Outfitting Your KitchenJun 17 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line A kitchen is never an easy room to stock. Here are a few items to get you started!
*This review was brought out of the archives and updated to fit this category* The most important room in my house is the kitchen. When building our first house, the kitchen was my own project and I built it to my own specifications, much to my husband's dismay. Now that we are in the house, the important part comes...outfitting it! Appliances Microwave By far the most essential appliance I own. This one is not optional to me, but I thought I'd include it here in the unlikely event that you do not own one. Mine serves many purposes; defrosting meat I've forgotten to lay in the fridge in the morning before work, reheating leftovers when I don't feel like cooking a huge meal, cooking frozen dinners and even softening butter when I bake. Mixer This is the one that sits on the counter and comes with its own bowl, not the handheld one. Once you have this, you won't want to drag out the handheld one anymore. I use it to make cakes, frostings and some cookies! A must! Food Processor If you do not have one, promptly go buy one. They are wonderful. Have you ever seen the chefs on television chop onions finely, doing it fast and making it look easy? Well, it's not. Every time I attempt this manually, I end up with big hunks of onion and watery-stinging eyes. Get a food processor and your troubles will be over. I also use mine to grate cheese and make homemade salsa right in the processor. I could not cook without mine. Crock Pot A busy girl's dream appliance! Put the food in, turn it on as you are walking out the door, and you have dinner ready when you come home at 5! What could be better? The only catch is you have to be savvy enough to prep the night before or wake up before everyone else to get the stuff in the pot. A little advance planning on your part is well worth the effort though. My favorite tip: Put chicken breasts in and shred when I get home from work. Ready to go into my favorite chicken casserole! Can Opener The electric ones are nonessential, but nice. If you have the counter space, go for it. They also have the kind that you drill into the top of your cabinets, but I'm not brave enough to drill into my nice new unblemished cabinets yet. Bread Maker Last but certainly not least is the ABM or automatic bread maker. There are a plethora of recipes on the net for these and mine actually come out great! It has so many uses! You can buy a mix at the store, add water and come home to homemade (effortless!) bread. You can do it from scratch for next to nothing. Sometimes I just make the dough, and bake the bread in the oven when I feeling a bit like Martha Stewart. I've even made homemade pizza dough in it. The possibilities are endless. Get one if you like hot bread! Cookware Casserole Dishes You will need several sizes in which to bake cakes, casseroles, breads and other baked goods. First and foremost, you will need a 9 x 13 oblong casserole. This will be the most practical and called for size when cooking. Another important size to have will be your 2 and 3-quart Corningware dishes. These can be used on top of the stove, in the oven and then can be put in the refrigerator. Mine all come with glass or plastic tops. Pots and Pans You will need at least one 3-quart saucepan; if at all possible try to get two. You will most definitely put them both to good use. Also imperative is a good stock pot. Even if you don't make your own stock or homemade soup, chances are good that you will at some point need to boil up an entire bag of pasta, right? I use mine for spaghetti sauce as well. Also invest in a few 2-4 cup saucepans which are perfect for making a pack of gravy or for one can of vegetables. Perhaps the most used piece of cookware in my kitchen is the skillet. I have three, two 12-inch skillets for browning meat and one smaller 7-inch size to cook a single grilled cheese sandwich. Also important to the home cook are cookie sheets. I have three, but you can get by with just two. They come in many different varieties, nonstick, T-fal, etc., all of which are fine. The only ones to steer away from are the very cheapest kind which seem to rust after just a few uses. You will also need a roaster/broiler pan, but these generally come with your oven. I have also found 9-inch cake pans (2 minimum, but preferably 3) to be invaluable in my home. Loaf pans are also a must. I have 2 since most recipes (not boxed mixes) call for 2 loaf pans. Utensils It took me quite a while to figure out which of these I would need. You certainly need a good set of measuring spoons. Mine are from Tupperware and have held up well. I also have an assortment of wooden spoons which are wonderful for cooking in your nonstick skillet. You will also need a spatula, preferably plastic so as not to damage that skillet. A potato masher is important if you like to make homemade mashed potatoes, but I have used it for other things. A good wire whisk (or 2) is important for whipping up a batch of scrambled eggs or mixing a can of tomato soup. A recent discovery of mine that I saw used constantly on the Food Network is a set of tongs. I use them for tossing salad to flipping meat in a skillet. You will also need a good set of knives, perhaps the most important utensil any home cook can possess. When planning your kitchen, take a good look at your family's habits and make sure that appliance deserves the valuable counter space you are giving it. If you have not used it in 3 months, it is time for the garage sale pile. If your family doesn't eat a lot of rice, a rice cooker is definitely not something you would ever need. If you don't make a lot of homemade candy or fudge, perhaps a candy thermometer does not need to take up your precious drawer space. Decide what you need and simply go from there! Happy Cooking!  |
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