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Kitchenaid or Kenwood

7 Feb

Just tap in these words in Google and you will see that a lot of people are hesitating between purchasing a Kitchenaid or a Kenwood robot. I’ve noticed that a lot of UK bloggers prefer the Kenwood, maybe because at the origin, it’s a British brand. The Kenwood Manufacturing Co. Ltd. was founded in 1936 but got famous for its food processor Kenwood Chef which was launched in 1950. Kenwood has been owned by the Italian company DeLonghi since 2001.

Kitchenaid, all American brand, all American dream. KitchenAid is a home appliance brand owned by Whirlpool Corporation. The company was started in 1919 by The Hobart Corporation to produce stand mixers; the “H-5″ was the first model introduced. Si if you want, Kitchenaid was the first brand to introduce the concept of a standing mixer. A range of four colors was introduced in 1955 and the brand got promoted by famous television chefs such as Julia Child and Martha Stewart. Now you understand why they became so iconic and popular.

Enough for the history, let’s have a look at the pro’s and con’s of both brands. I made this comparison based on my own experience and based on many reviews I found on the Internet.

Kitchenaid PRO’s:
- Retro look: let’s be honest, the Kitchenaid looks great in every kitchen!
- Pick your colour: pick and match it with a colour that suits your personality (or your kitchen walls)
- The bowl has a handle, I find this very useful
- Complementary attachments exist but a bit hard to find at a reasonable price if you don’t live in the States

Kitchenaid CON’s:
- Price
- Power: if you plan to make bread you will find that with the lighter models, base will vibrate and move around

Kenwood PRO’s:
- Strong and robust
- You can use many complementary attachments such as the blender, ice cream maker, pasta maker, etc.
- Cheaper
- It is the professional choice

Kenwood CON’s:
- Design

Conclusion:
If you choose a Kenwood I would advise the Major or the Chef. Kenwood is definitely the choice if you are a professional or thinking about becoming one ;-)
If you are, like me, a sucker for design and you are a homebaker, I would go for the Kitchenaid Artisan. But get the K5 Kitchenaid PRO if he needs to handle all your preparations.

Kenwood old Chef, source Wikipedia

Kenwood new chef

A pre-KitchenAid Hobart stand mixer, source Wikipedia.

Kitchenaid Heavy Duty, Source Wikipedia

Kitchenaid colours, source Wikipedia

Kenwood Major

La maison Ladurée Royale

2 Sep

It all began in 1862, when Louis Ernest Ladurée, a miller from France’s southwest, created a bakery at 16 rue Royale in Paris. At the beginning of the 20th century the second cousin of Louis Ernest, Pierre Desfontaines, has the idea to join two macaron shells with a delicious ganache filling…and the macaron was born!  

Since 1993 Ladurée is owned by the family Holder, who also owns the famous Paul bakeries.

I went to Paris last weekend with my mom and a visit to Ladurée was indispensable. We were definitely not disappointed! My mom took the lovely pictures, thanks mom!

 

Ladurée Royale
16, rue Royale
75008 Paris
www.laduree.fr 

The website is super cute !

Babdar

23 Aug



My boyfriend invited me last week to Babdar, a new restaurant in our neighborhood. Normally on Friday evenings we go to the local pizzeria or some other simple place. That particular night we went to romantic dream place. Really, when we stepped through that front door, we entered another world.

First discovery and an important one: it is not a traditional Moroccan restaurant, so don’t expect the corny oriental decoration and the well-known dishes (always prepared in the same way). This is something else.

The house has been completely transformed. You enter a contemporary decor, a large room of pure white where a thin red line guides you. Not to mention the superb furniture design. The garden is just fantastic, a big tree in the middle, cozy white tables and chairs. Don’t forget to pay a visit to the bathroom (I wish I had a bathroom like that at home…).

The fine cuisine is coming straight from Morocco. We had as a starter: Caprices de Lalla Zakia (assortment of small Moroccan salads), B’stella au poulet (B’Stella or Pastilla, a powdered sugar and cinnamon-topped ground chicken pie). Main courses we picked out the Vegetarian couscous and the Steamed fish with zucchini, honey and harissa. Delightful!

We got surprised with 2 small dessert offered from the house, Sweet melon soup and Raspberry mousse. Charming! We will come back here…

Babdar
Chaussée de Charleroi 85
1060 Saint-Gilles
http://www.babdar.be

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