RHYS BOWEN: Earlier in the week I blogged about my kitchen mincer. I blogged about which of us feature food in our books and whether we cook.
So naturally I should conclude the week with another post about kitchens and food.
I talked about the oldest kitchen appliance I have, but I am married to Mr. Gadget. This is strange as he is not good with his hands and doesn’t like to tinker. But he loves gadgets. He is drawn to gadgets. This is a picture of one of our kitchen counters. See what I mean?
We now have an air fryer and a toaster oven. What you can’t see hidden in a closet are the bread maker, the bacon slicer, the vegetable juicer, the sausage maker, the hamburger press, the poached egg cooker, the onion cooker—and of course the Cuisinart, the blender, the mixer.
Each of these was bought by said spouse in a fit of enthusiasm. For a couple of months I woke to the smell of bread baking. It was heavenly. Then enthusiasm waned. He made healthy juices until he realized that cleaning the thing was a pain and I wasn’t going to do it. I think we sliced ham a few times but I don’t think we’ve ever actually made sausages. Most of them now reside in the graveyard of dead appliances in the corner cabinet.
Me? I’m all for simplicity. My favorite recipe says “throw everything into a pot and walk away until done.” Which was why I decided to try one of the meal delivery services. Somehow I pictured a box arriving, tipping the contents into that pan and sauteing for a few minutes before serving.
My friend Charlaine Harris was trying Hello Fresh. She liked it and gifted me with a sample membership. The first box arrived. I read the first recipe: first peel and chop the carrots, dice the potatoes. Drizzle with oil then bake on a tray in the oven. Pat dry, season, then saute the pork. While the port is sauteing mince the garlic and onion, finely chop the cilantro. Now start to make the sauce. In another pan melt two tablespoons of butter…
Wait. This is supposed to be easier? To save me time? To save me clean up? Actually I had all those ingredients in my refrigerator so I didn’t need to pay you $16 to deliver them. And in the end I can’t say the dish tasted wonderful. And John objected strongly to being served couscous and faro. So I guess Hello Fresh is a no. And I’m back to square one with my husband asking me, “What had you planned for dinner tonight?”
There may be murder in my future.
So who has tried one of these delivery services? One where I don’t have to peel and chop the carrots and is ready miraculously in five minutes? One that tastes marvelous? Still hopeful.
Rhys
