Why is it always this time of year, eh?
Not Xmas. I know why this always seems to crop up at this time of year (axial tilt). No, what I mean is those wonderfully timed mishaps, missteps, and minor tragedies that seem to crop up, adding stress and expense just when you really don’t need them to.
Like three weeks before Xmas.
Which is precisely when our airfryer decided to catch fire.
First Aid
The day was Thursday of last week. The mission was to airfry some hand cut chips (that's fries for my American cousins). All was going well, In fact, all was going swimmingly. Then I turned away from the burgers I was pan frying at the same time as tidying up behind me (being something of a renaissance man comfortable with multi-tasking) and saw an orange flicker at the bottom of the machine.
Fire!
I shouted the self same sentiment to Tina, my always amazing wife, and, after clarifying what I was talking about, she came running(ish) into the kitchen to offer aid.
Which brings us to the expense part of the equation.
You see, our oven is somewhat, um, unreliable, and over the last couple of years we’ve grown quite reliant on our airfryer. We even planned to cook our turkey crown in it this year, and, with Black Friday/Cyber Monday/Add A Random Word To A Day sales being upon us, a replacement seemed like a good idea.
We weren’t mucking around this time, however. There would be no corners cut. No expense spared (within reason. I mean we didn’t want a diamond encrusted model). In the end, after a fair bit of online market research, we plumped for a Ninja Speedi and I’m very impressed.
The machine cost £150, a saving of 48%, and over the course of the las six days, t’s been used pretty much daily.
Boys And Their Toys
That’s not to say I’ve gone mad with it. I’m still very much on the learning curve. The way it steams and then airfries or bakes is a revelation though. It means that a couple of days ago I was able to cook chicken thighs and my patented sticky ‘dirty’ rice all in the one machine at the same time and produce juicy, crispy chicken and tender, flavourful, veggie rich rice in around 30 minutes (minus prep time).
So, I have a new toy, and just in time for Xmas too. I’ll be able to look up recipes for the bird, crispy roasties, and roasted carrots and ‘snips (with a touch of honey of course). It might have come from a time of heart-pounding alarm; it might have cost more than I’d like to spend, what with presents needing to be bought, but I think, in the end, the Ninja will be more than worth the investment
Now, what’s for supper.
Until next time.
#
Hey, there! If you enjoyed reading any of the above, why not take a look at some of my published work? Below you’ll find links to a number of short stories I’m lucky enough to have included in anthologies. I’d love to know what you think.
New Tales Of Old
Death Ship
Pestilence: Drabbles 1
Reaperman: Drabbles 3
The Musketeers Vs Cthulhu
Eldritch Investigations
Friends Electric
Her first thought was to unplug the machine, which was more than I could think to do in my somewhat shocked state. Her second reaction was to fill a cup with some water with which to dowse the flames. This being an electrical fire, my brain slowly emerging from its shocked catatonia, informed me this was a bad idea, so I dissuaded her from her course of action and with the help of a tea towel (R.I.P.) we got the admittedly small fire out.
The airfryer was a goner, the plastic facing having started to melt. Luckily thanks to our alertness and prompt action there was no damage to the kitchen itself, however. A fair bit of acrid smelling smoke, and a small bit of counter top that will never quite be the same, but all in all, nothing to write home about (he says, writing about it).
In With The New
We were lucky, I suppose. If I’d left the kitchen for some reason, things might have been very different indeed. We don’t know the exact cause of the flames, the airfryer having been dumped in the bin, but it wasn’t an expensive model, nor a main brand one, so…
The airfryer was a goner, the plastic facing having started to melt. Luckily thanks to our alertness and prompt action there was no damage to the kitchen itself, however. A fair bit of acrid smelling smoke, and a small bit of counter top that will never quite be the same, but all in all, nothing to write home about (he says, writing about it).
In With The New
We were lucky, I suppose. If I’d left the kitchen for some reason, things might have been very different indeed. We don’t know the exact cause of the flames, the airfryer having been dumped in the bin, but it wasn’t an expensive model, nor a main brand one, so…
Which brings us to the expense part of the equation.
You see, our oven is somewhat, um, unreliable, and over the last couple of years we’ve grown quite reliant on our airfryer. We even planned to cook our turkey crown in it this year, and, with Black Friday/Cyber Monday/Add A Random Word To A Day sales being upon us, a replacement seemed like a good idea.
We weren’t mucking around this time, however. There would be no corners cut. No expense spared (within reason. I mean we didn’t want a diamond encrusted model). In the end, after a fair bit of online market research, we plumped for a Ninja Speedi and I’m very impressed.
The machine cost £150, a saving of 48%, and over the course of the las six days, t’s been used pretty much daily.
Boys And Their Toys
That’s not to say I’ve gone mad with it. I’m still very much on the learning curve. The way it steams and then airfries or bakes is a revelation though. It means that a couple of days ago I was able to cook chicken thighs and my patented sticky ‘dirty’ rice all in the one machine at the same time and produce juicy, crispy chicken and tender, flavourful, veggie rich rice in around 30 minutes (minus prep time).
So, I have a new toy, and just in time for Xmas too. I’ll be able to look up recipes for the bird, crispy roasties, and roasted carrots and ‘snips (with a touch of honey of course). It might have come from a time of heart-pounding alarm; it might have cost more than I’d like to spend, what with presents needing to be bought, but I think, in the end, the Ninja will be more than worth the investment
Now, what’s for supper.
Until next time.
#
Hey, there! If you enjoyed reading any of the above, why not take a look at some of my published work? Below you’ll find links to a number of short stories I’m lucky enough to have included in anthologies. I’d love to know what you think.
New Tales Of Old
Death Ship
Pestilence: Drabbles 1
Reaperman: Drabbles 3
The Musketeers Vs Cthulhu
Eldritch Investigations
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