curlywurlyfi

have discovered also that it is well worth shopping around on the net, once you've done the real-world research on what you want. Go to Kelkoo and plug in the details. A friend recently got her Smeg + hood + groovy fridge for about GBP1200, saving a shedload on the John Lewis price. Jonathan - interested in the steamer oven concept. Friend had one installed in London recently and I thought (in my Scottish way), 'hmm, they've clearly got more money than sense, nothing there that can't be achieved with an actual steamer' - do you have any comments on the performance of these? have a feeling I'm over-researching, thus leading to indecision paralysis. will doubtless still be cooking on the current parlous model when I'm 75.

if you fail finding Greek yoghurt you can just substitute ordinary wholemilk yoghurt, or half fat creme fraiche (this is a bit thicker though so you might end up diluting with a bit of milk). one of my favourite dips kind of reverses the whole dip idea - prawn cocktail flavour crisps (ancient British traditional flavour, slightly alarming orange colour, no actual prawns were injured in the making of these items) as scoopers for plain Greek yoghurt. this doesn't help you at all, of course, I just mention it as an aside...

my mum uses hers when she's making Christmas puddings - does about five at a time. it's never seen a fish in its life. I've got a mandoline which has never been out of the box, and an asparagus kettle, ditto. And I gave away the mouli-legumes after using it once and coating the entire kitchen and myself in a smooth puree.

tzatziki? chop cucumber, spring onion + mint into Greek yoghurt or if you're hell-bent on using the sun dried tomatoes, what about chopping them with some black olives + a little fresh tarragon or basil and stirring into Greek yoghurt/sour cream.

in no particular order Vignottes Gouda Roquefort OK, I lied - I like Roquefort most. With walnuts. or pears. or on toast. with watercress. or in a tart. or on Sally Clarke's hazelnut + raisin bread. Fi

I've had their mashed potato and their sausage stew (I'm sure it's really called something much more appetizing) - both were a bit dull - more seasoning needed. But their meringues are exceptional and I'll vote for the custard too! it is quite expensive, but then, they've totally picked their market - tired and enervated Notting Hillinois who want high-end comfort food for in front of the telly and who don't mind paying a bit more than Marks & Spencer prices for the convenience. Also, the clear vacuum pouches (which BTW are quite an expensive way of packaging food, if you're thinking of doing this yourself) mean you actually see what you're getting instead of a photograph of some idealized dish. That and the open shelves sort of say subliminally, 'this is all FRESH' (sorry to contradict you, balex!) So: 10/10 for convenience, 7/10 for price, 6.5/10 for quality (based on my limited experience of four items).

Because we have more family who live in Glasgow who would be genuinely hurt if we didn't go there for dinner, instead of "wasting our money on that swanky place." So - no Amaryllis for me - again. Sobs quietly into keyboard. Maybe I can do a stealth attack lunch when I'm at the sales.

don't hang your head in shame, it all sounds delicious! and gives you much more time to chat with your friends, too. how about mushrooms/Madeira/little bit of double cream/chopped tarragon combined with the pan scrapings? Fi

it is a bit of a foodie wasteland round Kilmarnock. Still, we have the joyous factoids that (a) they blend Johnny Walker in the town; and (b) Prestwick Airport is the only place in Scotland Elvis ever visited, hence the marvellously originally named 'Elvis Bar' on the first floor um - that's it, actually. sigh. Still, there'll be Aunty Christine's legendary clootie dumpling. Fi

going home to Kilmarnock (west coast of Scotland, about 20 minutes south of Glasgow) for Christmas. to take the pressure off the holiday kitchen (ie me + my mother), I'm volunteering to take The Family out for lunch or dinner. Places my folks like to go include: Craigie Inn, Craigie Cochrane Inn, Gatehead Lochgreen House, Troon Highgrove House, Troon and (my personal favourite) Braidwoods outside Dalry (quail stuffed with black pudding, mmm) So not massively high-end, but not cafes either. But they've been to all of these about a million times. We may have exhausted the area, but does anyone have any suggestions for similar places within about a 40-minute radius of Glasgow (pref south)? Fi

I think this is my new favourite thread and I am guilty of at least half of them (hot pan handle? cold water/hot Pyrex? egg in microwave?). I myself, however, will never... ... use a plastic lighter to light my gas oven to roast a butterflied leg of lamb and forget where I left the lighter. Six guests sitting in the kitchen, laughing and enjoying a glass of wine, me quietly thinking, god, my eyes are really stinging, that cigarette smoke is really bothering me, hope I haven't suddenly developed an allergy, this is really dreadful - all of a sudden everyone else said, christ, what is that smoke - well of course plastic lighter was in flames on the floor of the oven, choking clouds of toxic black smoke pouring into the kitchen... we broke for cover into the garden and stood there laughing and weeping. We ate the lamb anyway, it was delicious, and I invented a whole new dish called Crying Lamb. ... I will also never use my Le Creuset griddle pan for searing previously marinated tuna steaks, then put the pan in the sink and immediately stack the Tupperware marinade container into the pan... and finally, (see the Recipe software thread), I will never run into the other room to check a recipe on the computer whilst holding a wooden spoon from the cheese sauce pan. Cheese sauce + keyboard = such a telling-off. Fi

god, I am loving you ALL (particularly you, Boris_A, now I will never be happy). am going to spend my weekend ranging (ho ho) far and wide across the country (ok, so West London and Reigate), beadily eyeing up enamel finishes, twirling knobs and kicking doors. Will probably be politely ejected from many premises. Seriously, some great options here - thank you.

