On Sunday, October 20, 2013 5:13:33 PM UTC-10, sf wrote:
> On Sun, 20 Oct 2013 13:53:39 -1000, dsi1
>
> > wrote:
>
>
>
> > On 10/20/2013 12:15 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>
> > >
>
> > > I'm with you on that most of the time but I also like to try new
>
> > > things. I did have to eat for cheap but I never resorted to Ramen as
>
> > > many college kids do.
>
> >
>
> > I'll have the instant ramen every once in a while. It's kind of tasty if
>
> > you're not forced to eat the stuff. It's also tasty if you fry the
>
> > noodles until crispy.
>
>
>
> I thought all Ramen was "instant". It's not? How long does it take
>
> not instant Ramen to cook?
>
>

Instant ramen is that dried stuff that comes in the square packages. The non-instant stuff is fresh undried noodles. I can get packages of the refrigerated undried stuff at the stores here but my guess is that it's a bit harder on the mainland. I had a bowl of ramen at the ramen shop tonight.

I make instant ramen by boiling the noodles al dente in plain water. The noodles are rinsed in cold water and drained. The soup base is made separately and the hot broth is added to the noodles which is then served immediately.

Alternately, you could just sprinkle the soup packet on the noodles straight from the package and eat that. According to the kids, it's pretty tasty. A package of instant ramen might be just the thing to take along on a hike.

>
> --
>
> Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

On 21/10/13 6:42 PM, dsi1 wrote:
> On Sunday, October 20, 2013 6:43:38 PM UTC-10, Xeno Lith wrote:
>> On 21/10/13 11:21 AM, gtr wrote:
>>
>>> On 2013-10-20 12:03:27 +0000, Xeno Lith said:
>>
>>>
>>
>>>> We use our rice cooker, a 5 cup version, on a daily basis. It it the
>>
>>>> second most used appliance here, behind only the electric jug.
>>
>>>
>>
>>> Same here, though we use it twice a week. I assume by "electric jug" you
>>
>>> mean a machine that keeps water hot? Likely our most used applicance. We
>>
>>> drink tea all day.
>>
>>>
>>
>> That's the one. It's the only appliance that we use more than the rice
>>
>> cooker. We don't use one for keeping water hot - we call them electric
>>
>> urns over here - we just use it to boil water on an as needed basis.
>>
>> Probably 5 to ten times a day on average and, yes, we are tea drinkers
>>
>> too! ;-)
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>>
>> Xeno
>
> The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and the
> water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil
water. Amazing!

Been using this kind of thing for as long as I can remember. I still
recall the old kettles which had an exposed element at the bottom. Every
now and then the element would break and a judicious repair was effected
by connecting the two broken elements together and twisting them around
each other. Worked like a charm! Can't do that with these new fangled
ones! ;-)

>
> There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the same unit.
> Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the dryer.
> How is this done? The dryer is a closed system and the air is recycled.
> Water vapor is removed by running the air throw a refrigeration coils
which
> changes the vapor into liquid water which then goes down the drain.
> The system doesn't work as well as a vented open system but that water
> pot made up for it.
>
Well, car air conditioning systems are dehumidifiers so I wouldn't be
surprised if the same principle could be used to dry clothes. Seems to
be a bit of an overkill however.

--

Xeno

"dsi1" > wrote in message
...
On Sunday, October 20, 2013 6:43:38 PM UTC-10, Xeno Lith wrote:
> On 21/10/13 11:21 AM, gtr wrote:
>
> > On 2013-10-20 12:03:27 +0000, Xeno Lith said:
>
> >
>
> >> We use our rice cooker, a 5 cup version, on a daily basis. It it the
>
> >> second most used appliance here, behind only the electric jug.
>
> >
>
> > Same here, though we use it twice a week. I assume by "electric jug" you
>
> > mean a machine that keeps water hot? Likely our most used applicance. We
>
> > drink tea all day.
>
> >
>
> That's the one. It's the only appliance that we use more than the rice
>
> cooker. We don't use one for keeping water hot - we call them electric
>
> urns over here - we just use it to boil water on an as needed basis.
>
> Probably 5 to ten times a day on average and, yes, we are tea drinkers
>
> too! ;-)
>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> Xeno

The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and the
water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil water.
Amazing!

There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the same
unit. Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the dryer. How
is this done? The dryer is a closed system and the air is recycled. Water
vapor is removed by running the air throw a refrigeration coils which
changes the vapor into liquid water which then goes down the drain. The
system doesn't work as well as a vented open system but that water pot made
up for it.

---

A lot of my friends in foreign countries have such things. AFAIK they are
not available here. But I have seen something for a dryer if you have no
vent to the outside. I was sold this mistakenly at a hardware store on
Staten Island. I went to get new hose for a dryer vent. I told the guy
that I was sure that we had a vent to the outside. But he was like... You
live in an apartment? You need this! It was sort of a small bucket looking
thing that attaches to the hose. I think you fill it with water. It
collects the lint. And you have to empty it, perhaps each time you use it.
Not really sure since we never used it since we did need exactly what I said
we needed. I learned to hate that hardware store. They were notorious for
selling us things we didn't need.

On Mon, 21 Oct 2013 15:51:59 +1100, Xeno Lith
> wrote:



>>>>
>>>> You have a sauté feature on a rice cooker?? Wow, mine never had
>>>> that. They sure are fancy these days
>>>
>>> Yes, white rice, brown rice, steam, saute, and keep warm features.
>>
>>
>>
>I thought those capabilities were standard fare for automatic rice
>cookers... inherent in the deign in fact...

Not on the cheap ones.

"dsi1" > wrote in message
...

> The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and the
> water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil water.
> Amazing!
>
> There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the same
> unit. Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the dryer.
> How is this done? The dryer is a closed system and the air is recycled.
> Water vapor is removed by running the air throw a refrigeration coils
> which changes the vapor into liquid water which then goes down the drain.
> The system doesn't work as well as a vented open system but that water pot
> made up for it.

That is a surprise! I don't think I have been anywhere in Europe in the
past 50+ years that didn't have an electric kettle! As for the dryer, I
think ours are much safer. The lint filter is in the unit so has no chance
of backing up in the wall.

--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

"Julie Bove" wrote in message ...


There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the same
unit. Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the dryer. How
is this done? The dryer is a closed system and the air is recycled. Water
vapor is removed by running the air throw a refrigeration coils which
changes the vapor into liquid water which then goes down the drain. The
system doesn't work as well as a vented open system but that water pot made
up for it.

---

A lot of my friends in foreign countries have such things. AFAIK they are
not available here.

--------------------------------------------------------------

We have one in our RV. You can use them in a house, under the kitchen
counter like a dishwasher.

