Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Appliances And A Giveaway

I absolutely adore kitchen appliances and gadgets. I'm definitely a junkie. I love the stuff -from the cooking catalogs stuffed in my mailbox to the stores in the mall, I love to see what's new. I know, maybe one day I should check myself into some sort of appliance rehab where they make you do without and cook only with your hands.

One of the things that I love about appliances, is that they really help speed things up in the kitchen. Two appliances that I use all of the time is a rice cooker and a pressure cooker. The rice cooker does a beautiful job of brown and white rice, but also polenta, barley, mixed grains, black rice, wild rice, you name it. It's a no-muss, no-fuss machine. You simply add your grains and water and turn the machine on. What could be simpler than that? This is a great way to incorporate more grains into your diet. Of course you'll notice that my rice cooker is promptly siting next to a crock of white sushi rice (so much for whole grains). I do on occasion make white rice too.

I find that a great ratio for cooking rice in the rice cooker is 2 cups rice to 3 cups water. Although my rice cooker has a brown rice function, I like the way it comes out on the sushi rice setting.

Another appliance that I love is my pressure cooker. It cooks beans in a flash, as well as soups, vegetables, dals, risotto, stews, chili and the like. I mean, who doesn't like garbanzo beans cooked in 16 minutes flat? The only thing I have to remember is to soak the beans the night before. I LOVE LOVE LOVE pressure cookers! Apparently it's great for cooking cheesecakes, bread puddings and other desserts too. I honestly haven't tried any desserts in mine yet.

Pressure cookin' garbanzo beans.

Garbanzo beans, soaking away overnight.

Now, for the giveaway. I've got another copy of the Everyday Dish DVD, so all you have to do is put your name down in the comment section, and I will add your name to the pot. One entry per person. Anonymous comments have to include a first or last name.

I will randomly select a winner by putting all of the names in a big mixing bowl, and will announce the winner here on the blog. Once the winner is announced, they will need to email me within 2 days, or I will have to randomly select another winner. I’m not sure when I will announce the winner, so check back often.

37 comments:

radioactivegan said...

Jamie G. I hope that being the first comment will prove to be good luck! Thanks!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

your rice cooker looks so nice & modern looking! ours is quite old, but its steams collards & kale just the way we like them!

moi + toi PHOTOGRAPHIE said...

Ouuuu Count me in!

I might add that your stove is very beautiful, and i am VERY jealous. Oh what i would give to have my old gas stove from my old apartment!

Tofu Mom (AKA Tofu-n-Sprouts) said...

Way cool! You have my rice cooker!! Isn't it the best? I could NOT live without this handy-dandy little gadget, I swear! (I know, my stove-top rice SUCKS!!) My kids would eat sticky-black rice for breakfast every morning if they could (or if I'd remember to set the cooker the night before!).

I could rave about pressure cookers all night too, as that is definitely my second love as well... but just say the word "rice cooker" (OK, two words) and I'm ready to babble on endlessly...

zud said...
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Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

I adore my rice cooker! I feel like I'm cleaning it every night after making a grain for most dinners.

It sounds like I need a pressure cooker! I don't know anything about them, but quickly made beans sound great!

I'm an appliance junky as well, I don't even have room for all the ones I have!

Julie said...

I need to get both of those appliances...I am a little behind though-I just recently got a food processor. :) Maybe for Christmas? I am going to check the prices for a rice cooker on Amazon right now. Thanks, Julie!

melvynadam said...

Count me in!

aTxVegn said...

I somehow lost my rice cooker! Yours looks really nice. I would love to see some desserts from your pressure cooker. I hadn't thought of that.

Please add me to the drawing!

Beth said...

Now I need to go appliance shopping.

Please add me to the drawing!!

woobat said...

Oh! Please add me to the drawing.

Vegan_Noodle said...

Can't pass that up!

Julie said...

I enjoy your website and your recipes! Thanks!

The Prairie Chick said...

I love reading your blog, it always inspires me to cook.

Please add me to the drawing.

Daneen Agecoutay

jo90 said...

I think I need to get a rice cooker too!!

Unknown said...

Hi Julie,

I would love to make the recipes from the Every Day Dish DVD - please add me to the drawing!
Thanks,

Yvonne

Anonymous said...

I will love to have a rice cooker, but i here that aluminium ones are not good for the health, what you think?

i will love to enter in the giveaway too!

Meg Wolff said...

I bought the exact same rice cooker for my son when he went to college 3 years ago...it's fantastic! He used it and loved that it was digital and he could program it to cook while he was gone.

