Ice Trays & Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Andrew Bluett-Duncan
Director
Preamble
After my email last week talking about the Fry interview and freedom of speech, Jill left a comment on the blog version of the email, asking if I’d heard the first of the Reith lectures this year, on the same subject. I hadn’t, so I went to the BBC website to find it was given by a Nigerian woman called Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who I confess, I’d never heard of.
She’s a writer of some repute, highly intelligent and a clear and deep thinker. Strangely (I thought to begin with) she is also a feminist. And in saying that realised that I have an unthought through prejudice against feminist’s archetype. Without thinking about it, I see them in black and white terms, being pro-women and anti-men. But, in case you’re beginning to feel a misogynistic vibe here, let me reassure you that this confession is about the archetype, not the reality. In fact, I’ve had discussions with two female friends quite recently, highlighting the difficulties of being a woman in a man’s world. Feeling that they had to be better at their jobs or know more than their male colleagues, to be taken seriously.
And for the record, I believe strongly in equal rights for both sexes, and am aware that within our society we haven’t achieved that. But I mentioned it because it’s important, it’s contentious, so it’s worth talking about. Returning to Adichie, her feminism is contrary to my archetype. I’ll give you an example.
The context of this example is a speech she gave to the students at Wellesley College (Mass) a top women’s College (university) in the States, just outside Boston. She concludes her speech with this.
“As a final note, and on the most important thing in the world, Love”.
She says this….
“Girls are raised to see love as only giving”.
“Women are praised for their love when that love is an act of giving”,
“But to love, is to give… and (to love,) is to take!”
She concludes
“please love by giving, and (love) by taking”.
“If you’re only giving and not taking, you’ll know from that small true voice inside you, that we females are so often socialised to silence”. (and for me, if that is a relationship, that’s out of balance). But what a brilliantly simple observation of the conditioning that we perhaps blindly (?) impose on half the population.
Variations on this theme, are the sort of thing that Babette used to observe on occasions that demanded it, either in our or marriage, if I was being thoughtless, or in her HR role in the company, or with friends. So, I believe that Adichie makes a really important point here. Love needs to go in both directions. “We need to give” and “We need to take”… both women and men.
Funny isn’t it, how far from cookware one can wander, apparently without much provocation…!
So, without further ado let’s get to the matter in hand…flogging you pots and pans. Or to be a little more precise, ice trays.
The Best Ice tray in the World
It was the arrival of Jerays Silicone Jumbo Ice tray (the best ice tray in the world), that we’d been out of stock of for some weeks, that prompted this icy deluge. Deluge might be too strong a word when I’m talking only about 5 products, but I like the word.
Silicone Jumbo Ice tray
Ok, so you will gather that I’m quite a fan of this product, and you would be correct. How can I get excited about an ice tray. Well, I can and it’s because it does the job so well. It’s made of silicone, which is a great start, because this material stays flexible even when very cold. It then has a plastic tray on which the rather floppy ice tray sits. It needs this to support the tray and prevent spills. When it comes to retrieving the ice cubes, you have the choice of either removing them singly, which unlike most icetrays, you can do easily (because it’s so flexible) or run it under the tap and remove them en masse.
A simple well thought through product that we’ve been stocking since time immemorial. £11.99
Barcraft Ice Cube Tray
A very simple product that does the job. No frills. £4.99
Quacked Ice
18 Duck drinks coolers which won’t water down your drink, also from Jeray and also something we’ve been doing from them, man and boy… £8.95.
Kikkerland Reusable Ice Cubes
A box of 30 Reusable Ice Cubes. Boring version of the Quacked ice. £5.95.
Prepara Ice Balls (Set 4)
A set of four Ice Ball moulds. They split in the middle so that you may introduce a slice of lemon or lime into your ice ball. Then close, fill with water through the top and freeze. You then have large decorative balls of ice to put in your drinks. What more could you want…? £9.99
As the editor (so I can sneak this in without Andrew noticing!) I love the Joseph Joseph Quicksnap + Ice Tray, as it’s another well thought out product from the Joseph’s, that let’s you get one, or two, ice cubes without spilling the rest all over the kitchen floor.
Also, we sell lots of the PHA Easy fill ice tray, that gives you large balls of ice (similar to the Prepara) that chill your drink without too much dilution. Andi.
That’s it for this week, got to get back to picking stock at the warehouse now, as we’re rather overwhelmed with orders…. good problem to have, though.
I trust you have a good New Year’s weekend and a very happy 2023 to you.
Kind regards,
Andrew
Andrew Bluett-Duncan
Director
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