On Sun, 20 Oct 2013 22:36:33 -0700, "Cheri" >
wrote:

>"Julie Bove" > wrote in message
...
>>
>> "Cheri" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> On Sun, 20 Oct 2013 08:40:15 -0400, Gary > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>Brooklyn1 wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Julie Bove" wrote:
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> >We eat rice but I never considered a cooker. Just have no room for
>>>>>> >such
>>>>>> >devices.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> A rice cooker has no appeal for me, it's very rare I eat plain white
>>>>>> rice, and when I do an ordinary pot can't be improved upon, no way, no
>>>>>> how.
>>>>>
>>>>>I'm the same. I guess a rice cooker would be handy if you made it
>>>>>often though. As for me, a small sauce pan cooks it perfectly every
>>>>>time. I've never had a problem doing it that way.
>>>>>
>>>>>G.
>>>>
>>>> I would have to devote some space to a cooker whereas the pan takes
>>>> less space and is multi-functional.
>>>
>>>
>>> So is the rice cooker, it's not very big, really no bigger than my
>>> saucepans. It sit's on top of my toaster oven and is very handy. It has a
>>> steamer for veggies that you can attach, you can saute, boil, all kinds
>>> of things plus it's a breeze to clean, but to each their own.
>>
>> I don't have room for a toaster oven either! On my counter is a four
>> slice toaster, coffee maker, Magic Bullet, bread box, little shelf with
>> nut and
>
>My toaster oven is my four slice toaster, and the rice cooker sits on top of
>it, both fit under my cabinets.
>
>Cheri

I see no use for a toaster oven either, just a silly thing that's a
PIA to clean... and toaster ovens are responsible for more house fires
than any other electrical appliance.

"Julie Bove" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Cheri" > wrote in message
> ...
>> "Julie Bove" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>>
>>> "Cheri" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> > wrote in message
>>>> ...
>>>>> On Sun, 20 Oct 2013 08:40:15 -0400, Gary > wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>Brooklyn1 wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "Julie Bove" wrote:
>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>> >We eat rice but I never considered a cooker. Just have no room for
>>>>>>> >such
>>>>>>> >devices.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> A rice cooker has no appeal for me, it's very rare I eat plain white
>>>>>>> rice, and when I do an ordinary pot can't be improved upon, no way,
>>>>>>> no
>>>>>>> how.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I'm the same. I guess a rice cooker would be handy if you made it
>>>>>>often though. As for me, a small sauce pan cooks it perfectly every
>>>>>>time. I've never had a problem doing it that way.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>G.
>>>>>
>>>>> I would have to devote some space to a cooker whereas the pan takes
>>>>> less space and is multi-functional.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> So is the rice cooker, it's not very big, really no bigger than my
>>>> saucepans. It sit's on top of my toaster oven and is very handy. It has
>>>> a steamer for veggies that you can attach, you can saute, boil, all
>>>> kinds of things plus it's a breeze to clean, but to each their own.
>>>
>>> I don't have room for a toaster oven either! On my counter is a four
>>> slice toaster, coffee maker, Magic Bullet, bread box, little shelf with
>>> nut and
>>
>> My toaster oven is my four slice toaster, and the rice cooker sits on top
>> of it, both fit under my cabinets.
>
> Under the upper cabinets?


Yes, on the counter under the upper cabinets.

Cheri

"Julie Bove" wrote:
>"dsi1" wrote:
>>Julie Bove wrote:
>>>
>>> We eat rice but I never considered a cooker. Just have no room for such
>>> devices.
>>
>> My guess is that you eat rice infrequently and don't cook rice several
>> times a day every single day.
>
>Indeed! Mostly only when sick. I made Spanish or Mexican rice maybe once a
>month. That's pretty much about it.

A five pound bag of rice lasts me more than a year.
The ONLY reason people eat a lot of rice is either because they are
very poor or very cheap *******s, rice is the least expensive stomach
stuffer there is. I can't comprehend why these pinheads are bragging
that they feed their family rice by the ton, they should be
embarrassed... CHEAPO *******S!!! In fact I rarely cook more than one
cup of rice and still have left overs... I put it out for the birds,
even the birds won't eat that POW crap.

On Mon, 21 Oct 2013 00:21:55 -0700 (PDT), dsi1 >
wrote:

> Instant ramen is that dried stuff that comes in the square packages. The non-instant stuff is fresh undried noodles. I can get packages of the refrigerated undried stuff at the stores here but my guess is that it's a bit harder on the mainland. I had a bowl of ramen at the ramen shop tonight.

Thanks, dsi1! They have lots of noodles in the refrigerator case, but
I don't like thin soup (even when it has noodles in it) so I guess I
never thought about refrigerated ramen being "not instant" because
both cook so quickly. It's fresh vs packaged to me.

Come to think of it, isn't instant ramen the stuff that comes in cups
with dried vegetables that people add hot water to for lunch?

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

"Julie Bove" > wrote:
> "dsi1" > wrote in message
> ...
> On Sunday, October 20, 2013 6:43:38 PM UTC-10, Xeno Lith wrote:
>> On 21/10/13 11:21 AM, gtr wrote:
>>
>>> On 2013-10-20 12:03:27 +0000, Xeno Lith said:
>>
>>>
>>
>>>> We use our rice cooker, a 5 cup version, on a daily basis. It it the
>>
>>>> second most used appliance here, behind only the electric jug.
>>
>>>
>>
>>> Same here, though we use it twice a week. I assume by "electric jug" you
>>
>>> mean a machine that keeps water hot? Likely our most used applicance. We
>>
>>> drink tea all day.
>>
>>>
>>
>> That's the one. It's the only appliance that we use more than the rice
>>
>> cooker. We don't use one for keeping water hot - we call them electric
>>
>> urns over here - we just use it to boil water on an as needed basis.
>>
>> Probably 5 to ten times a day on average and, yes, we are tea drinkers
>>
>> too! ;-)
>>
>>
>>
>> -- >
>>
>>
>> Xeno
>
> The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and the
> water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil water. Amazing!
>
> There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the same
> unit. Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the dryer.
> How is this done? The dryer is a closed system and the air is recycled.
> Water vapor is removed by running the air throw a refrigeration coils
> which changes the vapor into liquid water which then goes down the drain.
> The system doesn't work as well as a vented open system but that water pot made up for it.
>
> ---
>
> A lot of my friends in foreign countries have such things. AFAIK they
> are not available here. But I have seen something for a dryer if you
> have no vent to the outside. I was sold this mistakenly at a hardware
> store on Staten Island. I went to get new hose for a dryer vent. I told
> the guy that I was sure that we had a vent to the outside. But he was
> like... You live in an apartment? You need this! It was sort of a
> small bucket looking thing that attaches to the hose. I think you fill
> it with water. It collects the lint. And you have to empty it, perhaps
> each time you use it. Not really sure since we never used it since we did
> need exactly what I said we needed. I learned to hate that hardware
> store. They were notorious for selling us things we didn't need.


