I bought this book last year… and to be very honest…. it has sat on the shelf for most of that time. No offence Tim Newbury. Sincerely. That said, it only cost €17.55 [only?!!] in hughes and hughes and I suppose that should [again, sincerely] be taken into consideration. But I’m ...

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I thought I had the ultimate camera for a gardener, landscaper, outdoors kind of guy. I did. It broke. I now have the better solution. The old and now broken Olympus camera [was reviewed here]. A piece of equipment of any kind for any man a horticulturist should really be that little ...

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I thought I had the ultimate camera for a gardener, landscaper, outdoors kind of guy. I did. It broke. I now have the better solution. The old and now broken Olympus camera [was reviewed here]. A piece of equipment of any kind for any man a horticulturist should really be that little ...

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I am quite disappointed with this gadget. It doesn't work well considering it broke on my first use. I believe because it's cheaply made. The first thing I tried was dicing a tomato using the larger bladed attachment. I cut the tomato into wedges. I had to put quite a ...

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On Sunday[17th May '09] I took a trip out to my folks home town. I had heard about this new one… but I was unsure. I have this image in my head that there’s a lady who goes out on a Friday, takes a few turnips from the garden, pops ...

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Irish competitor to Viking. Just got great value office table from them quickly. Will use from now on instead.

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Fantastic Google Android app which scans product barcodes and searches for best local price and reviews online. Whilst barcode databases are patchy, you can help populate then. One of my ...

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I usually ignore those JML type adverts -- offering fairly cheap products designed for a specific use around the house (current problems being solved: bobbles on sweaters, dead skin on feet, etc.).  I was drawn into the ads for the Nicer Dicer product because I am lazy about chopping and often will pass on having a nice flavourful dish so I don't have to chop up the garlic and onions (sad, right?).  My kids really wanted me to get it, but at €19.95, even with a few accessories (small containters and a peeler) included, not something I'd go for.  But at Dunnes I saw a version for €9.95, without the accessories, so I thought that was worth a try. 

When I got it home I realised it was a slightly different product -- Mini Nicer Dicer -- for much smaller chopping.  I thought this would still work for my onions and garlic.  First I tried shallots and couldn't close the dicer down on the small head of shallot I was trying to chop.  Perhaps shallots are a bit stronger skinned than regular onions, but there was no way this was going to chop at all.  Then one of the layers came off and got really stuck in the grid -- I had to dig it out with a knife.  I thought perhaps if I chopped the shallots into smaller pieces it would chop, but then what's the point!  I then stuck in a garlic clove and it did work properly -- even chopping some of the shallot still stuck in the dicer.  It was also a bit of a pain to get the bits out of the little plastic compartment designed to hold the choppings.  It is supposed to be designed to clean easily, but there are still to many little bits to do this.

It would have been much easier to just chop on a chopping board with a knife and scrape into the cooking pan.

The experience just confirmed my skepticism about these type of products.

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I did a last-minute race down to The Fish Shop in Union Hall this morning to check it out. It’s as good as they say! Great selection of fish ...

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One of the best things about living in Ireland is the availability and choice of butchers.   This was simply not an option when we lived in the US and we ...

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