The pressure is on...

I just got home from a cooking class at the Bosch Kitchen Centre. I was really impressed (and kind of amazed) at the inventory there - boy, if it's kitchen-related in the smallest way, they have it. At the women's retreat I signed up for two classes - tonight's, which was "Hearty Soups" and one later in the month, called "Rustic Breads". Tonight, in the two hours we were there, the instructor cooked (from scratch to giving us samples) three soups: Southwestern Bean Soup, Salmon Buckwheat and Quinoa Chowder, and Ham Pea Soup. How did they cook them so fast? Pressure cooker. If their goal was to impress us, they succeeded. I really thought that pressure cookers were a thing of the past, but apparently not. I have visions of my Mum's old one that she had for as long as I can remember. No, literally. This pot had been in our house from before I was born until Mum passed away in 1997. That's a lot of years. I know it used to terrify me - just the thought of the process and when that little gadget on top started rocking, I'd flee the kitchen. But Mum was always confident around it and although I think she might have had a few minor steam burns over the years as she released the pressure (not even done that way anymore), nothing ever earth-shattering ever occurred (as in - no explosions - ha ha). And I remember her cooking potatoes in a flash and her roasts going from frozen to flaky within the hour. I used to marvel at the speed but had always decided that living on the edge with that machine was not for me.

Now I'm beginning to wonder. I was drooling a bit tonight but resisted for two reasons: (1) the price was higher than I'd anticipated, and (b) there is still a wonder machine I'm looking at for making my homemade bread...and I need to save up for that. I was surprised, upon looking up on the Net about pressure cookers, to find that they are known to be able to not only be a healthier way of cooking, but also that food toxins can be reduced by pressure cooking. Interesting. Maybe I should dig out my Canadian Tire money and see how much I have.

I did, however, come back with a couple of gadgets - a chopper thing for Floyd (okay, and me) that I thought he'd like, and a garlic peeler! The second item is just a square sheet (about 5") that you just fold over the garlic clove, roll it with your hand, and, voila! The garlic is peeled. Looked pretty neat to me and it was only $1.99.

Anyway, enough of that - I'm off to bed. In the morning I think I might make a Hearty Soup for when the Listers are here on Saturday. But I think it'll be 4-6 hours in my stock pot instead of 30 minutes in pressure...