When we went to help my Mom move into her new house a few weeks ago, I was reminded how different one person sets up their kitchen from another. And also - how different kitchens are equipped in general. I have a rice steamer, my Mom has a breadmaker. Some women have those big fancy mixers while I have a hand-held that only gets used a few times a year. We have a smoothie maker, but no real blender. We have three crock pots.
What is in your kitchen says a lot about you as a cook. I obviously don’t make bread or bake. But I make a hell of a lot of stews and slow-cooked meals. We have several muffin tins in which we make mostly cornbread. But I don’t own one of those cake pans with the hole in the middle. What the hell are those things called?
I also only have a handful of seasonings, leaving most of my spice racks empty or filled with things like vitamins. I’m think the more I list out the contents of my kitchen, the more you get a realistic view of how little I cook. I’m never joking when I describe our culinary habits: They are boring. You just don’t need a lot of equipment when most of your meals go straight from the box to the oven. Hell, our fridge is rarely even half full. If you take out the cases of diet cokes I put in there, it’s NEVER half full. And often looks VERY empty. Like I’m always a day away from a grocery store run.
Some people don’t have bottle openers on hand because they don’t drink a lot of beer. Some don’t have corkscrews. Or maybe they just have a corkscrew, the basic Swiss army knife version. But no complex wine bottle opening tool. We have frosty mugs in our freezer for our beer, do you? We only have a few wine glasses that gather more dust than most of our other dishes. They get taken out around the holidays, but cleaned first.
So, I’m curious how your kitchen is different from mine. Do you own a rice steamer? A breadmaker? How much room do your spices take up? Is your fridge constantly full? Do you use a separate freezer? (Now that is something I could totally use, by the way. To store all of my Stoffer’s frozen entreess.) Do your wine glasses get used? What about your coffee maker? We’ve gone through three in the last few years we use ours so much. What is the appliance you use the most (Crockpot), what is the appliance you use the least (Hand-held mixer). Do you have a food processor? What do you use it for because I’ve never owned one.
(And now, how many of you feel truly sorry for my family and their diets?)
My kitchen is a mess! Well, the way the counters are set up, nothing fits in a way that makes them usable. I have a microwave in a corner near the stove, because it’s the only place it would fit, Next to that: a spice rack (that I actually do use), a butcher block of knives and the paper towel thingy. Then on this half bar/islandy thing (more like a peninsula) I keep a blender and a breadmaker, both appliances I use about 5 times a year. It’s difficult to organize in our old kitchen. I’d kill for something totally new.
It’s a bundt pan, and I don’t have one either
In fact, our new kitchen in Germany makes me seriously LONG for our old house in the U.S. We have NO counter space (the microwave sits ON TOP of the fridge - good thing my husband is 6′5″ and I’m pretty tall too!) and instead of cupboards we have DRAWERS. Everywhere! There is only one actual cupboard in our kitchen. For awhile, I was putting glasses in drawers, until we figured out how to maximize that one cupboard better. Can you imagine - glasses in DRAWERS? It’s so wrong.
My kitchen is like yours in some ways, I have a rice steamer and I don’t have a lot of the fancy equipment. I cook a lot of soups and stews as well and do very little baking because I end up eating it all in one day. I have a lot of spices that I use and I use a lot of fresh herbs. I do my shopping daily on my way home from work so our fridge is mostly empty, people always seem shocked by that.
I use my KitchenAid a medium amount and my food processor quite a bit (which my husband hates, because he has to clean it out). I also use my crockpot FREQUENTLY because I work and go to school and so we’re gone a LOT.
I have four crockpots. One is a Nesco, one is regular, one is divided, and one is a 2 qt. (small). I use them often, along with a George Forman grill. I have a Kitchenaid mixer, it’s gorgeous. I wanted one for years and finally got it last year with a price error (ahem). The breadmaker is in the basement, I drag it out about twice a year. We also have an upright freezer which I keep ice cream & some frozen veggies in.
Our fridge is about 40% full of soft drinks, milk, and lemonade. The rest is lunch meat, cheeses, eggs and produce. We take last night’s supper leftovers for lunch the next day, so they aren’t sitting around.
One thing I have a ton of right now in the pantry closet is baking mixes for cookies, cakes, brownies, etc. That’s only because I got them nearly free a few months ago with sales & coupons.
I’m a cooking freak, so I always have a pretty full refrigerator. I have lots of sharp knives, every baking pan known to man and sometimes when I walk by my Kitchen Aid mixer I pat it just to remind it how much I love it.
