Smoothie maker
A while ago I was sitting in my neighbour’s kitchen and spotted some brown bananas. Thinking of Courtney’s delicious banana bread recipe, I asked her if I could have the bananas if she was planning to throw them out (I knew she wouldn’t make banana bread herself – it’s not common at all here in the Netherlands)! She kindly refused, explaining that they had a family addiction to smoothies, so every over-ripe banana was very much needed!
Smoothies? It started to make me think:
- Smoothies are yummy
- Smoothies are healthy
- I finally found the excuse to buy one of those cool blenders!!!
So, the next weekend I convinced my husband that for the health of our family we needed a KitchenAid blender. (I admit, I completely went for the look of it; I didn’t read one review and didn’t compare prices!) And I love it.
Now, having just entered the world of smoothie making, I’ve discovered it’s an art by itself! There are a million recipes to find; you can use fruit, (soy)milk, yogurt, frozen berries, nuts, tofu, cereal, even egg whites!
Robot Set
I always find it hard getting presents for boys, as I only have girls and I don’t really know what little boys like. This melanine dining set with a cute robot design by Chaise Longue is one of my favourite presents for little guys. I found it when Courtney’s oldest son was obsessed with robots and have gifted it several times since. The boys have always loved it.
In fact, I like a lot of the Chaise Longue melamine sets, bibs and placemats. The designs are cute and I love melamine as it is seriously indestructible. I don’t know about you but in my house, more often than not, plate and cups don’t stay on the table!
Chaise Longue deliver anywhere in Europe. In the USA the company trades under the name of Baby Cie. The collection is not quite the same but it is equally as cute!
- Emilie
Bowl from Holland
When I was working in NY city, about 5 years ago, my office was located around the corner from a lovely kitchen supply shop, the name of which I’ve long since forgotten. On one of the rare, short lunch breaks I was allowed, I picked up a wooden salad bowl made out of one single piece of wood. Beautiful. And as I am writing this, my husband is fixing us a quick salad in the very same salad bowl! We use it almost every single day, and it is still one of the most beautiful kitchen utensils we own. And there’s a very sweet detail on the bottom of the bowl: an imprint of a wooden clog and the name of the manufacturer ‘Holland Mill’, from Holland, Michigan. A bit of patriotism, after all?
xxx Esther
Jamie Oliver
I’ve already admitted to not being very innovative in the kitchen. I’m pretty good with simple recipes, and I’m even better with clear instructions, but I’m not great with throwing things into a pot and creating dinner on a whim.
This is why I love Jamie. He makes cooking seem easy. In both his television programs and in his cookbooks, he talks to you like he’s talking to a friend in his kitchen. He makes it look totally obvious. He’ll say things like…’throw whatever ‘veg’ you want in the pot — it doesn’t matter, or ‘it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t look perfect, it’s about the taste’, ‘throw a handful of this on that, add a good slug of olive oil, a nob of butter’, etc.
Nothing too fancy. Good, hearty and wholesome meals. Simple and easy.
I’ve just added to my collection of Jamie Oliver cookbooks with his latest one, Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life
-Courtney
Crushed!
Yesterday I bought myself a little present that, after immediate testing, has become one of those kitchen utensils you wonder how the rest of the world manages to live without! This garlic crusher by Dutch designer Ineke Hans for Royal VKB is super simple and at the same time incredibly ingenious.
Use the flat part to crush the garlic, skin and all. Remove the skin with your hands (much easier than trying to do it un-crushed). If desired, roll the ribbed part over the garlic to mince it even further. The garlic paste will of course stick between the ribs. Just use your fingers to get it out. Smelly hands by now? Don’t worry. Clean the stainless steel crusher under running water and, using the utensil as a bar of soap, the odor will disappear like magic. Magic! It’s brilliant. Available at Bijzonder Mooi!
xxx Esther
Ikea hacking
We all love Ikea, don’t we? It’s pretty cool, modern and most of the things are practical and durable. But the planetary success of this furniture maker means that homes all over the world are filled with the same pieces. I don’t mind so much if everyone else has the ivar bookcase, or the benno cd storage unit or the expedit storage system. But you might, and so do other people. That is why a new branch of DIY was invented, and it’s called ‘Ikea hacking’.