--
Yes, those washer/dryer all in ones exist in the U.S. too, but they are
hard to find. I used to own one. It was perfect for my small apartment,
but it never completely dried my clothes.

jinx the minx

On 2013-10-21 00:07:27 +0000, Michel Boucher said:

> Xeno Lith > wrote in
> :
>
>> Our rice cooker is only used to cook the rice, never to store
>> it for any length of time. I don't mind reheated rice the next
>> day but my wife always prefers fresh. I use a microwave for
>> reheating first sprinkling a little water on the rice to
>> moisten it a little.
>
> Like I'm reading my own thoughts.

I never reheat rice the following day. I don't have amicrowave so
that's out. I also don't refridgerate it as I've never found a way to
reheat it that didn't leave it with a change in texture.

Instead, I leave the remaining rice in the cooker over night
unrefridgerated. We look forward to this left-over rice for making a
couple of onigiri or rice-balls. We load them with some of the
left-over fish from the night before. In fact we tend to avoid eating
all the fish the from dinner because we so greatly look forward to the
onigiri for the following days lunch.

On 2013-10-21 04:51:17 +0000, Xeno Lith said:

>> My former neighbor once invited us (us being our family and another
>> family) to the beach for a picnic. She asked us each to bring something
>> like fruit or vegetables and she would bring the rest. Imagine my
>> surprise when she lugged her rice cooker right down onto the sand! It
>> was full of white rice and she had some other sort of insulated
>> container full of cooked chicken. To me that was a weird picnic meal and
>> we all rather struggled with it and eventually gave up on eating. It
>> happened to be a very windy day and there was no place to sit except for
>> on the sand.
>
> Doesn't sound weird to me... Sounds rather novel and, might I add, enjoyable.

It sounds good to me too, except where it turns into some kind of
unforeseen sand storm.

I don't think rice-from-cooker or "chicken in insulated container"
sound bad in any way, and from the always-inscrutable description it
seems like having white rice out of any container except tupperware, or
perhaps having white rice at all at a picnic, plus the "insulated
container" of chicken, rather than one wearing aluminum foil; these
seem to have been the focus of the struggle, rather than eating it in a
sand storm.

But again, as many Bovian stories go, the whole thing seems to be
missing the necessary glue to give the story meaning.

On 2013-10-21 04:50:03 +0000, Xeno Lith said:

>> Um, we've moved on to mooslims, we don't need anymore gooks.
>>
> You've moved on! I suspect the rest in this thread haven't.

I don't think that fascist dunce has moved one inch in 20 years.

On 2013-10-20 15:36:23 +0000, Janet Bostwick said:

>> A rice cooker has no appeal for me, it's very rare I eat plain white
>> rice, and when I do an ordinary pot can't be improved upon, no way, no
>> how.

That's how I feel about every applicance I've never had and don't use!
A toaster, for instance, is useless, when you realize you can stick a
fork in it and hold it over an open fire.

> My neighbors have 3 rice cookers of different sizes.. it makes sense
> because they eat rice at every meal.

Not that it matters to the "why do it when we never done it" crowd, but
rice cookers don't reject ingredients other than rice. I've cooked
rice in a cooker with mushrooms, Goya sofrito, packets of Japanese
vegetables, chopped olives, chopped giardiera, among other things in my
"plain white rice" cooker.

On 2013-10-21 07:49:02 +0000, dsi1 said:

>> Well then I guess I did eat instant. I presumed instant to be that
>> stuff in a cup.
>
> Instant noodles is not really instant so your confusion is understandable.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momofuk...t_Ramen_Museum

It's the whole "soup" that's instant, not the dried ramen, which really
only needs to sit in hot water for a minute or two to be edible. The
soup is a packet of stuff that is more instant than soup made from
scratch by using dashi/broth chopping some onions or vegetables, and
cooking them in the broth etc.

Jesus Christ we'll eventually be explaining how to use a fork or how a
spoon works...

On 2013-10-21 03:22:01 +0000, sf said:

> On Sun, 20 Oct 2013 17:23:50 -0700, gtr > wrote:
>
>> We have a ver old very cheap single-button rice cooker: Go/Off.
>
> Dang, gtr... I have a 30 YO rice cooker that I have always thought had
> the least amount of bells & whistles (which means I have the "on"
> button and a "warm/hold" button that it switches to after the "on"
> cycle concludes). This means you're cheaper than I am!

Wait a minute--we're on the same cheapo level, I just noted there's a
"keep warm button". I forgot about it.

> Yahoo! I finally found someone who beat me being cheap (BTW: my rice
> cooker and yours are still going, which is apparently... a better
> track record than most).

Sorry about that. Your search must continue..

"jinx the minx" > wrote in message
...

> Yes, those washer/dryer all in ones exist in the U.S. too, but they are
> hard to find. I used to own one. It was perfect for my small apartment,
> but it never completely dried my clothes.

Hmmm... Never seen one.

"Brooklyn1" > wrote in message
...

> I see no use for a toaster oven either, just a silly thing that's a
> PIA to clean... and toaster ovens are responsible for more house fires
> than any other electrical appliance.

My mom says she uses hers for London Broil. That's a cut of meat I don't
think I ever ate and I don't want to imagine having to clean it after. I
had one when I had my first apartment until my roommate put a package of
Styrofoam cups near it. I didn't notice, turne it on and while there was no
fire, there was a hideous mess. He had no more cups and I had no more
toaster oven. I tossed it and have never needed it again.

I am not a big oven user any more. I used to use it a lot. Now, mainly
during the winter.

"Brooklyn1" > wrote in message
...
> "Julie Bove" wrote:
>>"dsi1" wrote:
>>>Julie Bove wrote:
>>>>
>>>> We eat rice but I never considered a cooker. Just have no room for
>>>> such
>>>> devices.
>>>
>>> My guess is that you eat rice infrequently and don't cook rice several
>>> times a day every single day.
>>
>>Indeed! Mostly only when sick. I made Spanish or Mexican rice maybe once
>>a
>>month. That's pretty much about it.
>
> A five pound bag of rice lasts me more than a year.
> The ONLY reason people eat a lot of rice is either because they are
> very poor or very cheap *******s, rice is the least expensive stomach
> stuffer there is. I can't comprehend why these pinheads are bragging
> that they feed their family rice by the ton, they should be
> embarrassed... CHEAPO *******S!!! In fact I rarely cook more than one
> cup of rice and still have left overs... I put it out for the birds,
> even the birds won't eat that POW crap.

Some may be cheap or poor and some grew up eating rice so they like to have
it a lot. We didn't have it often when I was growing up and it was usually
a pilaf. I did eat a lot more of it as a young adult because it was cheap
and also because at the time, the combination of beans and rice was heavily
touted for vegetarians. We now know that they don't need to be eaten
together although they are tasty!

