Can't cook without 'em items!
1. My freezer. Commonly used to store the second half of a meal I doubled, freezer jam made out of an excess of fresh berries, frozen mixed veggies so I can have something green for the kids to eat, extra bread for sandwiches for camp/school lunches, and chicken bones for making homemade chicken stock for soup and other recipes. Also meat, vodka, ice cream, pie crusts, unused canned tomatoes and chicken broth, extra spices from Penzeys and Hebrew National hot dogs. Couldn't live without it.
2. CrockPot. I love mine. When I was first given one, I associated it with white trash cooking and condensed soup recipes (that might have a little to do with who gave it to me). Over time, I found inspiration and discovered the perfect recipe for meat: Put meat in the crock pot, add some sort of sauce or seasoning, and let cook all day. For best results, eat it the following day, portioning the leftovers into meal size portions and place in the freezer (see #1). Yes, that's it. Also good for whole chickens, lentil soup and the most fabulous pot roast recipe ever. Chicken recipes here The other recipes are coming soon... hold your horses. I might need to buy a programmable one... can I own two?
3. Pyrex measuring cups, one two cup, one four cup. I think this smaller one
came from the Corning outlet store in Maine in 1991. And I've never been tempted to replace it with something newer, just adding the larger one ten years ago. I use these everyday, and perhaps at every meal. With kids in the kitchen, they are useful as they have a handle to hold with one hand while stirring with the other, and they don't break when dropped. The kids have now notice the measurements on the side (quarts, liters, cups, ounces etc); indeed, I used these to convert one to another before Al Gore invented the internet and I could look it up easily.
4. Glass storage bowls. I bought this set at Crate and Barrel http://goo.gl/ge4DH and use them for everything. I made the switch from plastic a few years back, and have been thrilled with these. Just don't put the lids in the bottom of the dishwasher... too hot. In my bowls in the fridge right now are leftover green beans, raw eggs (egg wash from the cinnamon bread), a black bean burger, cooked corn and the cat's moist food.
5. Glazed ceramic toaster oven pan. Bought one at a Pampered Chef party when the kids were babies. Of all the gadgets I bought that day, this is the only one I still use. Virtually non-stick, perfect for quesadillas, reheating pizza and baking cookie dough stored raw in the freezer. Cleans by scraping with a flat piece of plastic... they give you one when you buy this pan, but I found a credit card/gift card fills in when the original scraper is MIA.
6. Old credit card/gift card. See #5. Also works for scraping cooked-on gunk off dishes and dried food off the table. Also good for scraping bread dough out of a bowl before washing; uses less water and doesn't leave the goo in the sponge. In general, the plastic card does the job faster than scrubbing with a sponge or waiting until the cleaning lady comes next week.
What's your top tool list look like? Do tell!
1. My freezer. Commonly used to store the second half of a meal I doubled, freezer jam made out of an excess of fresh berries, frozen mixed veggies so I can have something green for the kids to eat, extra bread for sandwiches for camp/school lunches, and chicken bones for making homemade chicken stock for soup and other recipes. Also meat, vodka, ice cream, pie crusts, unused canned tomatoes and chicken broth, extra spices from Penzeys and Hebrew National hot dogs. Couldn't live without it.
2. CrockPot. I love mine. When I was first given one, I associated it with white trash cooking and condensed soup recipes (that might have a little to do with who gave it to me). Over time, I found inspiration and discovered the perfect recipe for meat: Put meat in the crock pot, add some sort of sauce or seasoning, and let cook all day. For best results, eat it the following day, portioning the leftovers into meal size portions and place in the freezer (see #1). Yes, that's it. Also good for whole chickens, lentil soup and the most fabulous pot roast recipe ever. Chicken recipes here The other recipes are coming soon... hold your horses. I might need to buy a programmable one... can I own two?
3. Pyrex measuring cups, one two cup, one four cup. I think this smaller one
came from the Corning outlet store in Maine in 1991. And I've never been tempted to replace it with something newer, just adding the larger one ten years ago. I use these everyday, and perhaps at every meal. With kids in the kitchen, they are useful as they have a handle to hold with one hand while stirring with the other, and they don't break when dropped. The kids have now notice the measurements on the side (quarts, liters, cups, ounces etc); indeed, I used these to convert one to another before Al Gore invented the internet and I could look it up easily.4. Glass storage bowls. I bought this set at Crate and Barrel http://goo.gl/ge4DH and use them for everything. I made the switch from plastic a few years back, and have been thrilled with these. Just don't put the lids in the bottom of the dishwasher... too hot. In my bowls in the fridge right now are leftover green beans, raw eggs (egg wash from the cinnamon bread), a black bean burger, cooked corn and the cat's moist food.
5. Glazed ceramic toaster oven pan. Bought one at a Pampered Chef party when the kids were babies. Of all the gadgets I bought that day, this is the only one I still use. Virtually non-stick, perfect for quesadillas, reheating pizza and baking cookie dough stored raw in the freezer. Cleans by scraping with a flat piece of plastic... they give you one when you buy this pan, but I found a credit card/gift card fills in when the original scraper is MIA.
6. Old credit card/gift card. See #5. Also works for scraping cooked-on gunk off dishes and dried food off the table. Also good for scraping bread dough out of a bowl before washing; uses less water and doesn't leave the goo in the sponge. In general, the plastic card does the job faster than scrubbing with a sponge or waiting until the cleaning lady comes next week.
What's your top tool list look like? Do tell!
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