Fast fall family fare

This week’s Hot Home Products column looks at toaster ovens, for which I promised to post a couple of easy recipes that will help you get through these next busy few weeks (why is September always so crazy?) The following oh-so-simple recipe is from Hamilton Beach, but you can also find great suggestions on the Cuisinart site (meatloaf with mushrooms sounds yum-a-liscious), and the Oster website (I like the sound of the garlic shrimp casserole). All three entrees, served with a green salad and crusty bread, would make a quick and delicious fall family dinner). 

The pic at left shows the new Hamilton Beach convention oven, which I really like because it has a built in food thermometer. Food thermometers have become one of my favourite kitchen tools (I have an instant read model from Breville that comes with a food scale - my best friend at Thanksgiving and Christmas). BTW, food writer Dana McCauley (LOVE her stuff!) had a great blog post about calibrating food thermometers a few months ago that's well worth a look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honey Mustard Chicken

What you need:

 

6-7 pound roaster chicken

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup honey

3 tablespoons prepared mustard

 

What you do:

 

Remove rack. Preheat roaster oven to 350°F. Remove giblets from chicken cavities and use for giblet gravy, if desired. Rinse chicken with cold water. Pat dry.Sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a small bowl combine honey and mustard. Brush chicken with half of mixture. Place on rack and put into roaster oven. Cook 1 hour. Brush with remaining glaze. Continue to cook another 45 minutes or until internal temperature of breast reaches at least 165°F.

 

 

Got ugly furniture? That's a good thing!

Rejoice, Markhamites! Markhamonians! citizens of Markham. One of my favourite stores has just arrived in your neck of the woods. Urban Barn, the Canadian retailer that sells great contemporary décor, tableware and accessories at very affordable prices, has just opened a new location at 7655 Markham Rd. I love their fall stuff, including the happy-go-lucky silk pillow shown at left. They’ve also got a great contest going now — the Ugly Furniture Contest. It's fun - just go to the microsite and upload a picture of your old, ugly and crapulous furniture and you could win $5,000 to spend at Urban Barn. Hhhm – do you think the lamp I have at my cottage would qualify? (see pic below). If not, I have a couch that would probably take first prize,  but I'm too ashamed to show it!

I'm worth it

This has been the summer of renovation at my house – and it’s not over next (yikes — stay tuned!). A friend asked the other day how I had managed to get through it without cracking under the pressure. I answered that, to be sure, renovation is stressful, but that I had help. My husband John sawed, nailed, sand-papered, painted and generally worked his butt off without complaint. My kids Emma and James helped by carrying sheets of drywall, washing paint brushes and not laughing when I agonized over ice blue or pure silver on the walls. (The dog, however, was decidedly unhelpful – barking at workmen, snarling at power saws and gnawing on flooring samples.) I have to admit, though, the reno was pretty hard on my delicate skin. Working with one’s hands, and being constantly exposed to dust and rubble can wreak havoc on an aging very experienced epidermis like my own. But I had help with that too, and in the interest of letting readers know that great products – be they home related or personal — don’t have to cost a bomb, I want to share. It so happened that at the beginning of the summer, I was sent a basket of samples of new moisturizers from St. Ives. I stashed one in every room, and ended up using them a couple of times a day as an antidote to punishment of the rough work I was doing. My fave is the Mineral Therapy lotion, which contains potassium and iron that’s supposed soothe dried skin  and protect against future moisture loss. And get this – it’s about $7 for a 600-millilitre pump bottle  (although I saw it this weekend in No Frills for $3.97 - yowzer!) I kid you not. Unbelievably good value. I also got sent a sample of Bio-Oil, a product that’s generally marketed as a scar and stretch mark solution. I’m here to tell you, though, that it’s also a marvelous facial moisturizer, and works wonderfully as a body lotion – especially if you apply it after a shower or bath when your skin is still damp. It’s also affordable — 60 millilitres sell for about $13, and because you don’t use much, it lasts a long time. What has all this got to do with home improvement? Nothing, I suppose, unless you agree that your body is a temple!!!

 

 

 

Me, stupid? Of course not.

The most interesting conversation I had this week was with Darryl Rosenfeldt, director of Connect Pro services at Future Shop.I had called with a question that has been nagging at me for some time, as I grappled helplessly with a slew of home electronic products. Am I getting stupider (more stupid?) or is technology getting smarter? Ever the diplomat, Rosenfeldt came down on my side, explaining that I’m not alone in finding home technology hard to set up. Part of the problem is that products are changing so quickly, explained Rosenfeldt, who says that computer manufacturers who used to introduce new product annually are now operating on a three to six month schedule. That’s why he’s betting that services like ConnectPro, which offers installation and connectivity support to homeowners, are bound to grow. “I believe there’s not a single Canadian out there – maybe apart from the five per cent who are ultra-techie — who hasn’t needed our service at some time, and I’m sure there are lots of people just living with little problems because they don’t know how to fix them,” he told me. ConnectPro employees can he hired either by hour, or for a flat rate for a specific job. They’ll also give you up to one hour to offer a free estimate of what your job entails. In the works is a remote service that will allow ConnectPro employees to assist consumers over the phone. I couldn’t let Rosenfeldt off the phone without asking about trends in large appliances, a subject I’m currently researching. He says that while appliance cycles are slower than computer technology, big changes are coming. In fact, he told me it won’t be too long before your fridge can tell you when you’re out of milk or eggs. Hhhm – can a dryer that finds all those missing socks be far behind? Now that would be genuis.

Catch the (micro) wave - or trade up

I recently previewed a cool new microwave oven from Panansonic that has what the electronic manufacturer calls “Inverter” technology. Simply put, it means that rather than crudely regulating heat throughout a cooking cycle by having it turn on and off, the oven consistently provides the level of power required for the specific cooking function. So if it needs 60 per cent of available power, the oven delivers 60 per cent power all the time, rather than a “pulsed” delivery of 100 per cent power 60 per cent of the time. Get it? The result is that foods cook more evenly, and can simmer without overcooking on the edges and surfaces. I’ll have more on this in an upcoming Hot Home Products column. In the meantime, though, Panasonic is encouraging homeowners to dispose of their ancient microwave ovens (any brand) in an environmentally responsible way with a Trade Your ‘Wave pilot program that runs from Sept. 4 – 6 at 23 Future Shop locations in the GTA (see list below). The units will be recycled by GEEP, which deals with end of life electric and electronic products in their plant in Barrie, Ont. For being good greenies, consumers can get up to $50 in savings on a new, energy efficient Panasonic microwave. Partipating locations include:

• Ajax – 40 Kingston Road East
• Brampton – 70 Great Lakes Drive, 9145 Airport Road
• Etobicoke – 1563 The Queensway
• Mississauga – 1475 Dundas St. East, 5900 Mavis Road, 2975 Argentia Road, 3050 Vega Boulevard 
• Markham – 3828 Hwy 7, 7700 Markham Road 
• Newmarket – 17890 Yonge Street
• Oakville – 310 North Service Road West
• Orangeville – 95 First Street Oshawa,  1421 Harmony Rd. N
• Richmond Hill – 9325 Yonge Street
• Scarborough – 1141 Kennedy Road; 806 Warden Avenue
• Toronto – 2400 Yonge St., 2625A Weston Road, 845 Eglinton Avenue East, 10 Old Stock Yards Road
• Vaughan – 3200 Highway 7
• Whitby – 1650 Victoria St. E