"gtr" > wrote in message news:20131021102649614-xxx@yyyzzz...
> On 2013-10-21 04:51:17 +0000, Xeno Lith said:
>
>>> My former neighbor once invited us (us being our family and another
>>> family) to the beach for a picnic. She asked us each to bring something
>>> like fruit or vegetables and she would bring the rest. Imagine my
>>> surprise when she lugged her rice cooker right down onto the sand! It
>>> was full of white rice and she had some other sort of insulated
>>> container full of cooked chicken. To me that was a weird picnic meal and
>>> we all rather struggled with it and eventually gave up on eating. It
>>> happened to be a very windy day and there was no place to sit except for
>>> on the sand.
>>
>> Doesn't sound weird to me... Sounds rather novel and, might I add,
>> enjoyable.
>
> It sounds good to me too, except where it turns into some kind of
> unforeseen sand storm.
>
> I don't think rice-from-cooker or "chicken in insulated container" sound
> bad in any way, and from the always-inscrutable description it seems like
> having white rice out of any container except tupperware, or perhaps
> having white rice at all at a picnic, plus the "insulated container" of
> chicken, rather than one wearing aluminum foil; these seem to have been
> the focus of the struggle, rather than eating it in a sand storm.
>
> But again, as many Bovian stories go, the whole thing seems to be missing
> the necessary glue to give the story meaning.

The food wasn't bad. The problem was that we had nowhere to eat it. This
would be more of a table meal. We had to sit in the sand and although it
wasn't normally really windy there, it was on this day. Because our plates
were so low to the sand, the sand just blew into the food. I know some
people don't mind sand in their food but I don't like it. Some of the
chicken got eaten because people could pick it up and walk around with it in
their hand. But we wound up packing it up and going back to their house to
eat. I think it also may have been oddly cold that day but it was so many
years ago that I don't remember. I do remember my friend just looking at me
and saying, "How did she think we could eat this here?"

Picnic food (at least in this country) is usually sandwiches. Some people
do cold fried chicken but our family never did. Something that you can pick
up and eat in your hand and walk around with it if need be.

Sometimes people will do a more formal type picnic with plates, knives and
forks but they usually plan the spot in advance and there will be a table or
at least a place to spread out a blanket. We couldn't do that on the wet
sand.

"gtr" > wrote in message news:2013102110314464099-xxx@yyyzzz...
> On 2013-10-20 15:36:23 +0000, Janet Bostwick said:
>
>>> A rice cooker has no appeal for me, it's very rare I eat plain white
>>> rice, and when I do an ordinary pot can't be improved upon, no way, no
>>> how.
>
> That's how I feel about every applicance I've never had and don't use! A
> toaster, for instance, is useless, when you realize you can stick a fork
> in it and hold it over an open fire.
>
>> My neighbors have 3 rice cookers of different sizes.. it makes sense
>> because they eat rice at every meal.
>
> Not that it matters to the "why do it when we never done it" crowd, but
> rice cookers don't reject ingredients other than rice. I've cooked rice
> in a cooker with mushrooms, Goya sofrito, packets of Japanese vegetables,
> chopped olives, chopped giardiera, among other things in my "plain white
> rice" cooker.

Perhaps those of us who do not have them can't see a need because we think
of them only as cooking rice and can't envision the other uses. Or... We
might also be saying, "I could do all of those things in a pan that I
already have!"

I can remember my mom's love for her electric skillet. She always had me
make Hamburger Helper in it. I hated the thing. Took up sooo much space in
the cupboard and was a PITA to clean because you had to keep the water away
from where the cord plugged in. Plus it had to sit on the counter and got
HOT! So you had to be careful not to accidentally touch it. And if you
wanted to make other things for the meal, the darned thing was there,
sucking up counter space.

I know some people here sing the praises of such a device and say that it
heats more evenly than a pan on the stove. But I seem to do just fine with
the stove top skillet that I have.

I did inherit my husband's grandma's electric skillet and her sandwich maker
when she died. She did have a need for such things and if she ate rice or
packages things, might well have used a rice cooker too. But she rarely
cooked. She lived in a weird little apartment.

She was a seamstress and ran her business out of her apartment. The
downstairs part included a large dining table with chairs and a daybed.
Also her sewing machine and other equipment.

At the one end of the table was a big buffet type piece of furniture with
some dishes in it. And beyond that was what appeared to be a short hallway
leading to the kitchen. Nope! There was no kitchen! And instead of that
being a hallway it was more of a deep alcove that housed a full sized
refrigerator and about a 3 foot piece of counter top that had cupboards
below and above. No stove or other means of cooking. Hence the appliances
that mostly were gifts from other people. My husband bought her the
sandwich maker. I don't think she ever used it but she did sew a cover for
it.

She appeared to be fascinated by cooking and would often hover around me as
I cooked, asking me what I was doing. She told me that she didn't cook.
She said there was no need. She was very well know around the town where
she lived. When she was raising her two daughters, all three worked at a
drapery making company and would go out to eat on the way home. My MIL and
her sister did learn to cook but I'm not sure how. Anyway... When she
became older (as when I knew her) and ill, she had all sorts of people
looking out for her. Restaurant owners and workers were constantly stopping
by and bringing her containers of food. And her one daughter worked at a
bakery so kept her supplied with baked goods. I don't know if she had a
microwave or not. I never actually went down the alcove to look.

Also can't remember where the bathroom was. We were only in that place a
couple of times. And usually just a brief visit because she was either
working or in need of a nap. There was a staircase leading upstairs and
that was where her bedroom was. I never saw that either.

This was in PA and often the apartments there were built into a house as
hers was.

"gtr" > wrote in message news:2013102110361652335-xxx@yyyzzz...
> On 2013-10-21 07:49:02 +0000, dsi1 said:
>
>>> Well then I guess I did eat instant. I presumed instant to be that
>>> stuff in a cup.
>>
>> Instant noodles is not really instant so your confusion is
>> understandable.
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momofuk...t_Ramen_Museum
>
> It's the whole "soup" that's instant, not the dried ramen, which really
> only needs to sit in hot water for a minute or two to be edible. The soup
> is a packet of stuff that is more instant than soup made from scratch by
> using dashi/broth chopping some onions or vegetables, and cooking them in
> the broth etc.
>
> Jesus Christ we'll eventually be explaining how to use a fork or how a
> spoon works...

Ah... Okay. A lot of people that I know use only the noodles from the
packet and not the soup part.

On 22/10/13 4:31 AM, gtr wrote:
> On 2013-10-20 15:36:23 +0000, Janet Bostwick said:
>
>>> A rice cooker has no appeal for me, it's very rare I eat plain white
>>> rice, and when I do an ordinary pot can't be improved upon, no way, no
>>> how.
>
> That's how I feel about every applicance I've never had and don't use! A
> toaster, for instance, is useless, when you realize you can stick a fork
> in it and hold it over an open fire.

