Kitchen Improvements

Having finished creating and tiling the roof on the Goat House the Handyman has turned his attention and skills to the changes required inside our house.  The first and most major changes will be to the kitchen.  This will have a huge impact on the way we live at HG and once we get through the disruption it will be fantastic to have the kitchen that we've always wanted.  At the moment the work has meant that cooking activities are being kept to a minimum whilst the dust settles - literally!

Handyman and Apprentice

Going...going...

Gone!

The next stage, replacing the windows, is underway with time being spent on selection of installer, colour, shape, materials etc.  Then it will be on to changing the boiler so that we can remove the Aga Rayburn which currently provides our heating and hot water.  Yes, I did say remove the Aga! 

Romantic Notion

When we first moved here one of the attractions was the Aga, but I've found it to be a romantic notion.  It takes up a lot of space and, certainly for me working full time, takes a long time to heat up for cooking.  I have used it on about 5 occasions, Christmas and winter family gatherings and it does make fantastic pastry cases and provide a warm and welcoming spot to gather, but I'd prefer to use the space for a cooker that I can use every day.  So the plan is to replace it with a large electric range cooker - we don't have gas here only oil and electricity.  I've found one with a mix of 6 induction and ceramic heat zones and 3 ovens and I think I'm in love!  My sister cooks on induction and has found it as controllable as gas, can't wait to try it myself.

Dream Cooker

So once the heating boiler is replaced and all the plumbing completed we can move the Aga, raise the chimney breast where it currently resides, alter the positions of the cupboards and supplement with some new ones, get the electrics done - new lighting, more sockets and my dream cooker - have all the plastering done and finally...decorate, phew!

Quite a time consuming piece of home improvement and the reason for telling you all of this is that my recipe posts may be fewer and further between whilst the kitchen is decommissioned - unless I can sneak in between the Handyman and the various tradesmen to rustle up a little something...hmm!

Lots of Lovely Fruit Juice - Hopefully!

I've been looking for a reliable and easy way to preserve fruit juice and last year bought a Samson 6 in 1 juicer.  It has worked well and extract lots of juice but the juice then needs to be pasteurised in order to be stored for more than a day or so.  I could freeze the juice but freezer space is at a premium at Holly Grove.  The other drawback to this juicer is that it is messy to use and awkward to clean.  On the plus side it does have other uses such as mincing etc.

It was interesting to read a review of steaming for juice extraction on The Cottage Smallholder that encouraged me to search for further recommendations which I found here.  

As a result of these posts and a bit more research on line I've just ordered a Beka Fruit Steamer from Amazon - Amazon have a 20% off offer on this steamer until 20th October.  It should arrive tomorrow and I can't wait to juice some of our apple harvest - I'll post a review once I've tried it out.