The BB cafe

[Kazzl]

The BB cafe is open for business!
Welcome all to a new chill and chat place for everyone on the forum.

The BB cafe is whatever you want it to be. There are comfy sofas, tables and chairs, coffee machines, a kitchen stocked with everything. There's a pool outside, a bbq area, an annexe with comfy beds for a quiet sleep, tv, dvd, books and whatever else you would like to have here.

Most of all, it's a place to meet friends and fellow travellers for a bit of company. Talk over problems, tell jokes, share your day, escape into a world of your making. Grab a coffee and pull up a chair ... 

So, with a nod to the wonderful Carole King (Hard Rock Cafe) ...

Now if you're feeling just a little bit lonely
Don't sit at home just mopin'
Come on down to where the friendship flows freely
You know the door is always open

At the BB cafe
Come to the BB cafe
They will help keep your blues at bay
At the BB cafe

Important Message from ModSupport: 
The main intention of the BB Cafe is to encourage light conversation. Please look after your fellow community members by nuturing the BB Cafe as a place to escape some of the more pressing issues in life and save those conversations for personal threads. 

[TrueSeeker]

Our oven was very basic and electric plates started playing up too so we also had a look at air friers. In the end, we bought a benchtop air frier oven. It's smaller than normal oven but we were pleasantly surprise how we can still do everything we wanted and even more. We even fit a whole duck in it. It has so many functions on top of
air frying like grill, dehydrate etc. I love the reheat option, I use it to raise dough.

We also got a portable induction plate, I like how responsive the heat is just like gas if not better. It all definitely made the cooking much easier and more enjoyable.

[Eagle Ray]

That sounds fantastic TrueSeeker! You are making me feel more confident in the eventuality that my existing oven may stop working at some point. I think replacing it with a bench top air fryer oven would be more convenient and I imagine a bit less expensive than installing a whole new oven and hot plates. My set up is unusual as the oven is on the right and the hotplates are joined but to the left of it rather than on top in a single unit. The grill section is with the hotplate section. Both are positioned above cupboards.

In 2009 I moved into a very basic granny flat that had no cooking appliances. I bought a bench top oven then and it did the trick. It had two hotplates on top of it. I can't remember what I did with it in the end as I no longer have it.

[smallwolf]

@trueseeker, depending on the "type" (cost) of the air-fryer and perhaps size there is a lot that you can do with it. We have one ourselves and quite basic but it serves our needs quite well. There is a show (for lack of a better word) on YouTube I watch in which a group compared cooking in a air-fryer vs an oven. It was quite interesting.

@ER. Want you to know it is always good hearing from you here!

And @everyone else... come and be part of the chatter here, you are all welcome.

[smallwolf]

hey @everyone,

hope you had a good or OK weekend? get up to anything interesting?

[quirkywords]

Greetings to everyone

Seem to have a hacking cough that won’t go away but am sipping lots of lemon and honey. Rediscovered Portrait artist of the year on you tube and reading a few biographies.

Does anyone remember an old fashioned jaffle  iron.????

[smallwolf]

Hi Quirky, 

It rings a bell but need to check an image to confirm. Mum also had a old-fashioned waffle iron!

Where I live there have also been fires around - I think it be back burning but made me sneeze on Sunday and a couple of people at work on Monday as well. 

Look after yourself and get well.

[Eagle Ray]

Hello Quirky and smallwolf,

I do remember the jaffle iron we had when I was growing up! It was great for a quick lunch. I remember putting baked beans in the jaffles quite often, or otherwise something like ham and cheese.

Quirky, I really hope the cough goes away soon. Those persistent coughs are no fun. It's great you rediscovered portrait artist of the year and that you are enjoying a few biographies. I've just started reading an autobiography and I'm really enjoying it so far. It's called A Fractured Mind by Robert B Oxnam. Some of the content I know is going to be a bit heavy later on, but it's really meaningful reading about people's lives and how they have navigated their challenges.

It's only just past 8:30pm here but I'm going to try heading to bed shortly as I'm attempting to set better sleep patterns including getting up earlier.

May you both, and anyone else reading, sleep well 😴

[TrueSeeker]

Yesterday, I made semolina pudding with bananas and meringue on top, yummy. I'm making bread rolls today, so much better than bought ones 🥖🧈🧀

[Eagle Ray]

Sounds so yummy TrueSeeker. I loved semolina pudding as a kid. I have minimal gluten now but have been making polenta porridge which actually tastes a little similar to semolina. Enjoy your freshly made bread rolls 😋

[Guest_10307]

Continuing with the cooking theme, someone has recently moved into my apartment building and cooks the most amazing smelling things- I get home of an evening after work and wish I could call out for a portion. 

I'm suspecting they are older- because a lot of it smells exactly as my Nanna's cooking did which depending on the day, could mean I'm digging out old recipes or listening to Frank Sinatra feeling melancholy. 

Last night I'm assuming it was a beef stew, made with plenty of vegemite. And a sticky date pudding later...