Kitchen Sink Dramas

A few random thoughts from the kitchen. Not particularly dramatic, but products I have started using recently and I think are worth mentioning.  I do not want to 'monetise' my blog, and get paid for advertising - but if I find something I think worth sharing, I like to review it here. Starting at the sink

Here in East Anglia, we have a dialect word for cloths/rags used for
cleaning around the home - dwile [believed to come from the Dutch word dwell meaning mop] There's even an old pub game dwile flonking, where you flonk [or fling] your wet rag from the end of a stick. 

I have been concerned about the plastic particles in microfibre cloths and was looking for a greener alternative. And I chanced upon the Swedish Dishcloth, the ultimate ecofriendly dwile! These were invented by an engineer, Carl Lundquist in 1949. They are made of cellulose - wood pulp - they are highly absorbent, easy to keep hygienically clean, and when you have finished with them they can go in the compost bin. They do not smell bad like some dishcloths do, and they rinse easily.

I had read some reviews  and decided to buy a pack for myself at Christmas. I bought a pack of Wettex [the original Lundquist brand] and started using my pink cloth on Jan 1st. On Feb 1st I got out the green cloth too. It's useful to have two 'on the go'

• they are incredibly absorbent [tested with ¼cup water, they had a 98.3% absorbency rate]
• when wrung out thoroughly, they dry surprisingly quickly
• they are easy to sanitise [run through washing machine, or lay on top rack of dishwasher, or rinse thoroughly in hot water and blast for 30 secs in microwave]
• they are good for use when washing up, wiping counter tops, cleaning the hob, washing windows...

I hang mine over the tap at night, and in the morning they are dry and fresh for use again. I am definitely sticking with these

Second thing is food related- specifically cheese alternatives. I have never really eaten cheese, it upsets my stomach, although as I have got older, I have discovered I can manage soft 'farmhouse' cheese [cottage, ricotta, philly etc] 

But sometimes I have wanted to umami taste, and  saltiness of parmesan sprinkled on a finished dish. "Nutritional Yeast Flakes" aka nooch have proved a good alternative. You don't need much to make a difference.

Even tastier is "Vegan P" produced by The Pasta Factory, in Manchester [a restaurant and deli] It is a mix of chopped almonds, walnuts, cashews, pine nuts and sunflower seeds, with added nooch, nutmeg and salt. The downside of this is that I can only get it from the wholefoods supermarket at the end of Steph's road! The company don't sell it mail order. [Bob gets his parmesan in a wedge from Lidl. It keeps for ages in the fridge]

Finally - yorkshire puddings. I am aware that this is a very divisive issue. But I like a few small puffy puds with my roast lunch [does not have to be beef - I like them with chicken, pork etc]

I'm not very good at making from scratch [unlike Liz who makes wonderful yorkies] and although the precooked frozen ones are brilliant, they do take up a lot of freezer space [esp when you consider they are mostly air]

I am completely hooked on Aunt Bessie's bake-at-home Yorkshires. I served these at Christmas and they worked perfectly. Each comes in its own little recyclable foil dish and they puff up splendidly alongside the potatoes and parsnips. Our last-minute-lunch-guest on Sunday was impressed. 

If you are an air-fryer-user then they cook well there too.] 

furthermore they are vegetarian, and minimally processed.

Have you found any good kitchen related items recently?