I discovered Ikea Hacker a few months ago while browsing the internet and I have been following its updates regularly. The site collects the ideas and projects of people who have found new ways of using Ikea pieces. Some are simple, just different ways of using a product, while some are serious DIY projects. But they’re all interesting to look at — it’s amazing what people can come up with for a benno cd tower, or an expedit or the ivar! (more…)
An easy life
I’m all for an easy life at the moment. It could be because I’ve just moved home and am up to my eyeballs in boxes. Or it could be because I’m rushed off my feet at work. But when I saw this product I thought, “yes, yes, yes”.
One of the reasons I stopped pureeing food was because it took so bloomin’ long to spoon the quantities into ice cubes. It took FOREVER. But this clever little invention from Qubies means you can just pour your pureed food into the tray and the little plastic device separates it for you. Finally, an invention that is really going to save me time.
-Natalie
Place mats for everybody
On my last trip to IKEA I bought these new (at least to me) round place-mats, named Panna. They are made of a plastic with a rubbery feel and come in very nice colours.
They are different in shape (and feel) from the usual plastic place mats and with the unevenly ribbed surface look even a bit more sophisticated!
They are ideal for kids as they’re wipe-clean and that means that the table will look nice and a more grown-up than before. They were a hit in our family; my three-year old has even ditched his Thomas place mat to fit in with his parents!
I still have not tried, but I think they would look great even over a regular tablecloth, below each plate, as they would add colour and make your table setting a little more special.
-Michela
Baking Soda
This post is about the environment, money saving, muffins, clearing drains and a mother in sheer desperation due to 2 small children covered in chickenpox.
You may wonder what all of these things have in common…. Baking Soda, otherwise known as Sodium Bicarbonate or NaHCO3.
Whenever I am googling for random things like an alternative to household cleaners or something to calm itchy skin, Baking Soda always turns up trumps.
I guess it is due to the Baking Soda’s alkaline nature. If you add it to water it raises the PH levels of the water, making it softer and therefore soothing for itchy skin. It also breaks down fat, so can be used to unblock drains and clean kitchen surfaces. Last, but definitely not least, it raises dough and it is an essential ingredient for cookies, muffins and lots of other treats!
Anyway, even if I sound like an old-fashioned housewife, I now actually have a massive box of Baking Soda in my kitchen cupboard and it gets used regularly! Oh, how my world has changed….
- Emilie
Trainer chopsticks DIY
Courtney wrote about trainer chopsticks a while ago, and the ones she suggested are without a doubt very stylish and great for use at home!
If, however, you’re in a (Japanese) restaurant and – God forbid – forgot to bring your child’s fancy trainer chopsticks, I thought this solution might save your day…
It’s simple! Just make it with the throw-away chopsticks you get at the restaurant and an elastic band (the paper is in fact the rolled-up sleeve in which the chopsticks come)!
As seen in our favourite around-the-corner Japanese restaurant, Issa…
xxx Esther
Family Kitchen
Most of us have heard of Gordon Ramsay — the all swearing, all dancing super-chef who spends his life cooking impossibly complicated recipes. Now his wife, Tana Ramsay, has published a cook book, Tana Ramsay’s Family Kitchen
Her philosophy is that it is important to cook wholesome tasty food for the family while leaving time to play and communicate with everyone. It is my favourite new cookbook! I really like the way it has been split up between categories like “trying new tastes” and “cooking for the cupboard”. I really recommend it!
Available through Amazon UK
- Emilie
Summer food
It is so hot now in Milan that the last thing I feel like doing is cooking hot meals! It’s always at this point that I take out my salad Bible, The Well Dressed Salad by Jennifer Joyce. The book is great– it has more than 80 recipes for salads coming from all over the world. Chapters are divided by ingredients and there are always hints on advance preparation and possible variations. At the end of the book there is a list of recipes for tasty vinaigrettes, and although not all the recipes are quick and easy, you can always get some suggestions and ideas on how to liven up your greens! 
I know Jennifer Joyce from when, in my life before kids, I used to attend cookery workshops at Books for Cooks in Notting Hill. I really enjoyed her classes– she is a talented cook and an enthusiastic teacher. When looking her up to write this post I saw that she published a new book this spring, Plates to Share, which seems like the ideal book to have when organizing aperitivos!
