Mary v Greg

We never had a chip pan when we were young so its a habit we never got into. No sugary drinks either. I may have dodgy knees but I've my gnashers are a dentists dream!
Goodness knows why I'm so fat but its definitely not due to chips or sugary drinks!

Mary Berry is in The Lady this week and reading between the lines she doesn't eat much cake either!

I eat French fries as served 'abroad' and use my frying pan a lot for lamb chops etc and fried eggs and bacon.
I'm not against a chip pan but what do you do with the used fat?

I agree with her about the sugary drinks, its good that she said it. They ruin childen's teeth

Why have I got an real urge for egg and chips?

We eat in the kitchen unless we can't all fit round the table. Last weekend we had 6 adults and 4 children round it but two of the children were trapped on the window seat with no means of escape!

I do have a deep fat fryer - which has sat in the cupboard for at least 5 years!! On the rare occasions I eat chips I use oven chips - OK not as good as deep fried but as someone said they are better than they used to be. My mother had a chip pan which she used lard in - Mary Berry would probably have a fit if she saw it!! (By the way my mother was 90 last year).

I live in London and my kitchen is tiny- maybe a cup of coffee standing up but that is neither relaxing nor pleasant.

Crossed posts ?

Mary Berry looks as though she could do with a big plate of chips. I agree that celebrating fattening, sugary cake baking while criticising deep fat frying is ridiculous. My OH has a little electric fryer which makes lovely chips.
Of course, Mrs Berry might have been referring to the danger of chip pan fires so I will give her the benefit of the doubt.

I heard her on the today programme saying that she wouldn't have deep fried chips cos they are a major cause of house fires ( fair enough) . She said she has oven chips as a treat. What really got me was that she presumes that most ( or was it many) people eat in the kitchen like she does and she doesn't like the smell. It would be interesting to know how many people have a kitchen large enough to eat in. However I admire her willpower in being able to eat small pieces of cake and never having a second helping.Life without cake or chips would be so dull .

I used to love the eggs that were dropped in the chip pan while the chips were draining. They were like golden lace with a runny yolk in the middle.

I have a chip pan that gets used approximately every 18 months when OH fancies fresh eggs and homemade chips!

We used to have a chip pan, cannot beat deep fried chips. Must have spent ages cleaning the thing out. That was years ago, now when we do have chips they are oven chips which are not as good as the real thing but much better than they used to be imho. We don't eat much cake either. Chocolate is my downfall and I doubt that will change whatever anyone says.

If I 'make chips' I put them in a poly bag with a spoonful of rapeseed oil to coat them, then oven-bake.

I am tempted by an air fryer, but is it just another gadget to clutter up the kitchen.
I'm more tempted by a soup maker

We grow our own potatoes and prefer oven baked wedges, tossed in rapeseed oil, to chips.

My chips are better than the chippy!

If you only want chips on the odd occasion, there's probably a local chippie very willing to supply them. Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

I think they should both shut up!

Very hyprocitical, Mary, to present a programme encouraging the consumption of shedloads of sugar when you admit to sticking to a diet of soup and salad during filming to avoid putting on any weight.

Anya

I only eat chips occasionally as we don't have a chip pan any more and I don't like oven chips.

I may be being a bit disingenuous about the cake
(but not often, not even every week .....)

Jalima but you've just said it yourself, you like both occasionally - and that's the point. And as far as a 'little of what you fancy' ....the same rules apply. But sadly people's idea of 'occasionally' and 'a little' are somewhat different to yours

I haven't owned a chip pan for years. A bog standard one at first, then an electric fryer, but got rid of them both. We don't eat a lot of fried food but sometimes we really fancy some chips, and oven chips don't cut it, so I have flirted with the idea of getting another one. Does anyone know if air fryers are any good? I have read mixed reviews.

I was going to say the same jingls!

Quite ironic really, given that sugar is the wicked 'no-no' and healthy oils are good.
Anything in excess is bad, even water, everything in moderation.
Remembering what DM used to say 'A little of what you fancy does you good'.

Cakes versus chips
Well, I like cake occasionally
I like chips occasionally (especially triple cooked chips fried by a good chef!)

We were given an electric fryer and a catering sized box of fat by my then boss whose family owned a couple of fish n chip shops as a wedding present It did make fabulous chips but it was consigned to the bin before the children came along. We now eat oven chips.

Always seeded cod with our chips.

I have a small chip pan, used to get it out every Friday religiously (not for religious reasons. Perhaps should say habitually).

Anyway I now hate the sticky gungy thing (inside pan is clean of course, but outside is impossible to keep spick and span. So now it stays in cupboard and I use oven or microwave chips, which are nowhere near as nice.

Think I will start again with a new one.

Can't believe Mary Berry! A few home fried chips must be a lot healthier than a sugary sickly piece of cake.

Children shouldn't have sugary drinks - what's wrong with saying that?

I agree tanith, do dislike being told what to do by so called celebrities. Nothing wrong at all with the occasional portion of chips. Home made chips are delicious, oven baked chips - yuk
Moderation in all things is my mantra.