Cutting dried chillies

Dried chillies are often leathery and can be difficult to cut with a knife. A pair of scissors does the job with ease. To begin, snip off and discard the stem. Beginning at the stem end, cut chile lengthwise in half. Use your fingers to brush out seeds from inside chile halves. Cut seeded halves into thin stripes that can be toasted, stir-fried, or added to sauces and salsas.

In fact, I find my kitchen scissors really handy and use them to cut many things from herbs, to pizza. Try them out.

Pasta Maker!

My pasta maker is my latest and greatest new toy.
I bought it yesterday from the Re Store for $74.95 and made the most sensational pasta last night.
It is so easy to make, and definitely worth the effort.
Good for cooks like me who like getting their hands dirty because you have to do lots of kneading, and feeding the pasta through the machine.

Dough recipe: 100g flour to 1 egg
It is recommended that you use 1 egg for every person, but I used about 5 eggs between 3 and that was enough for a nice large bowl of pasta each.
I used regular flour but today I bought some durum semolina which is a beautiful saffron coloured really fine semolina flour which I’m hoping will make a really special pasta. I’ll keep you posted.

I refridgerated my dough for about 30 minutes before I put it through the machine - this made it a nice consistency to work with.

I made a delicious red capsicum and chorizo sauce to toss the fresh pasta through. Simple and delicious.

Georg Jensen Cutlery

Not for the short on change, this cutlery is an artform.

Beautiful to touch and hold and use, I thoroughly enjoyed licking the sauce off my fork at Jessica’s the other night.

The cutlery is beautifully weighted, heavy in your hand, making it a true pleasure to use.

Check out www.http://www.georgjensenstore.com

Piemaker!!!!!!!

The Sunbeam piemaker is my latest investment and worth every penny.
For just $40 it makes the simple art of making a pie even simpler.
You can just make your mixture, put it in the piemaker and you will have a pie in 5-8 minutes. It saves time in heating the oven, blind baking etc etc, especially important if you have a temperamental oven like me.
The pies are perfect every time - I like to cook them for a little longer so the pastry is really crunchy and golden brown.
You can also use the piemaker for leftovers - think spaghetti bolognese pies, curry pies, custard and apple pies…use your imagination - the possibilities are endless!
See my recipe for chicken and leek pies - I made these on the weekend and they were a big hit.

Cutting Dried Chillies

Dried chillies are often leathery and can be difficult to cut with a knife. A pair of scissors does the job with ease. To begin, snip off and discard the stem. Beginning at the stem end, cut chile lengthwise in half. Use your fingers to brush out seeds from inside chile halves. Cut seeded halves into thin stripes that can be toasted, stir-fried, or added to sauces and salsas.

In fact, I find my kitchen scissors really handy and use them to cut many things from herbs, to pizza. Try them out.

Purchasing Kitchen Equipment

Purchasing kitchen equipment is really expensive. Winsome and I discovered a great way to stock up the kitchen. Go to the local op-shop! You can purchase everything here - pots, pans, graters, casserole dishes, muffin tins, baking racks. You name is, someone has thrown it out and the samaritans collected it. Winsome purchased an equivalent baking equipment selection that would put Betty Crocker to shame for $23.

The local fete is also a great place for stocking up.