I have been cooking for as long as I can remember and over the years I have tried all sorts of items to “help” with various aspects of being a home cook. I cook and bake because I love it not because I have to….well I do have to in order to eat. But I perfected things over the years and over that time I have learned certain items are essential for my kitchen.
I felt it was time to share those with others in hopes of making your kitchen a little easier.
1. Small bowls
these have been a lifesaver. I always thought that I can chop all my ingredients at once and leave them separated on a cutting board, why would I need anything else? I finally decided to get a set of small bowls that have changed that outlook. This set of bowls has changed everything. I love doing prep work now for meals and creating my Mise en place ready. I can get all my items out and organized in the order I need, including the spices. I help when my husband is making dinner and get all his ingredients prepped. He loves having the little bowls all organized and ready to go as well.
2. A good set of measuring spoons – From the time I was little I remember my mom, grandmother, and all my aunts having the same set of plastic spoons that they all used. The only time they got replaced was when they got old and the units wore off. Then they were replaced….with a new plastic set.
I had the same set of spoons for years, and slowly over time, they were lost one by one until I was down to just 2. This made measuring things out very difficult so I decided to invest in a nice metal set.
These are really nice as they won’t warp with heat, and they look nice.
3 – Scale – for years I resisted getting a scale, so many excuses.
“I’m not a baker”
“I can use a measuring cup”
You know the drill, I am here to say I was wrong. What finally prompted me to get one is 2-fold:
- I was trying to make sourdough and every recipe I could find had the measurements in grams instead of cups. I watched so many videos and talked to other people who all said measurements by weight are much more accurate.
- I started purchasing ground meats in bulk. In order to properly portion up everything weighing the items out just made sense.
I got this scale from Amazon. It is small so it is easy to store and easy to use. I still have not had success with sourdough but that’s a story for another day
4 – Knife sharpener – Everyone knows that a dull knife is a dangerous knife, okay maybe not all people know this. But it is, having a dull knife makes you work harder to get your desired results.
5 – Heat Resistant Gloves – Oven mitts are a fairly standard thing and I do have a set, but as they get older….or accidentally burned they need to be replaced. I have found a set of heat-resistant gloves has been the best replacement. They allow me to hold my hot items a little longer and they also protect my hands and arms more.
One last thing I will leave you with is to put yourself a recipe book together. I think a lot of us will remember 4 – Recipe book – I know this sounds obvious but think about it. Lots of people use recipes from cook books but even if you have, you most likely have made your own updates to something you have used a lot to make it your own.
One last thing I will leave you with is to put a recipe book together. I think a lot of us will remember 4 – Recipe book – I know this sounds obvious but think about it. Lots of people use recipes from cook books but even if you have, you most likely have made your own updates to something you have used a lot to make it your own.