KITCHEN ESSENTIALS

I’ve been like a crazy woman in the kitchen today, preparing a bunch of food for a bunch of men that I am feeding for the next few days. I love having a reason to spend time in the kitchen so this is super fun for me to be chopping, mixing, sauteing, and baking. I was able to plan the menu myself, and I am doing both the tried and true recipes while also throwing a few new things in there to keep it interesting.

I only have one more batch of muffins to make, so I decided to take a little break and do a little blogging while munching on some pomegranate seeds (super yum, if you’ve never tried).

During all my cooking today, I got to thinking about the endless amount of kitchen gadgets and utensils and appliances that are available. Gadgets are nice, but I’m more on the minimalistic side of things and don’t really appreciate collecting things that aren’t really super useful.

So here are my top five kitchen essentials:

Cast iron skillet. Hands down my favorite item in my kitchen! Ben gifted this to me after our wedding because he knew how much I wanted one…and I use it almost every day. At first, I was a little intimidated by using it and especially cleaning and caring for it. But it’s really simple once you get the hang of it. I love the versatility of being able to use it both on the stove top and in the oven.

Garlic press. I use garlic a lot in my cooking, and the garlic press is a simple tool that I could never do without! It’s worth investing in a good quality press because the cheap ones tend to just not work well or break easily.

Knives. Good quality and sharp knives are essential! I get so frustrated trying to use a dull knife or one that’s just not suited for the job. A serrated knife is really useful, though probably not essential.

Blender/hand blender. I could probably do without a blender, but since I do have one, I find that I use it a lot. It’s helpful for pureeing soups, blending sauces, and of course, making smoothies or tasty treats.

Cheese grater. You can purchase grated cheese, and sometimes it’s just easier to do that, but I’m convinced cheese has more flavor when it’s freshly grated. I buy it in blocks and grate up only what I need, although when the cheese is about to go bad, I will grate it all and put it in the freezer.

What about you: what are your kitchen essentials?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!