A series of daft events on the way to healthier eating.

Jane that's how I do my poached eggs too.

www.lakeland.co.uk/12644/Tea%20Tool/all-reviews/12/20.2

Why doesn't the link go blue? On a tablet!

Lakeland sell teabag squeezers, a bit like a syringe action, and they are great! No more scalded fingers!http://www.lakeland.co.uk/12644/Tea%20Tool/all-reviews/12/20.2

How can you make tea without a teaspoon? How do you measure it into the pot?
What are these funny little square things that visitors from England keep bringing us?
We have a wonderful tea shop here in rural France, where we buy Ceylon for the morning tea and Yunnan for the afternoon.

JaneR, my grandma used to poach eggs your way, but I always found them to taste a bit watery. I have a poacher pan, but mine has little cups that sit in holes on top of the pan, so my fingers don`t go near the boiling water.
When we were first married, we lived in a small, 200 year old cottage that was crumbling away, we found 2 rusty teaspoons in holes in the walls.

I used to wonder who on earth Delia wrote her book for - now I know!

I don't even use vinegar when I poach my eggs and they still turn out ok. Just bring the water to the boil, drop in the egg, turn it down to a simmer, take any loose puffy bits off with a draining spoon as they expand and float to the surface, the egg is ready when it too rises up.

Providing the teabag hasn't sunk, I mostly whip it out with my fingers. Otherwise I use a teaspoon.
I used to play guitar (anyone who has played one will know how the tips of the fingers become completely hardened with thickened, calloused skin.) In cookery lessons at school I used to take hot trays/tins out of the oven with my bare hands. It was quite an impressive party piece, though I honestly didn't do it to impress - it simply didn't occur to me to use an oven glove as I didn't need one!

The latest Gizmo to be seen with is a Thermomix TM5 which apparently does absolutely everything - weighs, chops, mixes, stirs, cooks, blends, needs, purées, and more as well. Apparently it cleans itself too, which is a bonus - all for the princely sum of £1000 . DD2 here in Oz is desperate to own one and I am busy trying to dissuade her, citing all the possibilities of spending $2000 on more exciting ventures! I have cupboards full of once exciting, but now useless, gadgets and inevitably revert to the proven old fashioned methods. Nothing beats boiling an egg in a pan of water or beating hell out of a lump of dough

toaster gongs??? tongs.

I've got toaster gongs but they're made of wood and I don't fancy squeezing my teabag with them! Have also got stainless steel holey teabag tongs but never use them - a teaspoon's much easier

(Jane10 yes, I have used a biro on occasion! )

I was always put off those silicone egg poachers because they looked rather like the protective 'box' my DS used to wear inside his pants when he played cricket. . You can poach an egg more neatly if you put it in boiling water in its shell for 10 seconds before breaking it into the pan. Toaster tongs can be obtained on line and as well as getting things like crumpets out of the toaster without burning your fingers, you can use them to take your teabag out of the cup.

Hmm..not so good if you accidentally stab the teabag before you've got it out of the cup though!

Forks are good for taking teabags out of the cup, because the water squeezes through it better than with a teaspoon, Ana.

I know! Its amazing but you can use almost anything -have used a biro before in the office

A fork???

We use dessert spoons for yoghourt type things. I use a fork to get tea bags out and don't stir tea anyway. I never even noticed the disappearing teaspoons until the egg situation. All sorted anyhow. Finn I've boiled eggs in a pan before so I know what that's like. I really find the wee gadget better.

Can't work out how to manage without teaspoons either!
Neither of us take sugar but vital for DGS's feeding himself, eating boiled eggs, yogurts, little pots of chocolate mousse etc!

Eggs are no good for losing weight because you need bread and butter with them (well I do, and can only stomach eggs hard-boiled)
You lot without teaspoons, how do you measure out instant coffee, stir tea or coffee, fish the tea-bag out of your mug, get jam out of the jar for scones, serve a strange friend who wants sugar in her drink?

I always eat yogurt with a teaspoon.

I read once that Simon Cowell won't allow a teaspoon to be re-used once it has been used for yogurt. What does he do with them all, do they go to the charity shop?

...however, if the cat hogs the hob, then I can understand your predicament.

Jane10 Go on, you have to tell me the difference between faffing about (and washing) a pan which will just hold water and washing an egg machine thingy and/or it's bits. Is it really quicker all told?

Admit to being a good sharp knife and chopping board is all you need kind of cook.

finnochio and mamie the egg boiler is really quick, no waiting for water to boil or faffing about with pans. The device itself is so neat and energy efficient. The hob is where the cat sleeps in our house! More daftness....

Ha! You should see the mess I've made in the past trying to poach an egg in a pan of water, doesn't matter whether I try to make a whirlpool or just lower the egg in...

I'm OK boiling eggs though.

Agree with you, ffin.
Went to Ikea a few weeks ago with my son's partner. She was going to buy a set of teaspoons,so I told her I had dozens in a drawer in the kitchen, and gave her some.
I never seem to lose mine, because I never use them. The only time I ever boil eggs, it's for hard boiled ones at Easter, so no teaspoons needed then.