I love playing in the kitchen and wish I had more time to experiment and try new things. Unfortunately, long work days limit me in this area. Nonetheless, I try to spend time in it on a regular basis because we love healthy, delicious foods and there’s nothing better and more healthy than cooking for yourself.
And what’s one thing (aside from great ingredients) that makes cooking easier, more enjoyable?
Kitchen toys. Oh yes. The knives. The pots and pans. The cute mixing bowls and fancy-schmancy mixers. And then there are my favorites.
1) The wok. I love that thing. We didn’t have one on the registry, but one of Ty’s cousins gave us one with a bunch of other kitchen things. It took me a few months before I even attempted to use it, since I had schnill experience with them at all. But now? Oh LOVE. Steaming veggies is my favorite quick thing method with our wok.
2) Garlic press. Seriously – the best thing ever. All you have to do is pop a clove into the press and voila, crushed garlic. No cutting, peeling or mincing involved. So easy! I love this little thing and use it often – because we use garlic in meals that often!
3) Cast-iron skillet. There’s nothing like cooking meat on cast-iron. Gah. Love that pan.
4) Stoneware! I have one Pampered Chef stone, a shower gift from my aunt, and it’s beautifully seasoned, we use it so often. We use it for anything and everything, from French fries to cookies to home-made pizza and more. It holds heat beautifully and everything cooks so well on stone.
5) The knife set. We spent most of the first month of our married life with just two small (albeit, beautiful) knives. After that month, we’d had enough of it and used a few gift cards towards the large purchase of a good knife set. I love that thing, especially the knife sharpener.
I do own a beautiful apple green Kitchenaid – a gift from a wonderful group of friends – but I actually have yet to even take it out of the box. Our kitchen has serious space limitations and so I chose to pack away my ‘cement mixer’ (as hubby likes to call it) until we’re in the house. It’s going to be so much fun when I’m finally unable to unpack it and put it to use in our new kitchen! I may need to write a follow up post and let you know if it makes it into my top 5 favorites – I’m really hoping it will!
What are your top five favorite kitchen toys?