Shannon tagged me to name seven favorite things about my kitchen, and interestingly I had written this about my eight favorite kitchen tools last week but never posted it.
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These are some of my most useful kitchen tools. There are other things I like using, of course. And if I don’t feel like cooking, it doesn’t matter how much I like this stuff– I don’t want to cook. But most of the time, if Oliver is behaving and I have a plan, cooking is a joy to me. (It’s the cleanup I disdain: o dishwasher, where art thou?) I love cooking with Chad most of all. We try to have an in home date night once a week where we wait until O is in bed and then we cook our own supper together.
Sorry there aren’t pictures. I could take pictures and upload them, but then you wouldn’t get to read this post until the next time I get to the library. [I will post pictures of my spaces after the house gets back in order, but we’ll all just have to wait patiently for that, won’t we?]
Wustoff Santoku Knife and Paring Knives
How I love my knives. Chad and I began our marriage with a set of Henkels from Target. They were better than the knives I bought at the grocery store when I was single, but not the best. I didn’t know how good knives could be until my mom bought us these one year for Christmas. Chad keeps them sharp and I use them every single day. A note about knives: regardless of where your knives are from, please do NOT use them on a glass cutting board. Do you know what this does to them? No wonder you have to lay on top of your knife to cut through an apple! I know glass cutting boards are prettier than plastic ones and more sanitary than wooden ones, but stop it, just stop it right now.
Food Processor
I lived for a while without one. But now I have one and I use it a lot. Not every day. If I am just chopping one thing, I will use a knife. But for a can of whole tomatoes that were cheaper than diced, a carrot, an onion, and some garlic, I will bother getting it dirty. There are a few parts to wash, but they rinse easily after first used. I’ve just discovered the chopping disk makes quick work of fat carrots, or cabbage, or anything you throw in it. I can even shred partially thawed cheese in it, but this is a horrible mess to clean up, so I don’t like to do it. But I can.
Silicone Baking Mats
I have two. I use them both most of the time. I use them for cookies. I am using them for granola right now. I use them for pizza (use scissors to cut pizza, not the roller thing). At the risk of sounding like a commercial from the fifties, they make cleanup a snap! Nothing sticks to them, ever.
LeCreuset Round Dutch Oven
It’s just a little guy– maybe 3 quartsish. It’s a yellow one– vintage– from my grandma, who said my Grandad’s mom had a whole kitchen full of Le Creuset when she died. Oh how I wish it had made its way to me! But I have this little one, and I love it to pieces. When Oliver sees it, he knows I’m either making rice or soup, and he gets very excited. It makes perfect rice. Just perfect. If you’re not familiar with enameled cast iron, I’m very sorry. It’s heavy, solid, and pretty! I have a blue saute pan, black skillet, and red kettle also. I love LeCreuset.
Small Enamel Bucket
This was a wonderful find at my Grandma Alman’s. It’s white with blue trim. I use it for taking scraps out to the compost, mostly, but sometimes for cleaning.
Toaster Oven
What can’t I use this for? It bakes, it broils, it’s a convection oven and a toaster. A 9×9 dish fits in it, as well as a pie plate. I don’t usually make anything larger than that, so I only use my big oven for pizza and cookies. I’m pretty sure it uses less electricity than the regular oven, because it sure takes a lot less time to preheat and it’s smaller. The front gets hot and heat radiates from the top, so it’s not the most insulated thing– and no touching it while it’s on. But we’ve not had any problems with burns. We don’t have a microwave, so we reheat our leftovers in here. Usually takes no more than 10 minutes, and we can heat and eat out of the pyrex dishes we use for leftovers.
Bamboo Stirrer/Scraper
I think it was called a spatula in the Pampered Chef description, but to me a spatula is something with a flexible silicone head that you clean stuff out of bowls with. This is a stirrer/scraper. And I use it a lot. Probably every day. I don’t have very many Papered Chef things in my kitchen, because I don’t like buying out of obligation, but when someone hands me a catalog and says they’re having a party, I get out of going to the party by ordering something cheap from the catalog. While we’re on the subject, I also have their can opener, which I enjoy using. It was a gift though, not a get-out-of-going-to-a-party purchase.
Jars & Lids & Canning Funnel
These are just plain old canning jars, all sizes, with two secret weapons: the plastic lid and the funnel. Simple enough, huh? But it took me a long time to discover that I could use jars for leftover soup and broth, for storing nuts in the fridge, for herbs, for chocolate chips and for green smoothie storage (though smoothies not usually stored for more than 30 minutes around here). I spilled stuff when pouring it in the jars for a long time until I thought of using the canning funnel that came with all of my aunt’s canning supplies (where I got the jars and lids). And life has never been the same.
Well, okay, it’s been mostly the same. Just not so spilly.
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As far as my favorite things about the kitchen itself?
1. Pantry– I could put a home office or a child’s bedroom in here. It’s that big. And it’s full of food!
2. Green walls. As mentioned an an earlier comment, it’s Benjamin Moore Grassy Fields. It was a bold move, painting my kitchen walls this leafy color, but I’m happy with it. I like to think it makes me appear confident.
3. Good solid cabinets. Kind of medieval pewter handles, but the cabinets are solid walnut (I’m guessing on that one) and there are lots of them.
4. Stainless steel sink that shines when I clean it.
5. Beautiful island piece that Chad finished and assembled when we were first married. I had a piece of glass made to fit the top so it cleans like a charm.
6. Flat top stove that’s easy to clean and works as extra counter space.
7. Gorgeous bumpy old farm table with lots of character and a few marker marks. Grandad gave me this table when I told him I wanted a harvest table. It seats six (sort of crowded, but we’re all family) and matches my kitchen perfectly.
