Monday, November 2, 2009
This past Wednesday I was able to attend a lovely event for local bloggers being held at Mrs. G TV & Appliances in Lawrenceville, NJ. I was invited by my twitter-friend Hilary Morris, the author of Mrs. Mo's New Jersey blog, whom I actually had the pleasure of meeting a little while ago at another NJ-blogger event. Hilary is the "assistant coach" of the Mrs. G "Very Important Blogger" series--a series that Mrs. G CEO Debbie Schaeffer put together to educate us bloggers on a variety of topics and products. The event was eye-opening for me in a bunch of ways, as I was able to confirm that I am completely behind the times in household technology!
Being the epitome of a "mommy-blogger", I could only make this particular date and time if I could bring Rayna along, so the two of us got in the car and made our way to Mrs. G's in the rain. After a rocky drive (my little ol' Toyota does *not* handle in the rain and I decided to trust my gps instead of my sense of direction) we made it a little late to the event. But better late than never right?!
When I got there, the group had just finished watching a tv segment about the history of Mrs. G TV & Appliances. What I was able to learn was that Mrs. G TV & Appliance is a family company: Debbie Schaeffer is the 3rd generation of women leaders since her grandmother (Mrs. G) founded the company 75 years ago! Next on the agenda was the demo of some of the amazing flat-panel tvs:
We don't have a flat screen tv yet and I have to say that I really want one ;o) Once I saw the huge flat screen that comes with a set of four 3-D glasses I was blown away. New movies are coming out that can be watched in 3-D, and I was able to see one (Coraline) with the glasses. Very cool!Next up, we walked through the awesome showroom at Mrs. G towards the washers & dryers where Electrolux rep Joe Visicaro gave us the lowdown on some of the features of their energy-efficient appliances. Here I am in the back listening to every word, as you probably already know my obsession with getting in and out of the laundry area asap! ;o)
Even though I could talk about laundry forever, the group was ready to move on to the Electrolux cooking appliances. Let me just say that the Mrs. G showroom is gorgeous, and the kitchen appliances are set up in little designer kitchen "vignettes" that will inspire you (read: make you wish you had them). The Electrolux Icon series was fabulous. Check out the convection oven about to cook our lunch:
Electrolux rep and chef Leigh Donadieu made us salmon, brussel sprouts with pancetta, tomato bisque and chocolate fondue (don't be jealous) using the convection oven and an induction stove. Here she is explaining the convection oven:
I can at least say that I have heard of a convection oven. If you aren't familiar, it uses air to cook your food much faster than the standard oven that uses only a heating element. What is the benefit to you? Not only does your food cook faster, but the food cooks more evenly. Have you ever tried baking 3 sheets of cookies at one time? No, because you know the cookies on the bottom rack would be burnt to a crisp while the others vary in done-ness. The convection oven will cook those 3 sheets evenly. As a side note, Leigh cooked the salmon and the brussel sprouts in the same oven and the veggies did not taste like fish!
If you asked me, I would have just thought this was a regular electric stove. I have always used gas, so that is what I prefer, but the safety issue with a gas stove and a toddler is ridiculous. I am militant about kitchen safety, but with gas leaks, fires starting, etc. this nervous mama always fears the worst. This is where I almost flipped out: Induction technology uses the power of magnetism to cook your food. Unless your pot is on the stove, the burner doesn't get hot. Joe picked up the pot and put his hand on the burner. Nothing! Imagine you had half of a frying pan on the induction top. You could cook on egg in the half-pan and on the other half of the same burner have a raw egg. I was just blown away. Did you even know about induction cooking? Leigh said that Electrolux also carries a combination electric and induction cooktop, but that once people start cooking with induction, they wish they had just gone 100%.
