mash-up; [noun] a mixture or fusion of several disparate elements. First known use, 1859 [yes, really!]
Here we are on the first day of February, and I have three totally unrelated snippets for you...so here's a mash-up blogpost...
Second - Kezzie sent me this picture which amused me enormously. Readers of a delicate disposition, please do not take offence.
Finally - speaking of mash-ups, how do you mash your potatoes? A friend recently posted a picture of her kitchen on Facebook, and it included a jar of utensils. There were a number of comments about her interesting square spoons - but I was intrigued by her masher. It is nothing like mine!
I also have a ricer [2] which comes out if I want to do something a little more fancy - such as topping a fish pie. The little extruded bits brown beautifully, and go crispy, under a hot grill, or in the oven.
But my good friend has a bent flat-bottomed model [3] I don't know how I would get on with that.
It seems crazy that there are so many styles [and some people use a food mixer - but that uses up electricity and fails to give your 'bingo wings' a workout, so that's a no-no for me]
What sort of masher do you have? and what about your potato peeler?
My mother used to do hers in the stand mixer, a huge Sunbeam with loads of attachments.
ReplyDeleteDo they still make Sunbeam appliances. My mum's friend had a mixer, I thought it was so exciting.
Deletewe have a trusty, 30 year old number 3 Angela. Thank you as ever, for your blog, always a thought provoking delight. Jill
ReplyDeleteThank you Jill!! I wonder why we often refer to kitchen utensils as "trusty"? Maybe in changing and difficult times, it is good to know you can rely on the kit to make comfort food (potato masher, teapot with good spout, the pyrex jug ..)
DeleteIt must have felt weird to see one of your gift bags for sale at the charity shop! Too funny about the elephant! I have a potato masher that looks a little like your Oxo one, but, a longer handle. I generally use a knife to peel the potatoes. :)
ReplyDeleteI can't peel fine enough with a knife. I have an Oxo good grips peeler
DeleteI've got no.1 and also one that has a wooden handle with 2 metal bits that extend and met in a circular crisscross shape. No.1 was a present and very good! Kezzie x
ReplyDeleteMost Good Grips stuff is very well designed and built to last
DeleteI really don't like mashed potatoes so have managed to more or less avoid them since Colin died!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do have a masher but it only gets used for crunching dried baked bread into crumbs
"alternative uses for a masher" deserves a blogposts of its own.
DeleteMine is a very old version of Number 1-wooden handled so probably 50 years old. I seldom peel potatoes (the last time was a belated steak pie dinner on 8th January) unless it’s for mash and use a very sharp small knife. Catriona
ReplyDeleteI peel potatoes far less these days too
DeleteI have an electric masher called a Masha! I can't cope with mashing by hand any more. My Masha also blends soups and will (I think) whips cream using a different blade but I haven't tried that.
ReplyDeleteI must check out the Masha
DeleteI bought a Masha when they very first came out, and thought it was great.
ReplyDeleteHowever, not very much later, the newer version appeared, the type FC has, with the extra uses.
I contacted the manufacturers to ask if they would give me a discount on a new one, as I was one of their very first customers.
The reply was rude and dismissive, so I gave my Masha to our son to use for mashing up baby food and refused to buy another!
We now have 'crushed' potatoes a lot, if they need to be smoother, I either put them through the ricer, or set 'himself' to work with the Oxo Good Grips one! X
oh that is sad. Now if you had bought your Masha from Mountain Warehouse, I am sure Maria would have treated you better!
DeleteI used to have a rather horrid masher similar to no. 1 and the mash part was made of plastic. When it broke, I replaced it with a no. 4 and I'm happy with that. DS often gets to mash the potatoes when they visit, and he is very fussy and likes to use their own no. 2, which he brings! I have sometimes used a powerful hand beater after mashing, for really smooth potatoes, but I'd have to be in the mood for this extra work!
ReplyDeleteIf he brings his own masher and helps with the food prep that's excellent, I think. I think plastic mashers are doomed to be short-lived
DeleteWe use a number 3 most of the time, I quite like it's mashing capability. I've often thought about buying a ricer but don't think I'd like cleaning it!
ReplyDeletePotato peeler os one of those that slightly swivels. I cannot use what is called a 'Lancashire ' peeler to save my life. Anyone who can peel spuds with a cooks knife is a genius in my book!
Love the elephant joke
Alison in Wales x
I can't do it with a knife either. I once met a guy who spent the summer before catering college doing "work experience" with the late, eccentric Fanny Craddock. He said the first job she gave him was to peel a bucket of spuds with a knife. The second job was to go back and peel his peelings!!!
DeleteWe've had a wooden handle #1 for decades and more recently got a #4 that has seen little use. I've never seen #3. What is it used for?
ReplyDeleteHugs!
Just mashing potatoes
DeleteNo 1 masher, but rarely used as I don't often make mashed potatoes.
ReplyDeleteOxo Good Grip Peeler. As a lefty, it works well for me--something that was not always true with some old peelers. Definitely not a knife peeler or the majority of the spuds would end up as compost...not cooked. :) Mary
I think my lefty daughter has an Oxo good grips too.
ReplyDeleteI have a less impressive version of (1) in plastic, it's not great, but I don't mash potatoes very often so I don't think I need to rush out and buy another. My mum has always peeled veg with a knife but I can't do that: I've always used a variety of peelers. I have seen and smiled at the elephant "joke" - very amusing. Love FD xx
ReplyDeleteIs it a generation thing? My mum used a knife as well - but i've always been pro-peeler
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