Useful IF you have an open fire. Did that when I was a kid and we had an
open fire. Not so now though.
>
>> My neighbors have 3 rice cookers of different sizes.. it makes sense
>> because they eat rice at every meal.
>
> Not that it matters to the "why do it when we never done it" crowd, but
> rice cookers don't reject ingredients other than rice. I've cooked rice
> in a cooker with mushrooms, Goya sofrito, packets of Japanese
> vegetables, chopped olives, chopped giardiera, among other things in my
> "plain white rice" cooker.


--

Xeno

On 22/10/13 1:21 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
> "Julie Bove" wrote:
>> "dsi1" wrote:
>>> Julie Bove wrote:
>>>>
>>>> We eat rice but I never considered a cooker. Just have no room for such
>>>> devices.
>>>
>>> My guess is that you eat rice infrequently and don't cook rice several
>>> times a day every single day.
>>
>> Indeed! Mostly only when sick. I made Spanish or Mexican rice maybe once a
>> month. That's pretty much about it.
>
> A five pound bag of rice lasts me more than a year.
> The ONLY reason people eat a lot of rice is either because they are
> very poor or very cheap *******s, rice is the least expensive stomach
> stuffer there is. I can't comprehend why these pinheads are bragging
> that they feed their family rice by the ton, they should be
> embarrassed... CHEAPO *******S!!! In fact I rarely cook more than one
> cup of rice and still have left overs... I put it out for the birds,
> even the birds won't eat that POW crap.
>
You live in a very tiny world.

--

Xeno

On 22/10/13 4:27 AM, gtr wrote:
> On 2013-10-21 04:50:03 +0000, Xeno Lith said:
>
>>> Um, we've moved on to mooslims, we don't need anymore gooks.
>>>
>> You've moved on! I suspect the rest in this thread haven't.
>
> I don't think that fascist dunce has moved one inch in 20 years.
>
I suspect you're right! I'm rapidly getting a negative impression of him!

--

Xeno

On 2013-10-22 00:12:12 +0000, Xeno Lith said:

> On 22/10/13 1:21 AM, Our Local Moron wrote:

>> The ONLY reason people eat a lot of rice is either because they are
>> very poor or very cheap *******s,

You make dunces look like the class presidents.

>> ...rice is the least expensive stomach stuffer there is. I can't
>> comprehend why these pinheads are bragging that they feed their family
>> rice by the ton, they should be
>> embarrassed... CHEAPO *******S!!! In fact I rarely cook more than one
>> cup of rice and still have left overs... I put it out for the birds,
>> even the birds won't eat that POW crap.
>
> You live in a very tiny world.

"World" is a poor choice of word: His entire consciousness could be
circumscribed by a demitasse cup, and leave room for a double espresso.

On 2013-10-22 00:16:41 +0000, Xeno Lith said:

> On 22/10/13 4:27 AM, gtr wrote:
>> On 2013-10-21 04:50:03 +0000, Xeno Lith said:
>>
>>>> Um, we've moved on to mooslims, we don't need anymore gooks.
>>>>
>>> You've moved on! I suspect the rest in this thread haven't.
>>
>> I don't think that fascist dunce has moved one inch in 20 years.
>>
> I suspect you're right! I'm rapidly getting a negative impression of him!

May I recommend Unison? There's nothing like killfiles to streamline
meaningful discussion.

http://panic.com/unison/

On 10/21/2013 7:22 AM, gtr wrote:
>
> I never reheat rice the following day. I don't have amicrowave so
> that's out. I also don't refridgerate it as I've never found a way to
> reheat it that didn't leave it with a change in texture.
>
> Instead, I leave the remaining rice in the cooker over night
> unrefridgerated. We look forward to this left-over rice for making a
> couple of onigiri or rice-balls. We load them with some of the
> left-over fish from the night before. In fact we tend to avoid eating
> all the fish the from dinner because we so greatly look forward to the
> onigiri for the following days lunch.

I have never heard of making musubi with cold leftover rice. I assume
it's possible since that's what you do. I've only seen it made with hot
rice. The method is to wet your hand in cool water and sprinkle your
hand liberally with salt. The hot rice is placed on the hand and the
musubi is shaped. I make it with really hot rice. It's painful but
experts know how to handle it really hot.

I love the traditional iconic shape of the triangular musubi. My aunties
could make beautiful ones. My problem is that the small pickled umebushi
no longer seem to exist. These were placed in the center and provided a
salty and sour lip puckering hit. It's a tragedy.

On Mon, 21 Oct 2013 15:24:15 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> wrote:

> A lot of people that I know use only the noodles from the
> packet and not the soup part.

Me too - although that hasn't happened for a very long time. It was a
way to make "lazy" chow mein for a few years (a long time ago).

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

On 10/20/2013 11:38 PM, Xeno Lith wrote:
> On 21/10/13 6:42 PM, dsi1 wrote:
>> On Sunday, October 20, 2013 6:43:38 PM UTC-10, Xeno Lith wrote:
>>> On 21/10/13 11:21 AM, gtr wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 2013-10-20 12:03:27 +0000, Xeno Lith said:
>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>>> We use our rice cooker, a 5 cup version, on a daily basis. It it the
>>>
>>>>> second most used appliance here, behind only the electric jug.
>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>> Same here, though we use it twice a week. I assume by "electric jug"
>>>> you
>>>
>>>> mean a machine that keeps water hot? Likely our most used
>>>> applicance. We
>>>
>>>> drink tea all day.
>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> That's the one. It's the only appliance that we use more than the rice
>>>
>>> cooker. We don't use one for keeping water hot - we call them electric
>>>
>>> urns over here - we just use it to boil water on an as needed basis.
>>>
>>> Probably 5 to ten times a day on average and, yes, we are tea drinkers
>>>
>>> too! ;-)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Xeno
>>
>> The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and the
> > water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil
> water. Amazing!
>
> Been using this kind of thing for as long as I can remember. I still
> recall the old kettles which had an exposed element at the bottom. Every
> now and then the element would break and a judicious repair was effected
> by connecting the two broken elements together and twisting them around
> each other. Worked like a charm! Can't do that with these new fangled
> ones! ;-)

The new ones are pretty slick, so much so that the design has taken over
the market and only the cheapest ones have an immersion element. The
kettle uses an induction base to heat the water. The European electric
kettles have an advantage over the US in sheer horsepower. The American
ones are rated at about 1500 Watts or less. The one we used was rated at
2700W. Oh my!

