TOO MANY COOKS ...

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TOO MANY COOKS ...

by menhir @ 08 Sep. 2008 – 22:29:07

Busy day today; meant to do one or two jobs at home but got side-tracked into tidying up the storehouse that is scattered on top of my kitchen cupboards. I started off by standing on a chair, shouldn't have I know, but the chairs are sturdy and balanced. As I climbed about on work surfaces shifting things so I could clean, hubby who had been semi-occupied with hobby things, saw me and was moved to help.

So, I was free to put out the washing to dry on yet another nice dry warm day. I should have been out exploiting the weather and enjoying myself.

As things came into view that I haven't thought about for years, I opened up the charity bag and filled it up. There were some aluminium baking trays I never used. They were meant for creating tray bakes for little sprog to take to primary school or for creations for fund raising events. I discovered I had a springform cake tin. It must have been well hidden, it wasn't exactly tiny. I can't remember when I last used that, unless it was the time I made a chocolate chip birthday cake. That was a really long time ago. Even though I say so myself, it was a good cake,

In no time at all it was hinted at it was lunch time. Wasn't it fortunate I had added to the left over soup earlier in the morning. Just a quick re-heat and we sat down to our bowls of soup and a roll.

What should we do about the cleaned top of cupboard surfaces? I mumbled something about greaseproof paper; anyway I'd find something. I had to go out sometime, and early in the afternoon was best. After all, I wanted to enjoy some of the warm and sunny weather, didn't I.

In one store an assistant said she had used cling film to cover her cupboard tops. Good idea; so off I went to the local small supermarket and got the largest roll there was on the shelf, 100m.

At home, I found the ladder in the middle of the kitchen and some store things already restored to their former places. The rest was on the floor near by the steps waiting for my attention. "I've bought a large roll of cling film for the surfaces" I gaily announced. "I've done the job already" said hubby, " I've laid greaseproof paper".
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16 Comments to TOO MANY COOKS ...

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- Zappy5971
- 08 Sep. 2008 @ 22:40:45
"Just a quick re-heat and we sat down to our bowls of soup and a roll.

What should we do about the cleaned top of cupboard surfaces? I mumbled something about greaseproof paper;"

Blimey. Life sounds interesting in your world!! But just a tip. Rolling about with a bowl of soup can get hot. And not in a good way. Please tell me what you did with the greaseproof paper though!!
- - menhir
  - 09 Sep. 2008 @ 10:03:14
  I try my hardest to 'roll' around with small soup bowls in saucers (can't remember the refayned name for such things)so that should be less scorching shouldn't it. Yesterday though, I wanted to finish off the soup, so we had big transport cafe-sized bowls. The aloe vera was nearby.
  
  I didn't do anything with the greaseproof paper, sir had already done whatever he thought best. I was left holding 100m of cling film. I must remember to wrap all his little Xmas gifts in it. Coming to think of it, that won't use up all that much of the film.
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- chrisistoofat
- 09 Sep. 2008 @ 06:30:47
Yes, do tell. If that had occurred in our household she would have replaced my handiwork with hers ! I can never win, I tell you.

But, to be honest, the last time I touched greaseproof paper was probably around 1953 when I traced the outline of Europe into an exercise book in Mrs Houston's class ...

CITF
- - menhir
  - 09 Sep. 2008 @ 10:09:31
  Now that is a good use of greaseproof paper - you can shift the world around at will on that.
  
  I have an excess of 100m of cling film Chris. There are chopped up loose pieces of greaseproof in situ which move out of place when you shift something. I had thought of that possibility, which is why I went on the hunt for tips and ideas before pursuing my first consideration, the GP paper. Having found what I thought was a really good solution to the problem, I returned to my kitchen to find that my considerations had been turned into a 'job done' without any further thought.
  
  The organising of the kitchen is usually my domain. With hubby retired, he is desperate to find things to fill his day that don't look like playtime activities, which he enjoys a lot of. There was more to this scene than just 'doing the job'.
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- tylluanpenry
- 09 Sep. 2008 @ 08:40:02
I'm a great believer in greaseproof paper - it doesn't drive you made in the way that cling film does! I also have a great fondness for wrapping parcels in brown paper and string - nothing quite like it!