Cooking the other grains in the rice cooker is a good idea. Who would think?

I like the idea of your give away!

I'm doing a COMMENTS CONTEST on my blog tomorrow if you'd like to join in.

Anonymous said...

Your favorite appliances are two that I don't have. Now I'm sad. THe pressure cooker is next on my list, for sure!

Count me in for the give-away please. :)

KitteeBee said...

oh, man! your pressure cooker prose made me so sad. my darlin' old school jiggle top just died. i need to replace it, and if i remember correctly, you recommended your favorite to me over at the ppk. i need to get on that asap.

dvd, me!

xo
kittee

Carrie™ said...

Today is my anniversary, so I hope that proves lucky for me! (Weddings and rice go together.) I never seem to have much of a problem with making rice, but I agree with you...if it makes it easier, let's do it! I've never had a pressure cooker. For some reason they make me nervous. Must be the story of the lid flying off my grandmother's pressure cooker and the dog being so scared, he crashed through the back door screen. Lots of people rave about them so I really should try one. Especially for beans.

spiceislandvegan said...

Hi Julie,

Count me in! I have your DVD but I can give it away to my vegan friends.

What a timing! I just got that rice cooker as a birthday gift from my hubby. My birthday was Sept. 17. I haven't had the time to use it much but I am sure I will love it.

I love using the Kuhn pressure cooker too. I don't even soak my beans sometimes since I didn't plan it.

It's a great blog!

Debbie Knight

Anonymous said...

It's my first time on your site but I enjoyed reading through your past posts. I have a rice cooker, which I love and I've been thinking about getting a pressure cooker but they scare me a bit.

I hope I'm not too late to be put in the bowl of names -- I've read all about the DVD on Vegan Vice and it sounds fantastic!

Susan Voisin said...

I completely agree with the pressure cooker. I would probably never cook dried beans without my Kuhn! And I've been coveting that rice cooker for a while, but since my plain old Black and Decker isn't very old, I can't justify buying a new one.

Mikaela said...

I don't even know why I don't have a pressure cooker. You're rice cooker looks like a spaceship :)

Sheree' said...

I LOVE KITCHEN STUFF. ANYKIND OF STUFF. I SO NEED A PRESURE COOKER. THAT IS MY NEXT ITEM ON MY WISH LIST!

Cindy said...

Hey, I have the same rice cooker! Yay! I love brown rice on the sushi rice setting too. Weird!

Unknown said...

Please add me into the mix!

When I moved to Germany last year I gave up all of my fancy appliances, pricey rice cooker and beautiful pressure cooker included. I bought a rice cooker here in Berlin but it burns about 25% of the rice every time i use it (which is about 4 times a week)! Luckily my boyfriend now has a habit of eating that crispy rice like popcorn. But i still miss my old one...

Rose said...

Count me in!

My name's Paulina by the way :)

Mittens said...

When my parents moved to Canada from Europe they decided that they need to bring a pressure cooker with them....and to this day they have it, and use it!! Now I also am addicted to the pressure cooker...so quick and easy!!

P.S. my name is Antoaneta

Laura said...

I want a rice cooker like yours! We used to have a cheapy one, but it would spit little rice bits all over our kitchen. Such a mess....gross!

I love my pressure cooker, too. At first I was convinced that I was going to blow up the kitchen with it, but I have since grown much more comfortable with it.

MeloMeals said...

I ADORE my pressure cooker. It is a fairly new kitchen toy for me. A former co-worker introduced me to the joys of one. I love cooking chickpeas with kombu in mine... they come out like butter! Seriously.. makes the best hummus ever.. but I'm sure you know that!

I have everyday dish... got it two months ago. Loved watching the three of you talented ladies.

I'll let someone who doesn't have the dvd put their bid in..

julie hasson said...

I'm glad to see I'm not the only appliance junkie out there. They really do make cooking fun.

Thanks for participating in the giveaway and all of your nice comments. It was really nice to see new faces around here.

Jody from VegChic said...

I love my rice cooker as well. Though is is not nearly as fancy as yours. We use it for everything from rice to quinoa.

Pressure cooker is my list of items I'd love to get. For now, I usually settle for canned beans.

I linked to your site from a comment on VeganVice. I'll need to check out the cooking show!

R.M. Jackson said...

Better late than never....I NEED that DVD (Third World exchange rate. Add me for the drawing please!

Kris said...

I love my pressure cooker too. I can't imagine how I lived without it for so long? My favorite thing to make in it is split pea soup- dried beans to creamy soup in about 20 minutes. Such a time saver!

Unknown said...
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