>
>>
>> There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the
>> same unit.
> > Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the dryer.
> > How is this done? The dryer is a closed system and the air is recycled.
> > Water vapor is removed by running the air throw a refrigeration coils
> which
> > changes the vapor into liquid water which then goes down the drain.
> > The system doesn't work as well as a vented open system but that water
> > pot made up for it.
>>
> Well, car air conditioning systems are dehumidifiers so I wouldn't be
> surprised if the same principle could be used to dry clothes. Seems to
> be a bit of an overkill however.
>
Using a heater in conjunction with a refrigeration system seems like an
inelegant way to remove moisture from the air. A washer and dryer combo
is more complex than two dedicated units. Adding a refrigeration system
makes the complexity factor go through the roof.

On 10/20/2013 11:43 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>
> A lot of my friends in foreign countries have such things. AFAIK they
> are not available here. But I have seen something for a dryer if you
> have no vent to the outside. I was sold this mistakenly at a hardware
> store on Staten Island. I went to get new hose for a dryer vent. I
> told the guy that I was sure that we had a vent to the outside. But he
> was like... You live in an apartment? You need this! It was sort of a
> small bucket looking thing that attaches to the hose. I think you fill
> it with water. It collects the lint. And you have to empty it, perhaps
> each time you use it. Not really sure since we never used it since we
> did need exactly what I said we needed. I learned to hate that hardware
> store. They were notorious for selling us things we didn't need.

The indoor vent kit just shoots the hot, moist, air into the house. The
apartment we were renting had one of those. It got lint all over the
place. We didn't know you're supposed to fill it with water. You could
make one yourself and vent the dryer into a large bucket of ice. I
figure 20 lbs might be enough for a load. This would catch the lint and
remove the moisture from the air. Maybe it would cool the house too.

On 10/21/2013 12:17 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>
>
> "dsi1" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and
>> the water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil
>> water. Amazing!
>>
>> There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the
>> same unit. Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the
>> dryer. How is this done? The dryer is a closed system and the air is
>> recycled. Water vapor is removed by running the air throw a
>> refrigeration coils which changes the vapor into liquid water which
>> then goes down the drain. The system doesn't work as well as a vented
>> open system but that water pot made up for it.
>
> That is a surprise! I don't think I have been anywhere in Europe in the
> past 50+ years that didn't have an electric kettle! As for the dryer, I
> think ours are much safer. The lint filter is in the unit so has no
> chance of backing up in the wall.
>
You're probably right about the electric kettle being a ubiquitous
appliance in Europe. My guess is that it's because Europeans drink a lot
of tea. The hot drink of choice in America is coffee which requires a
brewing system, not a separate hot water kettle. OTOH, my brother in law
was quite happy when he saw the kettles in the places we stayed. He
seemed to always be drinking instant coffee. Mostly, he has a taste for
instant coffee because he spends a lot of time in a small boat and
that's what is available to him. He probably uses a 12V immersion heater
for his hot water.

As far as the dryer goes, it's an interesting system but I can't imagine
that it would be very energy efficient. Our washer/dryer combo could
only handle a small load and it took forever to dry the load. The
containment of the lint is a good feature. Venting the hot air does tend
to create a linty mess through the hoses and ducts.

Europeans would probably think the American's love of the ice cold soft
drink strange. When my wife and son ordered them, they'd get a rather
ordinary glass filled with a little ice, which melted in a couple of
minute. The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not reached your
shores. You might be somewhat repulsed to see people walking around with
huge 32 oz cups of ice and soft drink. I wouldn't blame you if you did.
It's a heck of a thing.

"dsi1" > wrote in message
...
> On 10/20/2013 11:43 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>>
>> A lot of my friends in foreign countries have such things. AFAIK they
>> are not available here. But I have seen something for a dryer if you
>> have no vent to the outside. I was sold this mistakenly at a hardware
>> store on Staten Island. I went to get new hose for a dryer vent. I
>> told the guy that I was sure that we had a vent to the outside. But he
>> was like... You live in an apartment? You need this! It was sort of a
>> small bucket looking thing that attaches to the hose. I think you fill
>> it with water. It collects the lint. And you have to empty it, perhaps
>> each time you use it. Not really sure since we never used it since we
>> did need exactly what I said we needed. I learned to hate that hardware
>> store. They were notorious for selling us things we didn't need.
>
> The indoor vent kit just shoots the hot, moist, air into the house. The
> apartment we were renting had one of those. It got lint all over the
> place. We didn't know you're supposed to fill it with water. You could
> make one yourself and vent the dryer into a large bucket of ice. I figure
> 20 lbs might be enough for a load. This would catch the lint and remove
> the moisture from the air. Maybe it would cool the house too.

When I got my new washer and dryer, I had let the laundry go. The washer I
had been using didn't remove much water so it took forever to dry the
clothes.

I did about 5 loads in a row and began to realize that it was like a sauna
in here. I knew something was wrong when I went to open to front door to
try to cool things off and the door was soaking wet!

I had tried to look behind the dryer but could not. Both the washer and
dryer weigh a ton and were bigger than my old ones so I couldn't get around
them. And they were taller so I couldn't look over.

I finally made it my career to look back there. I can't remember how I did
that now, but there was the dryer hose with the clamp not clamped, sitting
on the floor and not connected to the vent. Mm hm.

They did come back (the next day I think) to fix it.

"dsi1" > wrote in message
...
> On 10/21/2013 12:17 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>>
>>
>> "dsi1" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and
>>> the water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil
>>> water. Amazing!
>>>
>>> There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the
>>> same unit. Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the
>>> dryer. How is this done? The dryer is a closed system and the air is
>>> recycled. Water vapor is removed by running the air throw a
>>> refrigeration coils which changes the vapor into liquid water which
>>> then goes down the drain. The system doesn't work as well as a vented
>>> open system but that water pot made up for it.
>>
>> That is a surprise! I don't think I have been anywhere in Europe in the
>> past 50+ years that didn't have an electric kettle! As for the dryer, I
>> think ours are much safer. The lint filter is in the unit so has no
>> chance of backing up in the wall.
>>
> You're probably right about the electric kettle being a ubiquitous
> appliance in Europe. My guess is that it's because Europeans drink a lot
> of tea. The hot drink of choice in America is coffee which requires a
> brewing system, not a separate hot water kettle. OTOH, my brother in law
> was quite happy when he saw the kettles in the places we stayed. He seemed
> to always be drinking instant coffee. Mostly, he has a taste for instant
> coffee because he spends a lot of time in a small boat and that's what is
> available to him. He probably uses a 12V immersion heater for his hot
> water.
>
> As far as the dryer goes, it's an interesting system but I can't imagine
> that it would be very energy efficient. Our washer/dryer combo could only
> handle a small load and it took forever to dry the load. The containment
> of the lint is a good feature. Venting the hot air does tend to create a
> linty mess through the hoses and ducts.
>
> Europeans would probably think the American's love of the ice cold soft
> drink strange. When my wife and son ordered them, they'd get a rather
> ordinary glass filled with a little ice, which melted in a couple of
> minute. The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not reached your
> shores. You might be somewhat repulsed to see people walking around with
> huge 32 oz cups of ice and soft drink. I wouldn't blame you if you did.
> It's a heck of a thing.