Both books also available in the US, here and here.
-Michela
Savon de Marseille
Marseille as a town is not particularly known for its cleanliness, but one of its most famous products is the soap. Le savon de Marseille is a French institution. It has been around for a least 700 years using, as its main ingredients, olive (the green variety) or palm oil (the white variety) and Mediterranean sea water. It traditionally comes as a big cube of soap and it it used to clean everything and anything. My grandmother still uses it to clean all her dishes as she does not trust modern dish-washing liquids to clean well enough! (Isn’t it funny how that generation is actually a lot more environmentally friendly than we are, without even trying?)
I personally swear it is the only way to get rid of nasty stains on baby and kids’ clothes. Just rub it on, soak it and wash normally, and most of the time the soap has gotten rid of all evidence. (more…)
Magical wand
This nifty little gadget is one of those things in my (small) kitchen that I use every day and LOVE!
This ‘magical’ wand by Danish designer, Jakob Wagner, unfolds (like a fan) into a trivet, protecting your table or counter-tops from heat, cold or liquids. And when you’re finished, it folds back effortlessly into a small stick that fits into your cutlery drawer!
It’s small, space-saving, and like most Danish designs – cool looking. You can buy it online from Scandinavian Design Center, or you can pay a visit to Skandium on Marylebone High Street here in London, where you’ll find loads of other Scandinavian design goods!
-Courtney
A touch of colour for your kitchen
If you have a kitchen surface that is not so nice and polished anymore, or if you have a kitchen surface too nice to be ruined then a JosephJoseph glass worktop saver may be what you need. It’s a tempered glass surface that will resist knife cuts and heat up to 280°C, doesn’t absorb smell and is dishwasher safe. These worktop savers come in different shapes: square, circular and rectangular. Most of them have a very bright modern look, but they have now come up with some floral designs for the more traditional kitchen.
(more…)
Babycook hits the States!
While ‘home’ in the States over Christmas, I wrote about how I missed my handy Beaba Babycook, and wondered why on earth it wasn’t sold in America!
Thankfully, Elaina at Fun Finds For Mom is on the case… She just wrote this week that the beloved European Babycook is now available in the States for the first time! Hooray!
The Babycook is true genius. It steams, blends, warms and defrosts all in one little machine. It’s quick, tidy and easy.
It can now be found at William Sonoma!
-Courtney
Super scissors
My mom, who is addicted to kitchen utensils, has all of the ‘best’ kitchen products. So you know if she recommends something for your kitchen, it’s sure to be good.
A few years ago, ‘Santa’ gave me these Joyce Chen scissors
Bamboo Tableware
With all this talk these days about lead paint and toxic chemicals, it makes you wonder what exactly IS safe? I was just in the states for the holidays and watched an entire show about toxic toys. My head was literally spinning! You wouldn’t believe the amount of toys that are bad for your kids. It makes you wonder how we all survived!?!
Thankfully, most of my kid’s toys are wooden; I must be in the clear, right? WRONG!!! Apparently plastic dishes and cutlery are big no-nos too! (Which means all those cute, plastic dishes I’ve been collecting over the years are not so amusing any more….)
A nice cuppa!
Years ago my sister-in-law gave me this fantastic product: the Eva Solo ‘tea-maker’ (I just call it a tea-pot). It has proven to be one of those ‘where did you get that?’ items. (When it broke, I was broke too, so my friend Kim gave me number two for my birthday)!
It is quite ingenious (it’s not a coincidence that it has won so many design prizes)! (more…)
Babycook
So… we have crossed the big pond and survived the 9-hour flight to Seattle (where we will be spending the first half of our holiday). We are all settled in and cozy, (despite our 4 a.m. wake-ups), and are adjusting to things here in the States…
…like huge grocery stores with hundreds of options, big vehicles on wide streets, loads of space, and anything you want whenever you want it (I’ve seen more “open 24 hours” signs in the past few days than I’ve ever seen in Europe)! There is really no limit to what you can find here, and how easily you can find it.
This is why I am always stumped to find that there are actually a few of my favorite European things that you can not find here in this “land of plenty” (nor find a suitable alternative)… like my Beaba Baby Cook! (more…)
