Steam Dryers

Have you  ever wondered if steam dryers are really worth all the hype?  If you have a busy family, (and who doesn't?) I think they are definitely worth it!  Here is the low down:

First let me answer the question, what is a steam dryer?  A steam dryer is a dryer that is hooked up to a water line.  On certain cycles, a small amount of water is injected into the dryer to create a "steamy" environment.  This steam helps release wrinkles and can also remove odors.  The steam is not used on a regular drying cycle.

Aren't you always this happy when you do the laundry?

I have two young children so that means that laundry is done on an hourly basis in my house.  All kidding aside, my family has a lot of laundry so finding time to wash, dry, fold, and put away is sometimes a daunting task.  And the ironing?  No Way!  So, what do we do when something sits in the dryer a little too long?  Or that shirt I want to wear really should be ironed but there is no time?  We use our steam dryer!  I like to use the short setting to freshen up one or two pieces that I want to wear that day and the longer setting if I have a bunch of clothes that need a de-wrinkle.  I know a lot of brands state that the steam dryers can remove smells and set in odors.  Personally, if something is that smelly-I just rewash it.  I don't find that to be the reason to purchase a steam dryer.  But maybe you can see a benefit to this.

Now, I know a lot of you just use that wash cloth trick that your first roomate taught you, but I promise the steam dryer is much easier.  For those of you who have no clue what I am talking about, here is a quick tutorial:

Step 1: Place wrinkled item in regular dryer
Step 2: Place wet wash cloth in with wrinkled clothing
Step 3: Set dryer for auto dry
Step 4: Take clothing out of dryer and TA DA!  You have a wrinkle free article of clothing. (kinda)

Yup, that's right!  I use a baby wash cloth.

Why on earth did I just tell you this trick?  Isn't that silly?  Now none of you will want a steam dryer, right? WRONG!  I am telling you steam dryers are really quite affordable.  Steam dryers start around $599.95.  So, they really aren't anymore expensive than most regular dryers.  And this way, you don't have to use wash cloths and it works much better.

They are easy to set up, easy to use and extremely helpful for all you busy people out there who hate to iron.  I know I can't be the only one, right?

If you are interested in a steam dryer, stop in to Holloways Appliance Center and ask for any one of our amazing sales people to walk you through the steam dryers.

Best,
Laurie

Holloways Appliance Center serves all of Connecticut (including West Hartford, Glastonbury, Bloomfield, Avon, Canton and many more) and Western Massachusetts (including East Longmeadow, Westfield, Southwick, Granville and many more).

Making Baby Food-Apple Spinach Sauce

Blog by Laurie of Holloways Appliance Center

I really enjoy making baby food.  If you have never tried it, it is super easy and you usually can make a lot of it for very little money.  Here are the basic steps I use to make apple sauce.  Now I occasionally like to be sneaky and stick in something super healthy, so today, this recipe is for Apple Spinach Sauce.  I used 4 large organic apples and one package of organic baby spinach.  When I make this again, I am going to double the apples to 8 for a sweeter more aromatic sauce.

This is really all you need to make baby food

Step 1:  Wash the apples and spinach

Step 2: Peel the apples (this isn't necessary but I prefer to do this)

Step 3: Steam the fruit and vegetable.

• There are A LOT of ways to steam your food.  There are those cool baby gadgets that let you steam and puree all in one appliance.

• When I am home, I just steam using a pot of water and a steaming basket.

• For this food, I was in the Holloway's showroom so I used a Convection Steam Oven.  These ovens are so cool! I'm not sure I would buy one JUST for baby food but these ovens are amazing.  I will be sure to write a post on these in the near future!

I just put the peeled apples and spinach in the same tray and steamed them in the convection steam oven.

Step 4:  Once the food is nice and soft, place it in the food processor and puree.  For this recipe, I used the KitchenAid 13 cup Food Processor in RED!  I love this thing.  (Shameless plug - you can buy them at Holloways!)

A Yummy Green Mixture

Step 5: Check out the consistency and add enough water to make your baby happy.  

My son liked really watery baby food but my daughter prefers her food much thicker so I barely added any water to this recipe at all.  Remember you can always add some cereal if it gets really watery.  I had to do that with carrots once because I basically made the baby food into orange water.  I didn't want to waste it, so I just used it to combine with some baby oatmeal.  She loved it...but my daughter isn't too picky in the food department.

Step 6: Freeze the extra!

This makes a lot of food and my kiddos can never eat that much so I freeze the remaining amount.  I do this in a two step process.  I first place as much as I can in these little containers.  They can go in the refrigerator or the freezer.  After that, I place the remaining in ice cube trays.  Once the baby food is frozen, I pop the little cubes out and put them in freezer bags.  (FYI-Each cube is about one ounce.)

I got these little jars at Target...I forget the brand name though.

I will be posting some baby food recipes from time to time, but we would love to hear your recipes too. What food have you made for your little ones?

Here's my little guy eating some homemade baby food.  

Holloways Appliance Center serves all of Connecticut (including West Hartford, Glastonbury, Bloomfield, and many more) and Western Massachusetts.

Five Ingedient, Cheesy No Knead Bread

By guest blogger Faye Scheren

I am addicted to this bread, and it is so, so easy.  This yeast bread requires absolutely NO KNEADING.  It takes a couple minutes to chop the cheese and stir together the dough. Then, just let it sit overnight and bake it the next day in perfect time for your evening dinner.  I hope you enjoy this Easy-Peazy bread recipe.

~Faye

Cheesy No Knead Bread

Basically, there are only three steps:

Mix all the ingredients

Put dough on counter to rest

Bake the dough

Ok, for you perfectionists out there, here are the details...

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups of bread flour (or all purpose flour)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

¾ teaspoon of Rapid-rise yeast

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/4 cups cheddar cheese, chopped medium

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and yeast.  Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms. 

Coarsely chop the cheese.

Add chopped cheese and combine.  

Mix all the ingredients with the cheese.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap. 

Cover the wet mixture with plastic wrap and leave on counter overnight.

Put aside on the counter for 12 – 18 hours (even up to 24 hours).  Overnight works great!

After resting for 12-18 hours, the dough will be wet and sticky looking.  This may not be what you expect, but that means it is PERFECT for baking!

The dough will look wet and sticky.

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.  

When oven has reached 450, place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  (You can find economical cast iron pots by Lodge, and more expensive enamel coated ones by Le Creuset.  There are several other brands out there as well.)

While the pot is heating, dump the dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  DO NOT KNEAD!  Just shape it gently, brushing the flour over the dough so it does not stick to your hands or to the counter top.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rest.  

Remove hot pot from oven and drop in the dough.  No need to grease the pot, the bread will not stick – trust me!

Cover with the lid and return to oven for 30 minutes.  

After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for an additional 15 minutes. 

 Remove bread from pot and place on a rack to cool. 

There you have it! The crunchy outside and soft inside of an artisan bread, but done with no kneading in your own oven. Enjoy!

Holloways Appliance Center serves all of Connecticut including Avon, Canton, West Hartford, Glastonbury, Farmington, Windsor and western Massachusetts.