THE SHOPPING THREAD :-)

[gertbysea]

Well done Gert, i havent done that one yet. I have yet to do a whole meal in 15mins.

Me either!  Lol!

Gert

[stacelee]

I always wonder how much prep work has already been done.  I'm not able to get anything on the table that fast (unless its a salad) but I'm usually multi tasking at the same time as cooking.  Before I left for work this morning I had to make a batch of cookies for my sister....while I was eating breakfast, unpacking the dishwasher, cleaning out the fridge, yelling at a teenager to get off my computer and stop dropping crumbs in my keyboard, trying to talk to my husband and convince four dogs that getting under my feet constantly did not mean that I would give them cookie dough.  Needless to say it took more than 15 minutes to make the cookies!

I took everyone's advice and ended up redeeming my credit card points instead of flybuys points for a myer voucher.  Westpac allow you to redeem for a Myer eCard so it is in my hot little hands already and I'm going to check the machine out tonight.  Just need to convince my husband that I can find room in my small kitchen for it!

[Wonder]

You'll love it Staclee, I bought one a few months ago and we aren't big ice cream eaters but we are enjoying having different flavours and it's so easy when you can make the custard base in the TMX

[KarenH]

Can I ask a question about the Breville ice-cream maker to those who have one of these?  We have the cuisinart machine where you have to store the bowl in the freezer (not the compressor one).  I'm not actually that impressed with it, because the icecream around the edges and bottom of the bowl freeze really hard, and are difficult to scrape off, and it is always hard to get all the icecream off the stirring/paddle thing that goes into the bowl.  We end up with icecream that is a mixture of too hard and too soft, and we tend to waste a lot that is stuck to the mixer (well, the kids lick it all off, so its not wasted)

Does anyone else with the Cuisinart machine have the same problems?  Is the cuisinart compressor machine a better one?  What is the breville smart scoop one like to use?

[stacelee]

We have the same problem with our Cuisinart frozen bowl one which is one of the reasons I'm looking at the compressor breville...that and the lack of freezer which doesn't seem to be getting fixed any time in the near future .  I never lack volunteers to clean the bowl for me but it annoys me how much always is left behind.

[obbie]

I have the cusinart softy serve, and its painfull. The ice cream hole is so small for it to come out, and the bowl has to live in the freezer.

I want the breville scoop like Wonder has.

[CreamPuff63]

I've got the Cuisanart compressor and its a really good machine. There is a bit of wastage when you pull out the paddle, and no matter how quick  I try and scoop it into the container its usually a bit messy. I find cleaning the machine down where the bowl has been quite difficult as there are a few nooks and crannys where abit of grated chocolate and melted icecream can melt themselves into. To be honest I think that I would have been pretty happy with a frozen bowl one, as you have to prepare the mixture the day before to store in the fridge to cool down so at the same time you could pop the bowl into the freezer to freeze. I am happy with mine tho. It was on sale last year for $370, and I've noticed that its on sale again.

[Wonder]

With the Breville at first I seemed to get a bit stuck to the sides that was hard to get off but now I don't seem to have that problem. It is a little fiddly getting the ice cream off the paddle, but like with the TMX you find your own way of doing it after a few goes. Depending on the recipe some ice creams seem to freeze much harder and stay harder as I'm scooping into the container for the freezer, while others stay more firm. With Tenina's chocolate (a staple here) it seems to melt quickly, while the peppermint choc chip from the forum stays more firm. The kids also haven't noticed a difference in batches where we have made the custard in advance from those where we have put it into the ice cream machine while still warm. During DD's exams she was making the peppermint custard and putting it straight from cooking in the TMX to the ice cream machine and then eating. It took a while longer for it to churn but only by about 15 mins she said.  I ended up paying $360 for my Breville and am very happy with it.

[achookwoman]

I have the compressor one also but find it fiddly getting the ice cream from the sides and bottom,  until I thought to pop the bowl order the hot water for a couple of seconds.  No longer or it will melt the ice cream.

[CreamPuff63]

That's handy to know wonder, I'll try that next time. I always follow instructions to the letter and didn't think about rebelling 

[jeninwa]

I also have the breville smart scoop, and find that sometimes the ice cream  freezes to the sides of the bowl but doesn't take much to scrape off. The paddle is harder to clean off. I love that it has a pre cool setting. I usually cool the custard I the fridge before churning.
It also has a keep cool function that will keep the icecream chilled and churned for up to 3 hours.

[cookie1]

Gert the salad looks lovely. I watched it on TV the other night and we plan to have it for dinner tomorrow night. Something light after all our meals out.

I think cookbooks have a mechanism to detect people like us, they know we are a little more defenceless in the purchase of such books, and they jump into our trollies. Knowing they won't be put back.

[Emme]

Totally agree Cookie 

[mcmich]

I think we have just all been blessed with good cookbook genes. 

[maddy]

I think we have just all been blessed with good cookbook genes. 

Blessed or cursed?  Fine line