hi-tech, low-tech, no-tech...?

[Aubergine]

continuing along in my quest to find a comfortable balance on the continuum of back-to-the-earth vs uber hi-tech, i just had an "aha!" moment that took my breath away. :) i was working on a recipe that called for using a blender to mix several ingredients for a sauce; that's all it had to do--thoroughly combine them.

since my blender has 5 parts (at least one of which is lethal) that have to be assembled before use, then taken apart, separately cleaned, dried, and stored, and i was on a deadline, i chanced using a mason jar with a lid and shaking the heck out of them. needless to say, it worked just fine, and i can't imagine why the recipe didn't suggest the same.

if you've read this far, you know this isn't a new theme with me. but i can't help wondering how & why we've moved in recent years (since the advent of tvfn?) to thinking that it's not possible to prepare even simple foods without machinery. whatever happened to egg beaters and potato mashers? i can't find either anywhere i shop--and i get around.

[rosie_one]

I bought my potato masher at a thrift shop for .50 cents. Works just fine.

I think the answer to your larger question is largely economic. People think this stuff up and need a market to sell it. Sometimes, it gets out of hand, like in your mason jar example. However, as anyone who has ever whipped cream or made meringue or divinity without the help of an appliance will tell you, sometimes, it is well worth the labor saving device. I certainly think you are right on some levels though. It's good to keep in the back of your mind that it is worth the few moments thought as you cook to see if you can simplify your process.

[funniegrrl]

I hear ya.

I tend to use "hand" tools rather than machines whenever it makes sense, just because I hate washing the danged things. Of course, it helps that I live alone and am usually cooking for just one or two. If I were cooking for a family it might be different ...

I have a Cuisinart that I wouldn't part with for the world but I only use it when I NEED to use it. I have a blender I use for smoothies and pureed soups, etc. I make yeast bread and quick breads by hand. I don't have the counter space for a stand mixer so when I need that power (cakes, meringue, etc.) I use the hand mixer I bought on clearance at Target for $11 fifteen or twenty years ago. Of course I could whip egg whites by hand but to me that is a bridge too far. :D

And, the Happiest Place on Earth (that would be TARGET) does carry very nice hefty potato mashers and egg beaters, etc. So does Bed, Bath, Beyond.

[imloulou]

I find (and buy) all these tools (the potato masher, lemon juicer, all the non-electonics) at yard and estate sales...you can find some really great cooking tools this way!!

I love all the "old" non electric tools. I use them often.

But I am thankful for my immersion blender (for blending soups right in the pot), my Food Processor, and my Stand Mixer. I cant imagine grating bulk cheddar cheese using one of my hand graters.

I really dont think that anyone thinks that it is impossible to prepare a meal without machinery...it is just convenient. There is more storage in kitchens to keep all these things and most everyone has a dishwasher which makes it easier to clean the gadgets.

If I had a big kitchen (mine is very small...and I mean SMALL) and a dishwasher (which I don't) I would probably have more electronics and gadgets. For me it is easier to clean a potato masher than to clean the mixer or the food processor by hand.

[HUNGRY!]

You really can't find a potato masher? I just bought one at Bed Bath and Beyond and they had several options. I also got a potato ricer which I love.

I don't use a lot of gadgets beyond my kitchen aid mixer, but I don't have a lot of space. To me, if someone will only cook using a million gadgets more power to them. At least they are cooking rather than going out for McDonalds or making something from a box.

Besides, my 94 year old blind grandmother with arthritis loves her gadgets and they allow her to still cook all of her favorites for herself so I won't say anything bad about them. Of course, someone from the COA comes in three times a week to do her dishes.

[Aubergine]

Originally posted by funniegrrl
I hear ya. Of course I could whip egg whites by hand but to me that is a bridge too far. :D

And, the Happiest Place on Earth (that would be TARGET) does carry very nice hefty potato mashers and egg beaters, etc. So does Bed, Bath, Beyond.

thanks so much, friends! funnie: "a bridge too far"--:D but i was at Target, twice recently, and 'our's' doesn't have them. besides, since they've majorly changed their store here, it's no longer my "happy" place, although it used to be.

loulou, i'm with you on yard sales (love 'em!), and i've tried that, but i guess the early birds get there before me. hmmm...probably thrift shops.

[blazedog]

I've read some very interesting books on technology and cooking/housework.

To some extent there is a revolution of rising expectations as new household technologies appear.

For example, the eggbeater was a HUGE labor savings device which was introduced at the end of the 19th century. Although many middle class people had cooks, it still enabled what had once been an incredibly labor intensive procedure -- i.e. creaming and whipping for light cakes to become a more accessible (albeit still laborious) procedure. So what had once been a very occasional treat now become something that women were expected to produce on more occasions.

Not that I would give up my Cuisinart but I am old enough to remember its introduction and its immediate impact on the kinds of foods that were de rigeur at a chic dinner party. Of course there were other forces involved in terms of increased culinary sophistication but there is quite a difference between making quenelles, mousse or pate without a food processor.

Although not food per se, the rise of labor saving devices like rug beaters and electric brooms really didn't reduce the amount of time a housewife spent cleaning -- it merely raised the bar of what was considered minmally acceptable -- there used to be a real reason for spring cleaning as that was one of the rare times when rugs were taken outdoors and beaten (pre carpet sweeper/vacuum cleaner). Of course the demise of affordable maids contributed to the increase in time the middle class women devoted to household functions.

[funniegrrl]

There is a cute little book about the history of Jell-O that discusses this. The decline in the availability of domestic help is a huge reason that labor-saving devices and convenience foods became more common. At the turn of the century even middle-class homes had "help." So, if you wanted to have gelatin (either for an aspic or "jellies"), your cook would spend hours boiling bones, skins, etc., purifying, blah blah blah. Powdered, factory-made gelatin took something that was previously more upper-class than middle-class and made it possible for everyone to have it, with or without servants.

[Jazzmatazz49]

Affordable maids are the answer to all of life's problems.
In my humble opinion, of course.:D

[blazedog]

I loved the biography of Irma Rimbauer - Stand Facing The Stove.

She was an upper class woman who was reduced to penurious circumstances after her husband committed suicide.

The book traces the original edition which had a lot to do with the end of affordable servants. The cookbook was filled with recipes that enabled the newly wed woman of the 20's to entertain ladies at lunch and card parties (with dainties) and also entertain without cooks and serving maids - the first release had a lot of chafing dish recipes which were supposed to be the perfect solution to pull out when you were entertaining other couples after theatre or a party.