Coffee time with Auntie E- HolidayTime with Gadget

So here we are heading into the Holiday seasons. Fall and winter are those seasons for special food and family. the food we think of as seasonal dishes and that comfort food we all so love this time of year.

Yesterday I made a Sweet chili. It was just that kind of weather and this weekend will be fall weather. I did get a new gadget for my Birthday. An All-Clad slow cooker.

While attending a Technique class,
they used this slow cooker to make a Stew.

What I liked about it was...
The ability to use the aluminum insert
to brown the meat on the stove.
What a time and wash saver.
Not to mention the flavors are kept in the pan.

Once the browning is done...
Just place it in the base...
add the rest of the ingredients...
set it to your setting of choice and leave it alone.

Dinner , Lunch or Breakfast ready for you in hours.
and you will not have to wash or slave over the stove!
The clean up was very fast.
Photos courtesy of Williams Sonoma

If you have never attended a class at Williams Sonoma, you should. They are free and you get to sample the food. I learn how to use new gadgets and occasionally I will buy a new one. I am considering getting a new one on Monday. I will be attending a holiday cooking class that day. Just go to Williams Sonoma and find a store near you. Call them and sign up. I think you will enjoy the experience. I just started going and now I am hooked! My whole family loves to go with me.
I will post the Sweet chili recipe soon, so check back. Or follow so you will know when it gets posted.

One more thing to mention. I am starting a Holiday Flare recipe Link. It is on Thursday's for the next eight weeks. This next Thursday it will be Holiday Desserts. Last week was Side Dishes, you can still link yours up (the link is in the side dish words).

How this works is each Thursday we will have a theme dish link, you can go back and link up on any theme dish post. There will be a Link to all the Holiday Flare recipe post on the top , just above the recent post, starting next Thursday. The link will take you to the correct place to link up your recipe, just in case you are not linking the one for the current week theme. This is great cause you can come back and post more later. There is no limit to how many you can link. The only thing is the recipe itself needs to be linked. All links will take the visitor to your site and the recipe mentioned. More traffic for you,as well as a long stay on your site!

I will have a voting on the best one at the end of the the holiday flare, around January the 4th. The winner will receive a great gift. More on that this next week. So spread the word, meet me here on Thursdays and link up your Holiday recipes.

The Rules For the Contest:

On the side bar is the Holiday flare icon you must place this on your blog for Thursday's Holiday Flare. Just copy the HTML in the box and paste it on your blog.(not on the bottom of your page). This is really the only rule for participating and being eligible for the prize at the end of the Holiday Flare contest.

That's it, Hope you will join in and share those Holiday recipes.

Disclaimer:I have not be paid or compensated for this review by anyone. This is solely my view on the place and item.

Thursday's the Potluck Club.-Side Dishes.

It is that time for Holiday Flare. We have four weeks until Thanksgiving, five weeks til Hanukkah, eight weeks before Christmas and nine weeks to New Years. Now where has the time gone? Before you know it we will be in full swing of the holiday seasons.
This year each week will be a theme week. Thursday's the PotLuck Club will be Thursday's Holiday Flare for the next nine weeks. I will start the week with a Thanksgiving side dish. Have one? Link it up below. For this one I will use a thumbnail link. You can post a photo with the recipe's name. For the whole holiday Season I will put a Recipe Holiday Flare link in the side bar. That way every one will be able to get to all the recipe Links in one click (I will start that next week). You can view it as a holiday resource page leading you to all the holiday flare recipes from around the world. I am so looking forward to trying some new dishes this holiday season.
So let's start sharing those recipes and have a marvelous a Holiday Feast!

Weekend Kitchen Gadget-Scrubbing Potatoes?

Oh the days of scrubbing potatoes....Remember those Brushes, we would run the water and brush them...Water spraying on us and scrubbing most of the skin off. Not to mention trying to clean the brush afterward. I do not know about you but my Brush bristles just fell off after a while. It was hard to get every speck of dirt off with those brushes!
Time for a New era of Potatoes scrubbers.

While at a cooking class they showed Potato gloves. I purchased a pair and came home to scrub my Potatoes. It was so easy and fast. The clean up was just to let the gloves dry. I hang them on a hook.
I can see my self using this for a kinds of root vegetables.

The Potato Gloves

They dry rather fast,
Can be washed in the dishwasher, if need be.

So here is it at work...
Put the gloves on...
under running water Rub the potato in your hands.

Now for the results...
the dirty PotatoNow the Clean oneYou know the good nutrients are in the skin.
By cleaning them this way you know it will be healthier skin.

I even learned they have ones for mushrooms. Oh I have to get that one! You know Running mushroom under water can make them tough. Having a mitt to scrub them would save on the towel stains.

I really like this gadget. Would make a great gift for that Chef in the family. The holidays are coming up. This item is under 10.00 at many stores. I purchased mine at Williams Sonoma

Your links:
You can view all the Mitts at the Skrub'a website
Williams SonomaWebsite

The Weekend Gadget Icon is of the Kitchen Chef that watches over my kitchen. He is on the wall and I have had him since the 1980's. He is a Genuine Bossons "Legend" figure head. Has been guarding my kitchen ever since. Bossons is no longer in production. Closed down in 1996. All the molds were laid to rest and will not be sold to any dealer, according to the heirs. I have several Bossons in my home. When I purchased this one I was told he would watch over the kitchen and keep it safe.