I think it’s a bundt pan. I still haven’t bought one and I bake a lot. My freezer is always overflowing, so I rarely have mugs in there.
I used to have a rice steamer, but mine died and I haven’t replaced it. What kind of steamer do you have?
My major equipment:
Kitchen Aid Mixer & attachments
Handheld mixer
Bread machine
Microwave
Toaster Oven
Foreman Grill
Blender
Mini Food
Crockpot (I would like a new one. Which is your favorite?)
Deep freezer
One kitchen refridgerator
One basement refridgerator
Baking pans of various sizes (except a bundt pan)
Single rotisserie (used the least)
Triple rotisserie (used the least, have it thanks to my mother having little self control)
My spice/condiment/pantry overflow as do the freezers. My refridgerator probably wouldn’t overflow my mother didn’t fight me over purging it.
I don’t know why I have all this equipment. I work 70 hours a week, so the only time I cook is on the weekend.
OMG.. I just finished a post last week about my kitchen gadget adiction. I have a professional kitchenaid mixer that I use all the time. I have both a blender and a smoothie maker, both of which never get used. My husband uses the crap out of our coffee maker and the toaster ?? Three crockpots.. but I typically only use them during football season and for tailgates. A cabinet full of spices.. which I never use (such a shame) We have a small chest freezer that really doens’t have much in it.. but our refrigerator is ALWAYS full… like.. crazy “can’t find room for one more thing” full. My mother keeps her fridge this way.. so I like to think that’s where I get it.
Love the blog..and your East TN Connections! Go Vols!
The small cupboard above my stove is FILLED with spices and I probably use like two of them. I just got a crockpot at Christmas and it has been used like twice. I am looking forward to using it more this winter. I do a lot of meals out of boxes however or frozen meals because I am cooking for just me. Rarely are their leftovers, the fact that I have cooked twice and have leftovers is RARE. I love to cook though. I am going to make Indian Fry Bread again later this week and I can’t WAIT!!!
We don’t have a rice steamer or a bread maker or even a blender!! I do have a small food processer, a quesadilla maker, hand held mixer and a small crock pot.
We do not have a separate freezer and at this point, we don’t really need one.
We have no wine glasses, but plenty of beer glasses and 3 bottle openers. Yeah, 3.
It is clear what our priorities are
Though I bake, I tend to mix almost all of my batters by hand, because I’m old school (I guess). Coffee pot, check. Breadmaker, no. Spices, good Lord, yes. Many many spices. Spices and South Louisiana go hand in hand. Bundt pan, aka “pan with the hole in the middle”, check. Why it’s useful, popcorn cake. I’ll email you the recipe, and you’ll be running out to Target for one with the quickness : )
PS: There is no cake in popcorn cake, also, no baking!
I am the woman with the KitchenAide on the counter, constantly dirty and spattered with flour. That said, I have cupboards chuck full of cooking and baking gadgets, as in I have several bundt pans (1 plain, 1 patterened and 4 mini…)
We also have a ridiculous amount of utensils, (a drawer full and a crock full next to the stove…)
If only I had more counter space…
Honestly, I’m most interested in your crockpot recipes. What do you cook in there the most and do you just leave it on all day while you are at work? I’ve NEVER cooked in a crock and would love some simple, easy family dinner ideas.
BTW we bought our deep freeze off of Craigslist for $20 and it has run perfectly for 4 years now. I couldn’t live without it!
I have a coffee maker that is used daily, a food processor that is used about once a week (makes great salsa, cowboy caviar, cashew patties…), same with our blender. My Kitchenaid mixer gets used about 3x a month, unless I have a cake order, crockpot every week in the fall and winter but never in the summer and rarely in the spring. My rice cooker…about 3x a month, my George Foreman grill about once a month, my waffle iron about once a month, breadmaker about 3x a year. If Im making bread its usually a quick bread, like you. If you want a really yummy corn muffin recipe, let me know. Its not that hard, although its not as easy as opening one of those handy little boxes. hehe. I used to cook a lot, and then Eleanor was born and now its down to about twice a week that I make “real” meals…
As for us? No rice steamer (I don’t really know what that is). No breadmaker, but I have an entire cupboard devoted to spices (though I use fewer than I’d like to admit). My fridge is rarely full, and when it is it’s a good bet that I need to clean it out.
We have a separate freezer and I couldn’t imagine life without it! Wine glasses are used, some weeks more than others.
Coffee maker is a necessity of life, used almost daily.
