Nice people thread part 4 - sugar and spice and all things

PasturesNew

zagubov wrote: »

The thing that puzzles me is why our kind of kettles powered through a mains lead are so rare in the US. Is their gas supply cheaper than their leccy?

Generali explained this about 2 months ago - their electrical current is different to ours (a different voltage I believe) - and so their electricity is not strong enough to boil a kettle, like ours is. I guess that might also be why an American said to me he found the concept of an electric shower bizarre.

PasturesNew

Spirit wrote: »

I know she will not starve ( she likes rice....just as well really) but how does she learn to do this more easily?

You can buy "potato peeling gloves"... I've seen adverts. They're abrasive gloves and you just roll the spuds around in your hands and they peel them .... not sure if that just works for newish ones or for old ones too.

There's probably other gadgets. But I'm guessing spuds isn't the only problem.

I have "back to front" issues with a lot of things; I am very cack-handed.... but I've got spuds and veg cracked just fine (luckily).

Here is one advert for some gloves: http://www.tatergloves.net/ but I see from a quick google that such things are available from £5 up to £50+.

PasturesNew

Wheezy wrote: »

:rotfl:

I don't seem to be able to post on the other place, it says something about awaiting moderation. Is PN the mod? If so, can you please allow me in, PN?
:A I promise I will behave :A

Just logged on and it seems that it's user authentication (so you'd have had to have clicked on a link in an email maybe ... but guessing).

PM me your username and I'll sort it out.

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

We have decided to get a tumble dryer too:eek::eek: Only ever had access to one in one flat, and never felt I needed one, but cheap tumble driers are cheaper than heating for the house, so even if it lasts one winter it will be ok. Going for cheapness with this one, not longevity.

Have you thought of getting a de-humidifier instead? It'll suck up the water from clothes on an airer, the air it expels is warm and dry (so will help with heating bills), it's easy/instant to pick one up at the shops as it'll fit in the car, it's portable to get it into the house, it doesn't need as much space... and (as you've an old house), if you get any damp issues elsewhere you can pop it into any relevant damp spaces/rooms when it's not being used for drying. They're also cheaper to buy and less of a decision-making process.

lostinrates

michaels wrote: »

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I always think Americans have such big ovens (to fit a 50pound thanksgiving turkey?) that for most cooking it is not worth turning them on so they then have to have a small toasting oven for ordinary cooking.

Believe it or not, many people now deep fry the thanksgiving beast...in an oil can in the garden after soaking it in brine.

tomterm8

White goods tend to last for a very long time... I think in general people replace them for fashion reasons. My parents, though, had a washing machine that was around 20 years old and going strong until it needed a part that was no longer available. Their record was an ariston fridge freezer that lasted around thirty years.

Most people replace them more regularly than they have to...

Not worth buying a second hand freezer, though, moving them tends to break them.

lostinrates wrote: »

Believe it or not, many people now deep fry the thanksgiving beast...in an oil can in the garden after soaking it in brine.

I can see that, after all deep fried chicken is very tasty. Not exactly healthy, though, but very tasty and if you are only doing it once a year...

zagubov

lostinrates wrote: »

Believe it or not, many people now deep fry the thanksgiving beast...in an oil can in the garden after soaking it in brine.

I've not stayed in too many houses in the US but I've never noticed an oven with a eye-level grill like the ones over here.

PasturesNew wrote: »

Generali explained this about 2 months ago - their electrical current is different to ours (a different voltage I believe) - and so their electricity is not strong enough to boil a kettle, like ours is. I guess that might also be why an American said to me he found the concept of an electric shower bizarre.

So he did (bit more than two months ago, time speeding up I’m afraid). I had to look into this once and was surprised how different the US electrical system is- higher frequency, lower voltage, no national grid, local "light and power companies like we had before the war, transformers on every telegraph pole instead of every few blocks, overhead cables everywhere.

lostinrates

I wonder if people replace because of increased movement/home changes. I mean...if you don't upstae your kitchen, as people didn't, the fridge will always fit...now people tend to update more things might not fit more. I can't imagine going through these stressful choices out of ''fun''..though accept that the fashion of time is thus.

Also, I guess as greater efficiencies in running things become possible it might be more economic to change white goods than keep the old ones going. That flat I ha in milan where it was all the poriginal appliances...they were dearer to run.

lostinrates

zagubov wrote: »

I've not stayed in too many houses in the US but I've never noticed an oven with a eye-level grill like the ones over here.



So he did (bit more than two months ago, time speeding up I’m afraid). I had to look into this once and was surprised how different the US electrical system is- higher frequency, lower voltage, no national grid, local "light and power companies like we had before the war, transformers on every telegraph pole instead of every few blocks, overhead cables everywhere.

Eye level grills...built in ovens.....I guess I know fewer than average people with them here....I'm used to ovens than sit on the floor. My mother's cooker/grill is built in though. She's now forbiding its use...she can see when its dirty. :D They ARE easier to use when high up....but....I don't like the way they look. The only broiller I rmemeber from youth in US was one of those weird ones built higher than th stand alone oven it was attached too....like...above the hob...does that make sense?

edit: it does make sense, I google imaged and found one similar http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://i.loot.net/ImageManager.ImageRequestHandler/991052675.jpg%3Ft%3Dtr/w:320/h:213/m:FitPad&imgrefurl=http://www.loot.com/advert/gas-cooker-flavel-festival-four-rings--oven-and-eye-level/6378998&usg=__gVyRHLLj5bOzllwIffT6i9Ct24k=&h=213&w=320&sz=8&hl=en&start=19&zoom=1&tbnid=mN_5ctL7TKv-_M:&tbnh=79&tbnw=118&ei=-0NjTviaGpKq8QPMzOGpCg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Doven%2Bwith%2Beye%2Blevel%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*%26tbm%3Disch%26prmd%3Divns&itbs=1

vivatifosi

Hi Spirit, obviously there are deeper issues as well, but has she had her eyes tested? The reason I ask is that I am a clumsy mare and regularly bump into things. It took me until my 40s to realise my eyesight isn't what it should be and to get special glasses prescribed. Although only a symptom rather than the cause, just wondered if you had met with an optician, explained the situation and asked them to test not for long or short sightedness and the normal stuff but co-ordination. IIRC it is to do with those red and green bars that you look at for one very small part of the sight test and when they realised there was a problem they spent a lot of time on it. My two things are that I walk into obstacles that are closer than they look and knock things off the side in the kitchen because I see past them, its all to do with close vision. Probably won't be anything to do with it but may be worth checking out.

In terms of the rest of the problem I think a lot is about adaptive technology specifically for cooking, such as the Good Grips range (my mum and mil both have trouble so I've spent a lot of time looking at these). Incidentally I read the following with regard to potato peeling: use one of those firm scrubbers to take the skin off instead of a peeler and attach it to the worktop using suckers so that both hands are free. Could that work? ETA: just seen Pasture's suggestion which would probably work better.