Wood Pussies

[VikingVagine]

Carrying on from Chat.

smellslikecatspee (great name, btw) I have no idea. Was going to make it up as I go along!

Thank you!

Right as soon as I get back I'm going to go have a play?

I made my scones up as I went along. I rubbed the butter into the flour, then stirred in the cheese, then added the milk. Then last of all I added the cayenne pepper and mustard powder. I am aware this is not the conventional, or indeed, the most sensible point at which to add them, but I forgot to do it earlier and it was fine.
I used the K beater all the way through.
They are super-cheesy because I used half Gruyere and half Parmesan. Yum.

DS has made cupcakes. I think it is easier to do by hand

I am looking forward to making mashed spuds (K beater?), grating cheese and carrots.

I gave up on scones couldn't find any cows to make clotted cream so DH suggested a yoghurt cake instead. Very very quick and easy to make, you use your yoghurt pot for all the measuring (I'm talking about the individual 125ml pots).

Ingrédients (pour 8 personnes) :

• 1 pot de yaourt ( yoghurt )
• 3 pots de farine ( self-raising flour )
• 1 1/2 pots de sucre ( sugar )
• 1/2 pot d'huile de tournesol ( sunflower oil )
• 3 oeufs ( eggs )
• fleur d'oranger ( orange blossom extract )

Préparation :

Mélanger dans un saladier, 1 pot de yaourt, le sucre et les 3 oeufs.
Ajouter la levure associée aux 3 pots de farine ( bung the yoghurt, sugar and eggs into your Prospero and mix with K-beater, add the flour and mix some more ).
Ajouter le 1/2 pot d'huile et la fleur d'oranger ( Add the oil and orange blossom ).
Dans un moule à cake ou à manquer beurré et fariné, verser la préparation ( pour the mixture into a greased can tin or mould ).
Enfourner thermostat 4-5 (très doux) pendant 1 h ( Stick in a warm - 140 to 160°ish - oven for about an hour ).

Ken has just sliced the mushrooms for my kale and mushroom lasagna from River Cottage Veg Everyday

The prospero has knocked together a batch of biscuits and a chocolate cake today! Was supposed to be making banana loaf but found I was missing some ingredients so that was postponed. Love him! Just need to think of a good name for him....(and enrol on weight watchers, I think i'll need it)

My ancient chef has been a very busy boy, he's made a chocolate cake, chocolate ganache filling/frosting, 2 dozen chocolate fairy cakes, vanilla buttercream, nutella buttercream, and a lemon drizzle cake.

We're both knackered :) but I have lots of goodies for my dn's birthday party tomorrow.

Today (afterspending half the day shopping for exotic ingredients) i ken joe (I give up) made mozerella uncheeze (!) for dairy free soya free dd, which despite being absolutely perfectly process smells vile like a bag of cheese and onion flaovour crisps (I feel the exotic ingredients played a large part in this!) Well see what that's like tomorrow.

After that we made a diary free soya free chocolate mud pie type dessert, which had cocoa powder, peanut butter, maple syrup and agar flakes amost others, I made the pastry in the mixer and then blended with the blender (although like every other blender I've ever know it's an absolute bugger to get stuff out so I may go for the processor next time if it works and goes down well) I think dd will be happy.

tomorrow I think will be pizza dough, or bread.

Gaaah!!

Prospero was dispatched from Amazon today, should arrive Mon/Tues
Felt it was time to confess to DH about the purchase......

He was cross, because:

1. It is my birthday tomorrow, and he would have liked to have got it for me
2. He thinks I should have gone the whole hog and got the Chef

When I said it was dispatched, he said I could return it.

So....

What extra benefit does the Chef have? Everyone on here seems very happy with the Prospero. I think part of DH's thinking is that his mum has a Chef, it has lasted years and years, so therefore it is better to get something that will last. My thinking is, this will probably last a good 5-10 years, if it dies and I feel lost without it, then maybe I get a Chef, but why spend all that money now? What if i don't use it as much as I think I will?

I want the food processor, liquidiser and mixer, so the Chef for £180 on Amazon Would Not Do :(

Help, please! :)

I made scones with mine yesterday morning, they were lovely, used the k beater to rub the fat into the flour then added the other stuff, only let it stir once or twice after chucking the raisins in so they didn't get mushed up.

Pastry next, for a quiche I think.

