Life, or more importantly, my garden is giving me lots of fruit at the moment.

For me there's nothing better than bringing the day's bounty into my kitchen and thinking up ways to process it into tasty treats, preserves or base products for a later date.
Once i've thought about what i'm going to make I crack on with the cooking, music turned up, in a happy contented world of my own and oblivious to anything else going on around me. 

One of the problems I end up with is the amount of kitchen gadgets with lots of parts that need washing, drying and re-assembling.
I'm pretty good about mis-en-place (prep) but if I forget something and have use the gadget again then repeat the process of washing up and drying I get a bit pouty - no one likes washing up!

So why do I have so many gadgets that I don't like to use?

Are you a kitchen gadget collector?

I am, my kitchen is full of innovative and, at the time, practical gadgets that have been bought over the years, many of which no longer play a part in my day to day kitchen life.
And although they play no part in my day to day life I still have them there, on shelves and in cupboards taking up space that I complain I haven't enough of.
Do I ever liberate them and move them on to people who might appreciate them? Nah, they just get moved to another room for me to look when I go in there.

I'm not talking about kitchen gadgets that are small with cute handles bought for €1 in the cook shop closing down sale.
No, I'm talking about machines, of which I have many.
The ice cream maker, the juicer, the half broken hand blender, the blender....the list goes on and on.

I have to admit that I'm slightly embarrassed by the amount of machines I have cluttering up my cupboards and I take a deep breath every time I see a new one winking at me in the electrical store.
I swear that time will come when I'll use them again but will I?

So, you may have figured out that I'm lazy in the kitchen.
Actually I'm not, I'll spend hours preparing a dish and pondering over the details but when it comes to mundane things like blending, blitzing or juicing I need simple.
I don't have the patience for lots of pieces to put together.
I'm busy and I want easy and simple.

I have become prey to kitchen gadget advertizing and I should know better, I am after all a trained chef.
While some gadgets pretend to make life easier, in the long run it's the simple kitchen gadgets that actually do.
The simpler the better and easier to use.

Take for example my Phillips citrus juicer.
Cost next to nothing and has 3 parts to it - the motor/base, the juice bowl and the press.
Cut your orange in half, stick it on the press and press down.
Juice done, orange skins in the compost and the rest washes up super easily. 
Beautiful freshly squeezed orange juice, isn't that the point of juicing?
Why I needed a €70 machine with all sorts of attachments to do the same thing I have no idea.

It's orange season at the moment and sacks of oranges are cheap as chips so my little juicer is out every morning providing a beautiful tasty, and healthy start to the day.
I have no problem pulling the juicer apart and cleaning it because it's so easy but the thought of cleaning the centrifugal juicer just makes me leave it in the cupboard.

As usual, simple is best when it comes to the kitchen whether recipes, ingredients, equipment or gadgets.

When Life Gives You Lemons....or oranges, the best way to get your juice is not necessarily the most expensive!