact (apropos of nothing) that you let your children bake and leave the mess for the cleaner, and then refer to yourself as the "darling of the PTA" - criiiiinge!!!

You seem to have very little self awareness and I think this is what many posters, including myself, are picking up on.

The OP just hadn't made her point well, that's all. If she'd opened by saying something that showed empathy for people who are stuck in shifty circumstances, that would have landed much better. Unfortunately her tone seemed quite combative, and a bit 'unlucky, proles' and didn't display any of the understanding she wishes she could show her former self.

OP, if you lose the silly try-hard blogger tone of voice I'm sure everyone would get your point much more easily.

Branded vacuum cleaners actually remove dirt from the floor

Please tell me which brand. I've had Dysons, Hoovers, Vaxes, Electroluxes. None of them remove dirt from floors.

One of my most used cooking books is one done by a site similar to this- (think MN did one at one point as well ) with sent in recipes actual people use regularly.

They haven't required tons of expensive equipment or loads or knowledge and are pretty fool proof - with often suggested common substitutions.

There’s not huge list of obscure ingredients nearly all stuff I’d be buying anyway and there are child friendly – because as well as not being able to afford expensive equipment I couldn’t afford lots of food failures. Even now I find I tend to stick with Delia Smith and BBC good food sites – as their stuff tends to work.

I don't think it blaming tools - sometime most pricey items aren't the best – you’re really looking for good design and well-built quality - but buy cheap buy twice is definitely a thing and a mistake we’ve had to learn many times.

I'm with you OP.
It's easy to,
For example, be considered the best host out of your friends when you can afford LOADS of champagne, a huge fillet steak and have a dining table that seats 12. Years ago I would've put more effort into hosting but it just wouldn't have been as impressive.

Anyhoo,
Please tell me which le creseut you have. You have the traditional ceramic or the metal ones?

I think using the word ‘rich’ in your title was where the thread fell down OP. I too understand what you’re trying to say and yes, everything is infinitely easier with money and help.

Eh I think OP’s post came across a bit smug, but her actual point was a nice one. Ie be kind to yourself if you can’t match the lifestyle sold to us by glossy tv. It’s easier to be a whizz in the kitchen with the perks of time and useful kit (which money brings you). Doesn’t mean the skilled and persistent can’t outshine the kitchen aid owners however.

Think it’s a bit harsh to call her a dick. I did find it kinda encouraging. I now want a robot vacuum cleaner when I’m not paying out double nursery fees! But then I’m not looking for the worst possible reading of someone’s comments online.

I think you are right too. It's easier to cook with decent equipment. And keeping on top of stuff is a lot easier with a cleaner. And decent ingredients make a huge difference.