The Electrolux refrigerator was our last stop. Here is Joe showing us the fridge (and the awesome bottom drawer that holds 3 cases of soda):
After all of the product information it was time to eat lunch and connect with other local bloggers, many of whom are now my twitter-friends too ;o)
All the little things that Electrolux has done to make laundry easier are really pretty amazing. Since your hands are inevitably full when you want to open the washer, all you have to do is hit the door with your hip and it pops open. And the soap cup? Hit it with your elbow while you're unscrewing the lid of the detergent and...it pops open. There were so many amazing features I was scribbling down, that I could really make this post outrageously long just talking about the washer (it automatically adjusts so it doesn't shake all over the place, you can actually open the washer once it has started to throw that stray sock in, and NO MOLD, Ever!)
Just look at this lovely combo:
Even though I could talk about laundry forever, the group was ready to move on to the Electrolux cooking appliances. Let me just say that the Mrs. G showroom is gorgeous, and the kitchen appliances are set up in little designer kitchen "vignettes" that will inspire you (read: make you wish you had them). The Electrolux Icon series was fabulous. Check out the convection oven about to cook our lunch:
Electrolux rep and chef Leigh Donadieu made us salmon, brussel sprouts with pancetta, tomato bisque and chocolate fondue (don't be jealous) using the convection oven and an induction stove. Here she is explaining the convection oven:
I can at least say that I have heard of a convection oven. If you aren't familiar, it uses air to cook your food much faster than the standard oven that uses only a heating element. What is the benefit to you? Not only does your food cook faster, but the food cooks more evenly. Have you ever tried baking 3 sheets of cookies at one time? No, because you know the cookies on the bottom rack would be burnt to a crisp while the others vary in done-ness. The convection oven will cook those 3 sheets evenly. As a side note, Leigh cooked the salmon and the brussel sprouts in the same oven and the veggies did not taste like fish!
Now here's where I realized that I really was completely behind the times. Check out the induction stove:
If you asked me, I would have just thought this was a regular electric stove. I have always used gas, so that is what I prefer, but the safety issue with a gas stove and a toddler is ridiculous. I am militant about kitchen safety, but with gas leaks, fires starting, etc. this nervous mama always fears the worst. This is where I almost flipped out: Induction technology uses the power of magnetism to cook your food. Unless your pot is on the stove, the burner doesn't get hot. Joe picked up the pot and put his hand on the burner. Nothing! Imagine you had half of a frying pan on the induction top. You could cook on egg in the half-pan and on the other half of the same burner have a raw egg. I was just blown away. Did you even know about induction cooking? Leigh said that Electrolux also carries a combination electric and induction cooktop, but that once people start cooking with induction, they wish they had just gone 100%.
The Electrolux refrigerator was our last stop. Here is Joe showing us the fridge (and the awesome bottom drawer that holds 3 cases of soda):
After all of the product information it was time to eat lunch and connect with other local bloggers, many of whom are now my twitter-friends too ;o)This first blogger event at Mrs G's was a great experience and I really enjoyed learning so much new information. Down by me here in South Jersey, I don't know of any showroom and warehouse centers quite like Mrs. G TV & Appliances. There's the usual Home Depot and Lowes and then the scratch-and-dent type places. Mrs. G is a great place to check out a wide range of appliances in a beautiful location. And just because you get to enjoy a pleasant shopping environment doesn't mean that you have to pay more than those places. Mrs. G's is part of a network of stores that has combined their buying power to exceed that of Home Depot, making them able to pass along great prices to their customers.
Mrs. G TV & Appliances is located at 2960 Route 1 in Lawrenceville, NJ. Click here to visit their webpage.
Disclosure: This event was sponsored by Mrs. G & Electrolux
Photos courtesy of Hilary Morris
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3 comments:
Ugh, unfortunately it is just a theory that a convection oven will cook evenly. When I cook appetizers or cookies in my convection I get the top burned, the middle cooked, and the bottom not cooked. Stupid Thermador!
It was nice meeting you. You actually didn't miss a lot. Your post looks great. I love that you have lots of photos! Can't wait for the next event.
I love your post!!! Great photos too! Isabel
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