For many busy working mums, food prep – from weeknight dinners to after-school snacks – feels endless. For Jana MacPherson, it’s part of her brand. The clever cook and food blogger has more than 35,000 followers on her Instagram @the_macpherson_diaries, many of whom subscribe to her Dinner Club for recipes, meal plans and shopping lists.
A kitchen, then, needs to run smoothly, especially during the busy, food-focused festive season. In her Queenstown home, Jana’s Haier appliances are the quiet workhorses behind many of her most popular recipes, from salmon curry to chicken and broccoli pasta bake.
A clean machine
Between recipe testing and cooking for her two children, her Haier 600 Series built-in oven works overtime. But at a push, her favourite feature just beats out the air fryer and steam-assisted cooking functions.
“It’s the self-cleaning mode,” she says. “I turn on the self-cleaning function at 10pm, wipe it down in the morning and it looks amazing. I’m a working mum, I don’t have time to scrub an oven.”
Jana’s cooking motto is “simple but delicious” and she inspires thousands of followers to recreate her weeknight favourites. In her own kitchen, the pizza oven setting gets the biggest workout, she says. “I use it once a week. I make dough, top it with whatever’s in the fridge and it comes out crispy outside, soft in the middle. This week, I’ve been using the Christmas ham for toppings.”
When she’s after weeknight dinner inspo, Jana turns to the Flavorly Recipe Hub on her SmartHQ app, which links directly to the oven. “I love the air fryer recipes. The Korean crispy chicken wings are delicious.”
Cool connectivity
The app also connects her 600 Series Box Chimney Wall Rangehood and Induction Cooktop via the hood-to-hob function. Bluetooth connectivity means the rangehood automatically switches on when Jana is cooking, seamlessly matching the ideal extraction rate required during cooking. This, she says, is “a game-changer”.
“I love how quiet it is when I’m cooking,” she says. The cooktop’s Flexi Zone lets Jana combine two induction zones for larger pans. “I make pikelets or corn fritters for the kids on a large tray across both zones, meaning fewer batches, less time. I even make gravy in the roasting tray straight from the oven.”
The cool zone
At Christmas, her Haier 433L 500 Series Refrigerator & Freezer is packed with salads, desserts and that famous ham. “Thank goodness for the eight-star energy rating,” Jana says. “It keeps power costs down. The fridge is perfect for our family of three – with Multi-Zone Air to keep everything evenly chilled and a humidity zone that keeps fruit and veggies crisp.”
Festive chaos aside, Jana swears by pre-planning. “I have lists that last a week or even 10 days out. I set reminders to put the ham in the oven or take things out of the fridge, and set my table the night before. Everything is prepped. For example, I’ll store a potato salad in the fridge overnight, but put the bowl out on the table with a little label saying ‘potato salad’.
“Then the next day, if someone says, ‘what can I do?’, you say, ‘can you please get the potato salad out of the fridge and put it into the labelled bowl on the table?’”
Even then, not everything goes perfectly. “Last Boxing Day, I left three trays of sausage rolls in the oven and burned them. You just have to laugh. The dog had a feast.”
Jana’s Christmas Menu
Corn & ricotta fritters with smoked salmon & lemon creme fraiche
Serves 6-8 as a starter
These fritters are light and fluffy thanks to the ricotta, while using canned or frozen corn helps keep costs down during an expensive season. Crucially, they can be served and eaten one-handed, leaving the other hand free to hold a glass of bubbles.
Cranberry & ginger beer-glazed ham
Serves around 8
Don’t be intimidated by the prospect of tackling a ham. There’s nothing quite like the ‘wow’ factor of placing one down on the table for Christmas lunch. Jana’s handy cooking tip using her Haier 600 Series built-in oven makes peeling the skin off a much simpler task.
Strawberry trifle
Serves 8-10
You can store this delicious festive trifle in your Haier 433L 500 Series Refrigerator & Freezer up to six hours in advance. Prepare it when you get a breather during the Christmas morning madness, and be happy in the knowledge that no matter what happens, dessert is taken care of.
Haier is proud to be the Official Home Appliance partner of the Australian Open. All products are available at all good appliance retailers across New Zealand. Visit Haier’s website for more information.
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