Actually, my brother and SIL were in England in the 80's. They discovered a
pizza hut that gave huge soft drinks and free refills.

Here in WA, coffee is the big drink and most people are walking around
drinking that. I'm one of the odd ones who drinks diet soda instead of
coffee. I guess it all depends on where you live as to what you drink.

"dsi1" > wrote in message
...

> You're probably right about the electric kettle being a ubiquitous
> appliance in Europe. My guess is that it's because Europeans drink a lot
> of tea. The hot drink of choice in America is coffee which requires a
> brewing system, not a separate hot water kettle. OTOH, my brother in law
> was quite happy when he saw the kettles in the places we stayed. He seemed
> to always be drinking instant coffee. Mostly, he has a taste for instant
> coffee because he spends a lot of time in a small boat and that's what is
> available to him. He probably uses a 12V immersion heater for his hot
> water.

Hmm each to his/her own eh? <g>


> As far as the dryer goes, it's an interesting system but I can't imagine
> that it would be very energy efficient. Our washer/dryer combo could only
> handle a small load and it took forever to dry the load. The containment
> of the lint is a good feature. Venting the hot air does tend to create a
> linty mess through the hoses and ducts.

I don't have a combo. I have two separate units. My SIL had a combo which
was forever going wrong and as you say, didn't dry the clothes properly.
I have to say, I've never had any linty mess or any mess from my dryer come
to that. There is a pull out tank at the top of mine where all the water
from the clothes goes. I never fail to be amazed at the amount of water it
collects!


> Europeans would probably think the American's love of the ice cold soft
> drink strange. When my wife and son ordered them, they'd get a rather
> ordinary glass filled with a little ice, which melted in a couple of
> minute. The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not reached your
> shores. You might be somewhat repulsed to see people walking around with
> huge 32 oz cups of ice and soft drink. I wouldn't blame you if you did.
> It's a heck of a thing.

All true) Did you see much of that when you were here?


--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

On 22/10/13 6:56 PM, dsi1 wrote:
> On 10/20/2013 11:38 PM, Xeno Lith wrote:
>> On 21/10/13 6:42 PM, dsi1 wrote:
>>> On Sunday, October 20, 2013 6:43:38 PM UTC-10, Xeno Lith wrote:
>>>> On 21/10/13 11:21 AM, gtr wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On 2013-10-20 12:03:27 +0000, Xeno Lith said:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>> We use our rice cooker, a 5 cup version, on a daily basis. It it the
>>>>
>>>>>> second most used appliance here, behind only the electric jug.
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Same here, though we use it twice a week. I assume by "electric jug"
>>>>> you
>>>>
>>>>> mean a machine that keeps water hot? Likely our most used
>>>>> applicance. We
>>>>
>>>>> drink tea all day.
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> That's the one. It's the only appliance that we use more than the rice
>>>>
>>>> cooker. We don't use one for keeping water hot - we call them electric
>>>>
>>>> urns over here - we just use it to boil water on an as needed basis.
>>>>
>>>> Probably 5 to ten times a day on average and, yes, we are tea drinkers
>>>>
>>>> too! ;-)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Xeno
>>>
>>> The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and
>>> the
>> > water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil
>> water. Amazing!
>>
>> Been using this kind of thing for as long as I can remember. I still
>> recall the old kettles which had an exposed element at the bottom. Every
>> now and then the element would break and a judicious repair was effected
>> by connecting the two broken elements together and twisting them around
>> each other. Worked like a charm! Can't do that with these new fangled
>> ones! ;-)
>
> The new ones are pretty slick, so much so that the design has taken over
> the market and only the cheapest ones have an immersion element. The
> kettle uses an induction base to heat the water. The European electric
> kettles have an advantage over the US in sheer horsepower. The American
> ones are rated at about 1500 Watts or less. The one we used was rated at
> 2700W. Oh my!
>
We have the advantage of 230-240 volts here... I don't know what out
kettle's rating is but 2 or 3 minutes gets the water boiling unless I
fill it. I like it because I can heat as little as one cup of water if
that's all I need.
>>
>>>
>>> There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the
>>> same unit.
>> > Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the dryer.
>> > How is this done? The dryer is a closed system and the air is
>> recycled.
>> > Water vapor is removed by running the air throw a refrigeration coils
>> which
>> > changes the vapor into liquid water which then goes down the drain.
>> > The system doesn't work as well as a vented open system but that water
>> > pot made up for it.
>>>
>> Well, car air conditioning systems are dehumidifiers so I wouldn't be
>> surprised if the same principle could be used to dry clothes. Seems to
>> be a bit of an overkill however.
>>
> Using a heater in conjunction with a refrigeration system seems like an
> inelegant way to remove moisture from the air. A washer and dryer combo
> is more complex than two dedicated units. Adding a refrigeration system
> makes the complexity factor go through the roof.

Our hot water system was a heat pump, effectively a refridgeration
system working in reverse... Talk about complexity!

http://tinyurl.com/lakxxa7

We had a 250 litre system and it was noisy and, to my way of thinking,
inefficient.

I replaced it with a 300 litre solar hot water system with an electric
booster for cloudy days. The silence is golden! When it was installed, I
had the electrician put an externally accessible switch on the booster
element. I'm told it should see through 2, maybe 3, cloudy days before
we need to turn the boost element on. So far, in 3 months, the boost
element has never been turned on. Much better way to go. Must point out
that I live in an area that gets a lot of sunny days.

--

Xeno

On 22/10/13 7:36 PM, dsi1 wrote:
> On 10/21/2013 12:17 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>>
>>
>> "dsi1" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and
>>> the water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil
>>> water. Amazing!
>>>
>>> There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the
>>> same unit. Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the
>>> dryer. How is this done? The dryer is a closed system and the air is
>>> recycled. Water vapor is removed by running the air throw a
>>> refrigeration coils which changes the vapor into liquid water which
>>> then goes down the drain. The system doesn't work as well as a vented
>>> open system but that water pot made up for it.
>>
>> That is a surprise! I don't think I have been anywhere in Europe in the
>> past 50+ years that didn't have an electric kettle! As for the dryer, I
>> think ours are much safer. The lint filter is in the unit so has no
>> chance of backing up in the wall.
>>
> You're probably right about the electric kettle being a ubiquitous
> appliance in Europe. My guess is that it's because Europeans drink a lot
> of tea. The hot drink of choice in America is coffee which requires a
> brewing system, not a separate hot water kettle. OTOH, my brother in law
> was quite happy when he saw the kettles in the places we stayed. He
> seemed to always be drinking instant coffee. Mostly, he has a taste for
> instant coffee because he spends a lot of time in a small boat and
> that's what is available to him. He probably uses a 12V immersion heater
> for his hot water.
>
> As far as the dryer goes, it's an interesting system but I can't imagine
> that it would be very energy efficient. Our washer/dryer combo could
> only handle a small load and it took forever to dry the load. The
> containment of the lint is a good feature. Venting the hot air does tend
> to create a linty mess through the hoses and ducts.
>
> Europeans would probably think the American's love of the ice cold soft
> drink strange. When my wife and son ordered them, they'd get a rather
> ordinary glass filled with a little ice, which melted in a couple of
> minute. The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not reached your
> shores. You might be somewhat repulsed to see people walking around with
> huge 32 oz cups of ice and soft drink. I wouldn't blame you if you did.
> It's a heck of a thing.

