One of the things I love most about my CSA is the Yahoo Group where members post tips and ideas for using the vegetables we get in the share. Last week fellow member Kathy Simon share her list of kitchen “must haves.” She let me share it with you!
While new to the CSA, I’m a pretty decent cook. Last year I purchased an online subscription to Cook’s Illustrated, as much for the food & equipment reviews as the recipes (their videos are great too).
We were using some old and poorly functioning tools in our kitchen and cooking was not nearly as fun or fast as it could be. Using the reviews and then reader’s reviews on Amazon, I purchased a number of items I now consider “must-haves” in my kitchen. I love them so much I purchased 2 more of each of the items listed below and gave them to our adult daughters, who also like to cook, for Christmas along with a subscription to the Cook’s Illustrated magazine.
Here are our favorites, as in kitchen tools I don’t think we can live without anymore 🙂
1) Tovolo Silicone Spatula I had never cooked with heat using a spatula before, I thought they were just for scraping the cake batter out of a bowl. I was really missing out on a great tool for things like scrambled eggs and anything delicate in a non-stick skillet or sauce pan.
2) Microplane Grater/Zester I’ll never buy Parmesan cheese in a green can again. The microplane makes zesting limes/oranges/ lemons a privilege.
3) Messermeister Pro Touch Swivel Peeler From carrots to juicy ripe mangos, this peeler makes short work out of slivering away the the peels headed to the hens from the produce you’re going to eat.
4) Kuhn Rikon Easy-Squeeze Garlic Press I have significant osteoarthritis in my hands, but with this press I can squeeze several moderate sized cloves or a huge one cut in half, with just one hand. No more need for mincing garlic with this puppy. The pieces that come out are that uniform. I can press a dozen cloves and not have to stop to clean out the screen. A breeze to clean too.
5) Victorinox Fibrox 8-Inch Chef’s Knife Wow! I’ll never look back. Inexpensive and top rated not to mention finger shortening sharp.
6) Victorinox Cutlery 3-Piece Paring Knife Set, Black Poly Handles Ditto the chef’s knife. I was only looking for the basic paring knife, but this set was just a few $ more and we like all three. Caution – VERY sharp.
7) Cook’s Illustrated. For those of you not familiar with this magazine, it’s sort of like a Consumer Reports for cooking. You don’t ever get just a recipe and a pretty photo, but all the history, preparation tips & illustrations, reviews of one or more of the ingredients etc. A single recipe may have 3-4 pages of text and illustrations (photos and sketches) to go with it. I’ve found a wealth of cooking tips at their online site, and you can print them, which I’ve done, and make your own notebook of recipes, tips, product and food reviews.
8) Amazon Prime. One last tip, based on my own buying habits and experiences, regarding purchasing from Amazon. If you find yourself buying a book here, a peeler there, that model airplane for your daughter, fish sauce you can’t find anywhere else & don’t want to spend any more time or gas looking for or yet another book (you get the picture), you might want to sign up for the Amazon Prime program. It’s saved me a ton on shipping charges, especially when I’m buying a case of some food product 🙂 I tend to check out books I think I may want from the library first, and if I decide it’s going to be a keeper I can buy it using the Amazon Prime and I don’t get nickle and dimed to death every time I order a single item or book.
Kathy Simon
Cascade Township
Thanks, Kathy! To make it an even 10, I’m going to suggest two additional items that every kitchen should have:
9) OXO Salad Spinner. I have the Pampered Chef version (I used to sell it), and it sure comes in handy when I’m rinsing the muck off the salad greens. It gets the water off, plus provides a nice place to store it in the refrigerator.
10)A husband to help with clean-up. I don’t think you can get one from Amazon, but I did get mine from the internet. We were a perfect “Match.”
Works for Me Wednesday @ 
I’m a gadget geek, I admit it. And even though I’m not much of a cook I could use a new peeler. I think mine is old enough to be an heirloom by now. Thanks for this list. Cheers
I’d love a grater like the one you mentioned—I don’t have anything zest worthy! 🙂
What fun tools! I would like to get a microplane, but just haven’t thought of it at the right time. I’m sure it’s great for the uses you mentioned, but I also imagine making little chocolate shavings to decorate desserts or fruit!
I think I need to get a silicon spatula & a microplane.
Hubbies don’t come on Amazon. But I was blessed to get one not only cooks, but helps clean up.
9 and 10 are my favorites! We have a rule that if you cook, you don’t clean. I LOVE IT!!
And that OXO salad spinner is my new best friend!
Great post, Wendy. Thanks for the other 1-8. I’m excited to experiment!