Knifegasm, or 'how I learned to love F. Dick' (it's a German brand of knife)

My lovely friend Mrs F has long been horrified by the 'quality' of my kitchen knives.  She's a chef, so she finds it particularly painful to see me try and chop things with the blunt metal sticks I've been using for years.  In my defence, I've never bothered with really sharp knives since the kids were big enough to pull over a chair and climb up to my knife block.  And when you find your largest carving knife embedded 'sword in the stone' style in a tree stump in the garden, there really is very little point in being precious about them!

This Christmas Mrs F finally persuaded me that my children are now old enough to respect my knives, and so she arranged for my hubby to get me some PROPER quality blades as a gift to us all.  Hence my new love for Herr Friedrich Dick of Esslingen, Germany, and his very shiny and very VERY sharp products.

I've got this one:

3 inch Kitchen Knife

 and this one:

8 inch Chef´s Knife

 

and they're amaaaaaaaaaaazing.  Carving the Christmas ham was an absolute pleasure this year, although I did feel a little like a serial killer (maybe I've been watching too much Dexter, hey?)!  Even Darling Hubby admitted that he could see what all the fuss was about after he tried them for the first time. 

Wunderbar!

The most romantic gift I got my hubby this Christmas...

...was the amazing, heavenly condiment that is Heinz HP Sauce!  We haven't had any in the house for years, and I found it at our local Asian grocer, next to the soy and sweet chilli.  Awesomesauce, indeed.

HP Sauce "The original and unmistakeable HP sauce. Used for generations in all styles of cooking. Its malt vinegar base is blended with fruit and spices, but the rest is a closely guarded secret. The name HP comes from the Houses of Parliament, a restaurant that first served this sauce. There’s nothing like it to give a kick to pies, grilled meats and burgers. It’s low in fat with no added colours, flavours or preservatives. Available in in a squeezy 372ml and 220ml glass bottle."

Naughty vegies (and recipes, and a surprise free gift!)

 Well, it's not grown up, and it's not clever, but it IS pretty funny... 

We found this very amusing while in the Netherlands!According to a recipe I found, Winterpeen is the name for the big ones (oo-er!)

Picked up this beauty at the markets and made him into stovetop baba ganoush!

Summerpeen, perhaps?A cucumber from the States, pic sent by a lovely friend who was obviously impressed by it's perfection, lol.  You can make them into Agua de pepino (cucumber limeade), it's a Mexican treat!

BONUS FRUIT, WHAT A FREE GIFT! Look at this Rubenesque Corella pear.  Why not make this TMX (Thermomix) Pear and Raspberry cake? Nom nom nom ;-)

Ode to my Thermomix

 Fine kitchen god, my Thermomix, 

You sit there on the bench

And cook for me, and clean thyself,

You're worth all the expense!

 

Weigh and chop and grind, O beast,

until the dinner's done -

Prepare for us all a veritable feast,

then a pudding made from plums. 

Of German make, your heart is strong,

your motor guaranteed.

Your metal parts are hospital grade, and

you make us an awesome feed.

Your nickname is TED, you're our Eating Device,

Technical through and through.

Risotto, soup, make cake, grind flour,

there's nothing that you can't do!

Thanks to Robert Gardiner for his excellent guide to writing an ode!