My Top Ten Kitchen Essentials

Little known fact: I spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

Oh...wait...you knew that? For real? Wow.  There I was, thinking I was all mysterious about how I spend my free time.

For someone who lives in the kitchen, there are bound to be tools which are absolutely essential to ensuring that your finished product is, well, edible.  There are others which are not quite so essential, but they sure do make life easier.  In my little old opinion, here's 10 which I know I couldn't live without.

My Favorite Non-Essentials:

1) Stand mixer - In how many ways has my stand mixer changed my life? How much time have you got to read this? Seriously, I don't know what I did without my girl (Yes, she's a girl.  Say something, I dare you).  Whether being used to knead dough while I'm doing something else, to mix ultra thick cake batter which I know my hand-held mixer couldn't manage and then whip up the frosting, or to help bring cookie dough together in a flash...my KitchenAid is truly the superstar of my kitchen.  Next to me, of course.

2) Slow cooker - Our slow cooker gets used at least 3 times a week, sometimes as many as 4 or 5.  Like the stand mixer, the slow cooker has changed my life in many happy ways.  There is absolutely nothing like coming home to the smell of a roast or stew which has been cooking all day long.  We've used it to make chicken, meatloaf, pork roast, soup, meatballs.  Most recently, Rob made a jambalaya in there which knocked my socks clear off my feet.  It was fabulous.  Plus it helps keep food warm during parties, which is a huge bonus.

3) Food processor - Where oh where have you been all my life, glorious food processor? I've had mine for just shy of a year and, honestly, I have no idea what I did without it (see a trend here?).  From breaking down tons of veggies and fresh bradcrumbs for a vat of meatballs and sauce to mixing the creamiest deviled egg filling imaginable to making quick work of chopping jars of olives and shredding cheese for olive cheesy bread, I've used this baby a lot over the past 52 weeks or so.  Oh, and most recently I made a killer pasta dough with it.  It's so versatile and a total workhorse.  I love it.

4) Wooden spoons - Wait, what? Not another small appliance? Well, no.  Not all superstar tools have to be plugged in to be amazing.  My wooden spoons have seen me through a lot of cooking projects and, except for the one that broke (RIP old friend), they're going strong.  I have around a half dozen and would happily keep buying more and more...only I don't have enough room for them.  And I think there's a good possibility that Rob would kill me if I cluttered up the kitchen more than I already have.  I'm tempted to move these into the "essential" category - they're just that important to have around, and plastic tools can melt and warp.  But they're not really a 100% must-have.

5) Someone to clean it all up when you're finished - This one needs no explanation.


The Essentials:

1) A Sense of Humor - Please don't take yourself too seriously in the kitchen.  As long as you're abiding by the rules of food safety and not allowing cooking oil to explode into flames, it's all fair game.  Laugh at yourself and your mistakes.  Burned dinner? Sounds like a good excuse to order takeout!

2) A Sense of Calm - BE CALM.  Panic hurts people! Panic hurts appliances! Panic possibly hurts entire kitchens and/or homes! If you're in a panic you're that much likelier to cause an accident, and no one needs that.  Just relax.  It's only cooking.  The food will be done when the food is done.  And again, if you don't succeed there's always pizza.

3) Common Sense - When you read a recipe for the first time, especially if it's not printed in a cookbook (but even if it is), really read it.  Does it make sense to you? Do you think there's a typo? Everyone makes mistakes, even recipe writers.  Just keep an eye out and you may avoid making the same mistake as someone I know who, due to a problem converting a recipe from a website to their iPhone, added 3 cups of soy sauce to a dish instead of 1/3 cup.  Guess what they had for dinner that night...? You can't always trust what's written down.

4) Imagination - Do you think you could make a dish taste better by adding your own little flare? Do you wonder what this ingredient would taste like if you mixed it with that one? Give it a shot! What do you have to lose? Worst case scenario, it doesn't turn out well.  Now, do I suggest experimenting with expensive ingredients? Um, no.  Just be fearless when and where you can.  You never know - you might make magic happen.

5) Knowledge - Do you know what to do in case of a cooking oil fire? Do you know how to avoid cross-contamination? When using your knife to slice or chop, what do you do with the fingers of your inactive hand? Should you use a damp dishtowel to grab a pan out of the oven? You need to know the answers to these sorts of questions - ask someone or use the trusty internet.  Play it safe.

Are there any essentials in YOUR kitchen - the sort of stuff you just can't do without?