Well done for being so industrious, Menhir. We've got the same bug down here too (although no sunshine, and no washing on the line!). Must be something in the air!
- - menhir
  - 09 Sep. 2008 @ 10:19:51
  Interesting perspective Tylluan. I do think, however, that in this case, cling film would have done a better job. It would have been out of sight as it was the tops of the cupboards that were being sorted. The way the greaseproof has been cut, a bit of a chequer board really, it moves around and won't do as thorough a grease protection job as I'd intended. It will help to keep it reduced where stuff is weighing the paper down.
  
  Hubby attempted a de-greasing operation about a year ago with some chemical or other that made me feel sick. I had to stop the process. It took days to get rid of the smell.
  
  Yesterday, I quietly begun to use a non scratch scourer and concentrated washing up liquid, which I left on the tops to soak in for a short while - it worked nicely. Hubby saw me doing this and must've thought "aah...a man-made job" I didn't refuse his offer. He followed through with my grease lifting technique and used a scraper rather than the scourer. So the worst was done and again, I quietly finished off corners and edges.
  
  My mistake was sharing my musings, he actioned them!!
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- deleted user (Visitor)
- http://menomamauk.blog.co.uk
- 09 Sep. 2008 @ 11:47:45
I'd love the recipe for the chocolate chip cake. It seems to hold so many memories for you.
x
- - menhir
  - 09 Sep. 2008 @ 20:00:17
  I will have to find it RDW, it is years and years ago that I made it. It came from one of my recipe books, the ones that I have kept. You can only work with so many and then with the odd recipe or two that become favoured.
  
  But yes, you are right, I remember the cake as being so good and working out just right. I have never made a point of doing lots of sweet cooking which made the outcome all the more pleasurable. All the adults enjoyed the cake. I used it as a birthday cake for sprog; the kids had smaller pieces than we big people managed.
  - - deleted user (Visitor)
    - http://menomamauk.blog.co.uk
    - 10 Sep. 2008 @ 01:30:14
    I love tradition and this recipe seems full of tradition and memories. YAY! And thank you!
    - - menhir
      - 10 Sep. 2008 @ 09:43:01
      It was never a tradition, this cake, just a good memory of a well done one-off.
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- Hayden (Visitor)
- http://lyricflight.blogspot.com
- 09 Sep. 2008 @ 16:20:39
humm. have never heard of greaseproof paper.

we have waxed paper? but it isn't very strong...
- - menhir
  - 09 Sep. 2008 @ 19:55:52
  I am not sure if waxed paper is the same thing; it might be. The texture of the paper is different to the usual papers, sort of 'crispy' and useful for tracing things on. It does have a finish on it. Greaseproof paper is meant to be suitable for lining cake tins, before the advent of good teflon, so cakes could be decanted from cake tins relatively easily and the paper eased away from the cake. It was meant to cope with fats and greases in foods.
  
  In my school cookery lessons, we also wiped a layer of extra fat (margarine or butter) around the greaseproof paper just for extra insurance that it wouldn't stick semi-permanently to what was being cooked.
  
  Now, there are so many other options apart from teflon mentioned earlier, there's re-usable liners that are heatproof to very high cooking temperatures.
  
  Anyway, I wait to see how this laying of 'lining [grease]paper, fares.
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- - menhir
  - 09 Sep. 2008 @ 22:04:03
  I thought it might be. Some of the really good quality non-sticks have been excellent. It means I had to throw out my really old discoloured greaseproof paper which was sadly looking out of date, because was not being used.
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- loiswakeman
- http://lois.co.uk
- 09 Sep. 2008 @ 17:55:01
The best thing to do with cupboard tops is to pile stuff on top of them again to keep the dust off!

Seriously, that mix of rancid grease a fluff is really ghastly, isn't it? On the very rare occasions I am moved to do any cleaning, I start off with detergent on a nylon scouring pad, then resort to cream cleaner or one of those bathroom sprays with orange oil, and even meths if it's really dreadful.
- - menhir
  - 09 Sep. 2008 @ 20:02:39
  It looks like I have followed a cleaning path similar to yours Lois. I would have continued further down the path as I do have cream cleaners and orange cleaner as well. However, a man decided it was a man's task to perform. Who was I to deter such chivalry?
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- menhir
- 09 Sep. 2008 @ 22:01:24
Hayden [Visitor]
http://lyricflight.blogspot.com

yes, that does sound like what we call 'waxed paper.' I learned early on to place a sheet of it on the counter with a baking pan on top, trace around the pan with a sharp knife and nestle the new liner on top of a lightly greased interior.....

I've gone back to using it. No longer trust the strange chemical compositions that are so casually tossed on the market with scarcely any testing...anyway, it's cheap and works as well as it ever did!
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