Making holes in an old bench for a new tool….

I am not anti-technology at all; otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here at my laptop writing this! I have all kinds of nifty gadgets and as many cables cluttering up my life as everybody else….. BUT there is a craze at the moment that I don’t like. It is the noisy kitchen machinery craze.

Everyone has a fan-forced oven and a rangehood and everyone is getting vitamixes and thermomixes, which whizz up everything in a matter of seconds and will even cook it for you. But these things are all soooooo noisy, even if only for a few seconds or a minute or two. I do not like noise. I love peace and quiet, especially when I am enjoying myself preparing food in the kitchen. I really love the gentle sound of grinding spices in my stone pestle and the hands on action means I can get the spices just how I want them, whilst getting some small amount of arm exercise too! Why go to the gym when you could be grinding spices instead?? (Looking at that photo I have now found the washer I thought I had swept up with the sawdust I created whilst drilling holes in my old bench to bolt down the new addition….)

Moreover, neither the vitamix nor the thermomix GRINDS things, it just cuts them up really small. Grinding has some health benefits, over cutting and the result of grinding is a much more natural food for our gut to deal with.

I also have a fruit, vegetable and wheat grass juicer which lives permanently attached to my kitchen table. It is really solid and an absolute delight to use. Being always there means I can grab an apple or 2, a couple of carrots and handful of wheatgrass and in a couple of minutes I have a fresh juice. It is really easy to clean too.

 

 

Well, now I have something new! A Retsel Little Ark seed, grain, coffee and spice mill. I am not going to grind kilograms of grains to make flours but rather do smaller jobs, like make fresh oatmeal, grind and blend spices for the market…… and grind coffee.

I am planning on doing all kinds of exciting things with this mill so stay tuned!!

And it makes a pleasant, natural sound as I turn that very long handle, well designed for human use. Again, it is  also excellent upper body exercise and the results are gut-friendly!

So, while I cook, whether I want to listen to wonderfully interesting podcasts or hear the birds outside the window or a friend knocking on the front door, it will all be lovely and quiet in my kitchen.

Life is yours to define. Get there fast then take it slow.