I'll pass on the ice cold soft drink. An ice cold beer on the other hand....

--

Xeno

On 22/10/13 8:01 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>
> "dsi1" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On 10/21/2013 12:17 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> "dsi1" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>
>>>> The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and
>>>> the water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil
>>>> water. Amazing!
>>>>
>>>> There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the
>>>> same unit. Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the
>>>> dryer. How is this done? The dryer is a closed system and the air is
>>>> recycled. Water vapor is removed by running the air throw a
>>>> refrigeration coils which changes the vapor into liquid water which
>>>> then goes down the drain. The system doesn't work as well as a vented
>>>> open system but that water pot made up for it.
>>>
>>> That is a surprise! I don't think I have been anywhere in Europe in the
>>> past 50+ years that didn't have an electric kettle! As for the dryer, I
>>> think ours are much safer. The lint filter is in the unit so has no
>>> chance of backing up in the wall.
>>>
>> You're probably right about the electric kettle being a ubiquitous
>> appliance in Europe. My guess is that it's because Europeans drink a
>> lot of tea. The hot drink of choice in America is coffee which
>> requires a brewing system, not a separate hot water kettle. OTOH, my
>> brother in law was quite happy when he saw the kettles in the places
>> we stayed. He seemed to always be drinking instant coffee. Mostly, he
>> has a taste for instant coffee because he spends a lot of time in a
>> small boat and that's what is available to him. He probably uses a 12V
>> immersion heater for his hot water.
>>
>> As far as the dryer goes, it's an interesting system but I can't
>> imagine that it would be very energy efficient. Our washer/dryer combo
>> could only handle a small load and it took forever to dry the load.
>> The containment of the lint is a good feature. Venting the hot air
>> does tend to create a linty mess through the hoses and ducts.
>>
>> Europeans would probably think the American's love of the ice cold
>> soft drink strange. When my wife and son ordered them, they'd get a
>> rather ordinary glass filled with a little ice, which melted in a
>> couple of minute. The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not
>> reached your shores. You might be somewhat repulsed to see people
>> walking around with huge 32 oz cups of ice and soft drink. I wouldn't
>> blame you if you did. It's a heck of a thing.
>
> Actually, my brother and SIL were in England in the 80's. They
> discovered a pizza hut that gave huge soft drinks and free refills.
>
> Here in WA, coffee is the big drink and most people are walking around
> drinking that. I'm one of the odd ones who drinks diet soda instead of
> coffee. I guess it all depends on where you live as to what you drink.

Or how you value your health! Soft drinks are so loaded with sugar that
drinking them on any sort of regular basis will really put the pounds on.

--

Xeno

"Xeno Lith" > wrote in message
...
> On 22/10/13 8:01 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>>
>> "dsi1" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> On 10/21/2013 12:17 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "dsi1" > wrote in message
>>>> ...
>>>>
>>>>> The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and
>>>>> the water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil
>>>>> water. Amazing!
>>>>>
>>>>> There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the
>>>>> same unit. Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the
>>>>> dryer. How is this done? The dryer is a closed system and the air is
>>>>> recycled. Water vapor is removed by running the air throw a
>>>>> refrigeration coils which changes the vapor into liquid water which
>>>>> then goes down the drain. The system doesn't work as well as a vented
>>>>> open system but that water pot made up for it.
>>>>
>>>> That is a surprise! I don't think I have been anywhere in Europe in
>>>> the
>>>> past 50+ years that didn't have an electric kettle! As for the dryer,
>>>> I
>>>> think ours are much safer. The lint filter is in the unit so has no
>>>> chance of backing up in the wall.
>>>>
>>> You're probably right about the electric kettle being a ubiquitous
>>> appliance in Europe. My guess is that it's because Europeans drink a
>>> lot of tea. The hot drink of choice in America is coffee which
>>> requires a brewing system, not a separate hot water kettle. OTOH, my
>>> brother in law was quite happy when he saw the kettles in the places
>>> we stayed. He seemed to always be drinking instant coffee. Mostly, he
>>> has a taste for instant coffee because he spends a lot of time in a
>>> small boat and that's what is available to him. He probably uses a 12V
>>> immersion heater for his hot water.
>>>
>>> As far as the dryer goes, it's an interesting system but I can't
>>> imagine that it would be very energy efficient. Our washer/dryer combo
>>> could only handle a small load and it took forever to dry the load.
>>> The containment of the lint is a good feature. Venting the hot air
>>> does tend to create a linty mess through the hoses and ducts.
>>>
>>> Europeans would probably think the American's love of the ice cold
>>> soft drink strange. When my wife and son ordered them, they'd get a
>>> rather ordinary glass filled with a little ice, which melted in a
>>> couple of minute. The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not
>>> reached your shores. You might be somewhat repulsed to see people
>>> walking around with huge 32 oz cups of ice and soft drink. I wouldn't
>>> blame you if you did. It's a heck of a thing.
>>
>> Actually, my brother and SIL were in England in the 80's. They
>> discovered a pizza hut that gave huge soft drinks and free refills.
>>
>> Here in WA, coffee is the big drink and most people are walking around
>> drinking that. I'm one of the odd ones who drinks diet soda instead of
>> coffee. I guess it all depends on where you live as to what you drink.
>
> Or how you value your health! Soft drinks are so loaded with sugar that
> drinking them on any sort of regular basis will really put the pounds on.

In my entire lifetime I mostly always consumed diet soda. I did have some
regular at a family reunion as a kid. My uncle did buy some diet but not
enough for us kids to have it. I hate regular soda so after trying to choke
down a bottle or two, walked with my cousin to the store and bought my own
Tab. Also took a few sips of it at the airport while in a hurry. I bought
something from a machine, didn't look at it before drinking it and realized
right away that there as a problem. I probably had it a time or two at some
party as a kid but in those days it was more common to serve Kool-Aid or
fruit punch.

And here, most regular soda has HFC and not sugar. Jones is one exception
and I think also Hansen's.