Organic Samm

One of the most important kitchen appliances of all times must be the rice cooker. This is especially true where Asian homes are concerned. I bet every household would have at least one in the kitchen. Well, we have three. One for everyday cooking for 4 persons, another for use during festive seasons like Chinese New Year, and a really small one when i need to cook chicken rice for my kids.

With the advancement of technology, the humble rice cooker has undergone lots of changes over the decades. The ones my mom used when we were just kids can only do one thing; cook rice. When i was still single and living on my own, mine can cook porridge as it has a “slow cook” function, as well as a “keep warm” button. Well, not only did i use it to cook both rice and porridge. I even made soup and tong sui like “hung tau sar” (red bean dessert) with my rice cooker. Innovative, hoh.

The latest version of rice cookers in the market today allows us to cook many different kinds of foods. Different types of rice requires different cooking time. The more advanced rice cooker have lots of preset functions which allows the aspiring cook to experiment with lots of rice dishes effortlessly. Think sushi rice, nasi lemak, brown rice, etc. Terms like Microcomputer Technology and Neuro Fuzzy Technology are something the first time buyer have to understand and digest, lol. My sis has one.

Lately, we even have rice cookers that can bake a cake. No joke. I nearly bought one of that for the fun of it when my MIL asked me to replace ours when it conked out. Can you believe a rice cooker can have a built-in cake baking function. Honestly, i was rather tempted. Reason i didnt is because my FIL likes to keep the rice warm 24/7. Forget about using the cake baking function. It’s also for this very reason that we have to replace ours so frequently, not to mention how it literally sucks money from our pockets due to the high electricity tariff.

The rice cooker is your best kitchen helper when you are busy and do not have much time on hand to cook. What you see here is just an example of how we use the rice cooker to steam some chicken to go with the rice. Today’s basic rice cooker will come with a steamer basket. Just place it on top of the rice cooker, and by the time your rice is cooked, so is your chicken/fish/vegetables/eggs. And yes, my steamed chicken tastes really good with just soya sauce. Top it with some chopped spring onions when you serve it. Delicious, yet nutritious at the same time. Have a great weekend

For reasons known only to my Philips Toaster Oven, it refused to start yesterday morning. And you know how much my kids love their Hash Browns for breakfast in the mornings. What to do, had to go upstairs and dig around for the warranty card. Now, this is what i found out. The warranty card was dated March 2007, but i bought my Philips Toaster Oven in November last year. This blog has documented that clearly. But i was lucky it carries a two years warranty and so, i’m still very much covered. At least for another half a year or so. You’d better check properly when you buy your next electrical item lest you get shortchanged on your warranty period.

As usual, took the kids out to Parkson for lunch. After that, went to the Electrical Department and queried the Supervisor there on How To Claim Warranty For Philips Toaster Oven. Was told i have two choices. Either i bring the whole Philips Toaster Oven back to them for warranty claim, or i can sent the Philips Toaster Oven to the Philips Authorised Service Center somewhere in Jalan Kuala Kangsar myself. According to them, the latter will be much faster option. You can find the nearest Philips Authorised Service Center listed at the back of the warranty card. The thing is, Jalan Kuala Kangsar is like right at the OTHER END OF THE WORLD from where i live, BLEHHHHHHHHHH.

When i told hubby, surprisingly, he said he’ll drive me there. HUH???? No complaints? No rants? Ah hah…. and then i found out why. He’s been looking at car magazines for like years. The house is filled with Car Traders magazines, lol. You can practically find them stashed everywhere. Under the bed, in the bathroom, toilet, living hall, and yes, inside the family car too. And there are plenty of car showrooms along Jalan Kuala Kangsar. See, see, see….. see how fast his mind can think for once. Geee… i love the idea too. DAR…… I WANT THAT RED HOT BEEMER…………….

I bought a sandwich maker recently in a quest to save some money. But come to think of it, this Cornell sandwich maker practically eats electricity at 700Watts. Though i wont use it for more than 3 minutes at a time, it’s still costly to use it on an everyday basis. But compared to driving to the shops to buy food back, it’s still relatively cheaper to make my own in the morning.

There werent that many sandwich makers sold at Parkson where i bought this. This Cornell sandwich maker caught my eyes with its bright yellow and i asked for one. Not an expensive item at rm69.00. The model is CSM-EL602A.

I’ve never owned a sandwich maker before in my entire life. I used to borrow my mom’s when the urge to make sandwiches arise once in a while, lol. See how nice my yellow colored Cornell sandwich maker is. It even has some flowery pattern with the words “Bon Apetit” on it.

All sandwich makers look the same inside. The only difference is the price and the hotplate’s heat distribution. For this Cornell sandwich maker, the heat is more centered and i find my sandwiches getting burnt easily especially the middle two lower triangles.

Another negative point about this Cornell sandwich maker is the three pin plug’s quality. It somehow warped where the electrical cord goes it. I think its due to the low quality plastic which cannot stand the high heat. 700Watts wei, dun play play. It may be a Sirim approved three pin plug, but still, its quality sucks. I’ll post a pic on how it looks like later, k.

I’ve changed the first unit. Cant get it refunded. If not, i would have changed it to a different brand. The best thing to do now is to go to an electrical shop and change the three pin plug to one that can withstand high heat for safety sake. What a waste of time and money. If you want my opinion on this Cornell sandwich maker, dont buy it.