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cimoreneWhen I moved to Finland in 2004, I couldn't get peanut butter or M&M's. Flavored and/or decaf instant coffees were unknown. (Flavored cocoa still is, to my intense chagrin. My parents keep sending me care packages of Ghirardelli and Land O'Lakes and I use them up within a couple of weeks.)
So lately I've been thinking I have lived long enough without a slow cooker and I really want to have one. I like stew, I'm lazy about food prep, my favorite chicken dish for parties (orange chicken with pear salsa) requires one and when I tried to duplicate it in the oven using my mom's recipe it didn't really work.
Slow cookers are basically unknown in Finland. But today I thought, they have to be coming SOMEDAY, right? I mean they've been ubiquitous in America since the 1960s. How long can it actually take?
ANSWER: Somewhat longer.
The poshest department store in the land still doesn't stock them, but when I googled it ("haudutuspata", or simmering pot), I landed directly on haudutuspata.fi, which is owned by Crock-Pot. They, at least, have noticed Finland, even if much of Finland has yet to notice them.
Thanks to taxes, the basic model which costs 79€ at haudutuspata.fi is only 53€ from Amazon Germany (you can get other brands, like Kenwood, for under 50€ domestically though).
Anyway, I think maybe this winter. Then someday we can entertain again. After we buy some more chairs. (Right now we have 1 chair that isn't an armchair.)
So lately I've been thinking I have lived long enough without a slow cooker and I really want to have one. I like stew, I'm lazy about food prep, my favorite chicken dish for parties (orange chicken with pear salsa) requires one and when I tried to duplicate it in the oven using my mom's recipe it didn't really work.
Slow cookers are basically unknown in Finland. But today I thought, they have to be coming SOMEDAY, right? I mean they've been ubiquitous in America since the 1960s. How long can it actually take?
ANSWER: Somewhat longer.
The poshest department store in the land still doesn't stock them, but when I googled it ("haudutuspata", or simmering pot), I landed directly on haudutuspata.fi, which is owned by Crock-Pot. They, at least, have noticed Finland, even if much of Finland has yet to notice them.
Thanks to taxes, the basic model which costs 79€ at haudutuspata.fi is only 53€ from Amazon Germany (you can get other brands, like Kenwood, for under 50€ domestically though).
Anyway, I think maybe this winter. Then someday we can entertain again. After we buy some more chairs. (Right now we have 1 chair that isn't an armchair.)
(no subject)
Date: 1 Sep 2013 07:00 am (UTC)And they're so useful!
(no subject)
Date: 1 Sep 2013 01:46 pm (UTC)Hilariously, the google results are full of foodie-type and home blogs with beginnings/titles like "How Does A Slow Cooker Work?" and "Here's How To Find Recipes for a Slow Cooker" and "Why Is A Slow Cooker Useful" and one website has a little review showing that's like "PLUSES: Useful for cooking food easily. MINUSES: Would be better if it included more recipes."
It's - you make stew in it! You don't need much more than the basics. And if you want more recipes, there's Google!
(no subject)
Date: 2 Sep 2013 05:25 am (UTC)