Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 14 May 2017

Hello all and thank you, DIANE.

I'm going to have to investigate this soup maker thin gummy. I just use a saucepan and if the soup needs to be liquidized I use a hand held blitzer.

Lindy: If you're using a newer operating system, it should update itself automatically (with Windows Update) and you should be just fine. If you're using an old operating system that is no longer receiving updates from Microsoft, then you are probably vulnerable.

I'm using Windows 10, DIANE and never open emails/attachments that I don't recognise. Hope all will be OK...

Heather: If you're using Windows 10, you should be fine. Windows 10 delivers automatic updates (security patches, etc.) from Microsoft. In March, Microsoft issued a patch for the vulnerability that the ransomware is exploiting. They also issued a new patch on Friday. Just in an abundance of caution, you may want to go to settings (under Update & Security) and click "check for updates."

The people who are really vulnerable are the ones who are using older operating systems (such as Windows XP), especially if they don't have a good anti-malware program that automatically updates their computers.

Thanks, DIANE :-)

Thanks Diane. It's reasonably new so maybe it's OK. 

Heather -  I've got mixed feelings about our soup maker. I bought the cheapest one I could find in case I found it all a bit of a chore in itself, but have got on alright with it. However, it will only make enough soup for two large bowlfuls and as my OH likes to have seconds, or an extra bowlful the next day, I ended up making a separate pan with veg in, then amalgamating the two products and heating them together to make a quantity of soup! I thought of spending on a new soup maker, with a larger capacity but then realised that as most of what it does relates to the blades being able to chop up the veg, I could do the same with a very expensive hand held whizzer which I already have and don't use half as much as I should. (A Bamix).

The only advantage is that the soup maker can be left to get on with the job, instead of being tended as you do with a panful on the stove. Also, my method described above, enables the soup to be a mixture of blended ingredients, together with satisfying chunks of veg floating in it, as the soup maker will only do "smooth" or "chunky".

AQ - Like the pics of the aqueduct. Quite a construction!

LINDY- Well, I've never made soup in any other way than the traditional and although I've seen adverts for automakers, I've not investigated. When I make soup it is for more than one meal. I always think that when left for a day, the flavours develop. To be honest,I have rarely eaten soup immediately after it has been cooked. Perhaps it is just the old fashioned way. The same with a stew, much better the next day!!

Annette - You still have to do the prep - peel & cut veg into manageable sizes, etc. And you have to make the stock first or else use a cube etc. So it's not entirely automatic! The machine chops, or whizzes, all your ingredients to blend them then heats them for about 25 mins and beeps to say it's done.

Good that your sister is on top form.