Also made bread rolls from a packet bread mix. It was a 6 months out of date little past it's use by date and it think the yeast was dead. I made half a dozen dangerous weapons Oh well. But I got to test the dough hook

Hello all! I'm back with my Frappaccino recipe...... Feel free to tweak to your own taste!

Put 2 handfuls of ice into the blender
Pour in about 3/4 cup of double strength coffee.... I've left it to chill and poured in hot and no difference. I use Starbucks extra bold Italian roast, you should use a double strength coffee....
Pour in milk to the top of the ice
Add 3 tablespoons of suger -it's alot I know, was thinking of trying sweetener?
Add a tablespoon of taste the difference caramel dipping sauce - this is the only one I've tried.... But you could use most caramel sauces ?
Blend away! Yum :-)

Is it sad that I've been looking forward to my boys going to bed so that I could look on this thread?! Lol

Huevos The £180 Chef on Amazon only comes with a blender, I'm guessing it'll be another £50/£60 for a processor attachment, do you need one?

For £147.98 you get the propero with the blender, processor and a juicer, but I doubt many will last 30 years plus.

Is space an issue?

As a chef owner I do have to say that it is loooovvvvverly. It has a really pleasing heavy clunky/retro/sturdy feel to it. It's not huge but you def need it to be out and proud,work top space is a must. I got it for £120 from amazon which I was pleased with, my only pang of regret is that the attachments are so expensive, goodness knows when I'll manage to get any. But it feels so well made, should have it forever.

I think someone (maybe HoneyDragon or Vivipru) said she'd spoken to someone who works for Kenwood and basically if you want a long lasting machine you need to buy a Titanium because the quality of the other models just isn't what it was before. This is why I got a Prospero; I don't expect it to last me decades, but it'll do the job until I have more money than sense can afford a Titanium.

We bought the chef because we figured it would handle daily use better than the prospero, especially making bread every day.
We don't need a processor (I have one I don't use in favour of a mandolin) and we'll be scouting eBay for attachments, so we got the chef classic from amazon. It was £150, but that might have changed.

Actually vv you beat me to it, the thing you want really is a titanium!

DH is looking at the Bosch one. I want Professor Prospero (have decided that is what he will be called).

I have set my table top blender, old food processor and bread maker to go on ebay this evening. Am so excited. Just need to keep DH away from the Bosch MUM.

It was me we have authorised Kenwood repair dealer down the road. He said in his personal opinion, if you are buying for a one off purchase that you want repaired over the years than the Titanium is best. He said it really is well made, less likely to have motor problems or wear out badly and the parts are good to replace.

He rates Chefs over Kitchenaids but said he has noticed a decline in standards over basic models.

Also if you are buying Kenwood, and spending a lot, I think it's best to buy the newest model you can afford in terms of being able to add to your attachments collection

That said the basic Chef is still something I'd consider if I had a non shoe box (2 metre x 2.5 metre) sized kitchen neglects to mention it still has 10 cupboards and 16 drawers and a 2metre fridge though

Oh yy MrsChemist, consider bowl size too and what you'll be making regularly.

Thanks all :)

It was the wine talking last night, now I have the clarity of tea and Bucks Fizz
It took me half a day to convince myself to spend £100 on the Sains one. Then another half day to convince myself to upgrade to the Amazon £120 one.

I have got £115 in birthday cheques. Easy maths!

I currently have a bread machine, which is fine; a Kenwood mini chopper, which is too small, hence needing processor part. And a crappy handheld mixer, hence whole desire for Prospero in the first place.

Am with Viking - can save up for Titanium in a few years if I really feel the need!

How many of us does that make in the 'got a Prospero now, saving up for a titanium Chef in a few years' club?

I am starting to be suspicious about Kenwood's motives. Do you think they created the Prospero at a bargain price to get us hooked on kitchen machines and unable to perform the simplest task by hand so we will all start clamouring for the harder stuff that costs £500?

Tunip .... I think you're onto something with that theory.

In fairness I think the Prospero is very reminiscent of the old DeLonghi stand mixer which used to be very recommended but people just didn't "get" DeLonghi as a brand. They've took that and made it better, plus I reckon with the newest Prospero that looks sell, people are still buying the Kmix after all.

Bigger kitchen and bigger bank balance would definitely mean I'd invest in a Titanium, but I do do love the Prospero