Hamilton Beach

Wake Up to Your Favourite Beverage

May 18, 2015 By Lena

Note: The following giveaway is open to Canadians only.

It was December 2005. I had spent the night – for the very first time, eek! – at my then-boyfriend’s place. In was an airy loft, with wall-to-wall windows and a homey setting that was unfamiliar and welcoming at the same time. In typical Lena fashion, I found myself wide awake at 6:00am. Next to me, my boyfriend slept soundly, no doubt enjoying a well-deserved Sunday morning sleep-in.

I tossed and turned. What time does he wake up? I wondered.

If it was say, 7:00am, I could deal. A quick bathroom break and a swish of mouthwash, and I could wait it out. But what if he was more like a 9:00am waker upper? Or – gasp – a nooner?

I mentally counted forward from our bedtime of 12:30am. 6 hours… 7 hours… surely I could bet he’d be awake in about an hour or two at the most…

8:15am. Still asleep.
8:56am. Oh! He scratched his cheek! And then turned over and resumed snoring.
9:32am. This. is. torture.

Inspiration struck. I could make coffee! I mean, who doesn’t wake up when the aroma of fresh coffee permeates the air, right? I tiptoed down the stairs (two-floor loft by the lake, ladies – yeah, there was a reason I reeled that fish in) and realized almost immediately that there was one flaw in my master plan: I had no idea how to make coffee.
coffbuzz So sue me! We had those K-Cup coffee things at the office, and my parents are tea drinkers, so I didn’t grow up with a coffee brewer. I considered the contraption on his countertop (which, looking back, was a very basic model compared to the rocket-science renderings today) and wondered if I could work it out based purely on a physical assessment.

1. Water reservoir: Easy enough. Just fill to the “fill line” indicator for 12 cups. Better safe than sorry!

2. Filter: Also, a piece of cake – except it took me 20 minutes to find them. WHO stores filters with their spices? Oh yeah, bachelor here.

3. Coffee grounds reservoir: Add 10 scoopfuls – that should be enough, right? Okay, add more. Going on the assumption that strong coffee is better than weak coffee. Press start. …

Traditions: Irish Soda Bread

March 12, 2015 By Lena

Feeling lucky? You must have a bit of ol’ Irish in you.

Although the post is entitled “Traditions”, the only traditions I follow come St. Patrick’s Day are:

1) A Shamrock Shake from McDonald’s. I have no idea what’s in it, and I don’t care. Any comments that pertain to the ingredient list or bashing the nutritional composition will be deleted and the author may be banned. Don’t mess with my Shamrock Shake, y’all.

2) Women’s “The Rockstar” Super Skinny Jeans from Old Navy, in Imperial Jade. Also known as, the only time I confidently rock green jeans without wondering if my ass looks fat in green jeans.

(Spoiler Alert: Yes, it does.)

3) Irish Soda Bread. Man cannot live on bread alone, but when man slathers butter on a slice of this dense, satisfying loaf, it’s heavenly. Or saintly. Like St. Patrick’s Day. See what I did there?
From my good friends at Hamilton Beach, here’s a simple, easy-to-follow recipe you can make in advance of St. Paddy’s! You can find this delicious creation and more at Everyday Good Thinking, the official blog of Hamilton Beach. …

I am a Breakfast NINJA.

August 8, 2012 By Lena

In this family, we don’t do cold cereal.

Not exactly sure how I surrounded myself with three boys who take breakfast so darn seriously. Spanish omelets, French toast and American-style stacked pancakes? Oh yeah, they’re all staples at 9:00am chez Lena. Which may sound fabulous – but it’s NOT so fabulous for my waistline, time spent in the kitchen, and sink full of dirty dishes.

(Did I mention that every breakfast-type food must be accompanied by a bowl of fresh cut fruit, or the boys won’t even look at it? And even then, they’ll practically swallow the fruit whole and proceed to pick at the rest – even though, 15 minutes earlier, they demanded eggs/toast/insert-gourmet-breakfast-here. The little jerks.)

A few months ago, we went out for breakfast, and the boys were introduced to waffles.

“Waffos! Waffos! I want waffos!” Reid happily sang the next morning.

“Er…” I searched through the freezer and produced two frozen waffles, heavily crusted with ice crystals from spending too much time at the back of the ice box. After toasting them, I presented the boys with a half burnt, half soggy mess. Oh yeah, like THAT was going to fly.

And so I contacted my friends at Hamilton Beach and begged for help… in the form of a Belgian Style Flip Waffle Maker. You see, earlier this year, I had attended the Hamilton Beach Media Preview, and was blown away by the waffle maker’s ability to create thick, fluffy, perfectly browned and evenly cooked waffles thanks to the flip feature – the very kind they use in restaurants. (Which means they would definitely pass the test at “Food-Snobs-r-Us” over here.)…