Common Kitchen Implements

I was inspired by a recent Papawow post, called "The Big Drawer—Kitchen Gadgets", to consider the items I can't live without in the kitchen. A few weeks later, Michael Ruhlman posted about his corn cutter (after also writing about his favorite spoon) and this sealed the deal--I'm going to tell the world about MY favorite kitchen implements.


Top to bottom: We got the garlic press as a wedding gift (along with a bag of garlic). I used to scoff at these after attending chef school and learning how to puree garlic with a knife, but this garlic press changed my mind. It's super-easy to use and not hard to clean either. Zyliss. The chef's knife is a chef school artifact. It was part of the bottom-of-the-line equipment package and is pretty cheap I guess, but at the time it cost me part of my rent so it seemed very very expensive. It's 13 years old and I still use it all the time. (Probably because I never became a professional chef--I don't know any better!) The fine-mesh strainer (which I call the "small sieve" in real life) is key for straining my morning chai. This is my second one and already starting to wear out. The small grater was a Christmas gift from my true love. It is fantastic for grating just the right amount of cheese onto a steaming dish of spaghetti or onto an omelette in progress. The Steam Whistle bottle opener was a wedding favor from this summer and it has usurped our older bike chain bottle opener. (Getting married at a pilsner brewery under the CN Tower is The Coolest in my opinion. Thanks JMM!)



Clockwise from top: I feel like we use the box grater every day. It's either for carrots or cheese--I guess we eat a lot of both. The red spoonula was part of a fabulous Le Creuset gift set from ATCB (OMG happy bday!) and I adore it--it scoops AND scrapes! (J'aime bien Le Creuset.) The masher is my soup friend. In the comments to Michael Ruhlman's 2008 Kitchen Gadgets post, some people are enamored of their immersion blenders. This masher is my immersion blender. To the left of the masher with the white handle is our Nigella Lawson mini whisk. I love this thing (thanks Alli!). It is perfect for getting rid of clumps in waffle batter, making single-meal vinaigrettes, quickly emulsifying just about anything that is 1 cup or less. Last is my 1 c measuring cup. Just the shape of it is so satisfying, reminiscent of a childhood day of baking with my Ma. We also have a 2-cup measure, but somehow this smaller one always gets pressed into service.