Tommy, thank you thank you thank you for this thread! I have had larb for dinner three nights running now (most successful incarnation was last night's with the mint quota upped, the lemongrass left whole but bashed and fished out before eating, and served with (in a very non-traditional way, I'm calling it Thai-Brit Fusion) steamed green beans and extra dried red chilli flakes and sesame oil for sprinkling. Have got the girls coming over for improbable cocktails on Sunday night and guess what they'll be eating?? Fi (aka Larb Queen of Notting Hill)

Varmint, that catfish looks sensational! I made larb. Made it Monday night, had leftovers Tuesday night, making it again tonight!

Ooooh yes. I like Frangelico, or Amaretto. hmmm - do you sense a nut theme? and a couple of squares of Green & Black's Maya Gold chocolate goes very well alongside (dark chocolate with orange, cinammon and nutmeg).

Welcome, Aesthete! Recently in New York I had something called a Dirty Martini which I think was gin + olive brine, no vermouth. Yuck. Well, I thought it was grim, but apparently it's all the rage. Waste of good gin. Am totally inspired by this thread! Going to go home and crack open the Plymouth gin - finest gin in the world - drier than Tanqueray, which is my next favourite. What a shame it's only 3.30pm in London. I am gasping for a Martini. Fi

oh my god, shrimp and guacamole - why did I never think of this before? how divine does that sound! thanks for this blog, Cusina! (and hurray for having a supermarket across the road from my office so I can stride in after work and collar the ingredients - guess what I'm having for supper!) Fi

Tryska, I have the exact opposite problem. Whenever I go home and my mother cooks for me, I find she has over-salted everything. She feeds my brother and father regularly so they all have the same taste scale. I have regularly seen them spread salted butter on bread and then sprinkle salt on that - aieeeee! Hypertension ALERT! I went home for Christmas one year and mum had made a steak-and-kidney pie. We all took a forkful and AS ONE the three of them reached for the salt cellar, and I reached for my water glass. THAT was the precise moment I knew I had left home... Fi

eek, posted twice Fi

I've always had fond memories of Moro, and though I don't go that often, I had a rare beef salad there over the summer that made me remember that when beef is good, there is nothing in the world more delicious (and I speak as someone whose friends run an organic beef farm in Devon, and Moro's beef was better, sorry Em + Ed). Really - it was the finest flavoured steak I have ever had.

And, PoppySeedBagel, I totally agree about the Britannia. It looked great, but which idiot designed its electric grill that you can't clean behind? Eventually, any time I grilled anything the kitchen filled with choking black smoke - I stopped being able to use it in the end. And so I moved (shades of "this oven's dirty - let's move"). And the sad thing is, I love the New World brand - my mum had one when I was little and hers was GREAT - totally classic retro curvy cooker in cream enamel, with a gas grill and a warming oven - and the one I have is a great little cooker, but little is so the word - it's just too small.

Hmmm - jackal, it looks great, but it weighs nearly 500lbs, and I live on the fourth floor of a rickety building. I'm not worried so much by my kitchen floor (though god knows I probably should be) as the thought of getting it up the stairs! thank you, though.

OK - I'm redoing my kitchen (well, the entire flat, but that's another story - anyone know a good builder??). It needs new EVERYTHING - I've inherited a New World cooker from the 1950s made of ship-building steel with which is so small it only has three burners on top and, worse, a standard A4 baking tray DOESN'T FIT INSIDE IT! it is driving me MAD. So, I am definitely buying a new cooker, and would for preference have a range type. I'm quite drawn to the 100cm Smeg Opera A2-2 (two side-by-side doors, ie dual cavity, with one side narrower than the other), electric oven and gas hob. I used to have a Britannia fan oven, but was never that impressed with the heat distribution. My list of desires are: side-by-side doors electric oven gas hob with four or preferably five burners Do any of you have any opinions? [Fi ducks to avoid incoming.] I'm a domestic cook, not a professional, so don't need anything ultra-sturdy. Plus, I'm on the fourth floor, so no Agas. Not keen on Lacanche. But does anyone own a CDA, for example? My budget is around £1000 but I'd obviously like to pay less if possible (ref para one concerning entire flat to refit). Thanks in advance for your help. Fi

Tryska, you win! Fi

best drunken meal? sausage + mash whilst watching The Matrix last Friday. The Electric Cinema on Portobello Road is without question the world's finest cinema. It has a bar, and the brilliantly named 'Tub Tarts', who come round like cigarette girls with a tray, except they are selling sausage + mash or spring rolls or chicken wings, etc, in tubs the size of a Ben + Jerrys pot with little wooden forks in the lid. So we got there at 9.30pm, having been in the pub beforehand (traditional Friday night post-work activity) and snuggled into the deep leather armchairs with our feet on the leather footstools and drank more wine/beer and noshed on chilli crackers followed by sausage + mash WHILST WATCHING THE FILM, do I need even to explain how heavenly this was. A bottle of house white made even Matrix Three good. and the sausage and mash was delicious.