Like you, we use the crockpot the most - maybe a tie with the air-popper for popcorn. We rarely use the blender, but I use the food processor often - to make breadcrumbs, and often in the fall to crush veggies for dips and to crush cookies for cheesecake crusts (YUM!!)
Half my cupboards are empty, though, because they are TALL, TALL custom ones that I would never have chosen on my own. I can’t reach past the second shelf without a stepladder, but luckily there are 40 (! I kid you not!) so I can spread my stuff out amongst the lower shelves.
GREAT post - I love peeking in everyone’s cupboards! I can’t wait to see the responses.
It’s a bundt pan, I have about 4.
I have a rice steamer and a crock pot, but the crock pot is loathed and rarely used. A giant Kitchen Aid mixer that is my pride and joy and is used CONSTANTLY. A handheld mixer. 2 Blenders and a smoothie maker. 2 Dutch ovens, a pressure cooker.
A myriad of baking pans in every size and shape (but none of those rubber things, don’t like them) that fill up 2 double cabinets.
Cold mugs in the freezer. 3 sets of white and red wine glasses. rocks glasses (of various sizes).
At any time I can pull together a full meal for at least 8 (and often do) with everyone’s favorite adult beverage. I love cooking and entertaining though.
I have a kitchen aid stand mixer. And I have the same crockpot you have in that photo. But I also have muffin tins in all sizes, a food processor that I don’t use much, but a heck of a lot of cookware. I love to cook.
One thing I do have that I love is an electric griddle. I plug it in to the wall and I can make a whole breakfast there. Bacons, eggs, pancakes. And it leaves minimal cleanup afterwards.
I don’t have one of those big mixers (I hate to bake) or a break maker (I love bread but am lazy and don’t need easy access to fresh bread). I do own a bundt cake pan (the hole in the middle). I bought it just for this cake recipe last Thanksgiving that my mom gave me - it had vodka and bailey’s in it (I guess booze motivates me to bake). It turned out horrible and I could probably throw away the cake pan now.
I hate to bake but like to cook. My spices, vinegars, oils, rubs and seasonings take up an entire cabinet in my kitchen. I try not to have too many gadgets that aren’t necessary but I own things like a lemon reamer and a garlic press and 2 different sized food processors. The only appliances I keep out are the toaster oven, the coffee maker, and 1 food processor.
I have wine glasses that used to get a lot of use (pre-children) but now haven’t left the cabinet since Thanksgiving last year - the last time I had a glass of wine. The open bottle of wine in the kitchen is for cooking. I’ve had 3 sips of beer since giving birth and that was because I don’t put a whole beer in chili when I make it. I miss beer and wine and hope to resume consumption if I can ever get this baby off my boob.
I’ve probably had more time to gather /hoard my kitchen supplies than most of you but I prefer to think of it as perfecting what I really need. Kitchen-aid mixer a must but used more for making fresh applesauce than cakes. Bread machine is in the cabinet. 3 drawers of gadgets from strawberry stem picker to olive/pickle plucker to mushroom cleaner - some used, some not so much. A cabinet devoted totally to spices; a very fancy orange juicer, fancier super-automatic coffee machine, several cake pans with holes of varying sizes ( I’m using the smaller ones and freezing half of them now.) No beer mugs in the freezer, but beer and limes in the “drinks fridge”; huge chest freezer in the basement looking for a new home). Plenty of wine glasses which need dusting as well…and one crock pot last used to melt paraffin for making fire starters - waxed dipped pine cones. My regular fridge is probably half full because I’m using more fresh ingredients than ever and I can’t use them up fast enough to have a full fridge. I like to cook but I like to eat quality food more.
One entire shelf in my kitchen is consumed with spices. This irritates my husband so much that we don’t even speak about anymore. But I don’t hear him complaining at dinner time. I have three slow-cookers, a Kitchen-Aid mixer that used to get a lot of use but now that I have reproduced does not. I have probably three dozen wine glasses and champagne flutes that have gone the same route as the mixer. I have a breakmaker that gets used for pizza crust pretty much exclusively. My food processor is used about once or twice a year. My blender is a piece of crap, I want a new one. One thing we do use a lot is the griddle - I love big breakfasts, and the griddle facilitates pancakes and eggs and bacon and hole-in-the-bread.
In short, I used to cook a lot when I had time and no children. And I do own a bundt pan.
Gosh, I love talking about my kitchen, even if I can’t hardly use it anymore.
We don’t have a rice steamer but I think now I want one. No kitchen aid mixer either, like you I have a small hand mixer that I use at christmas, the only time of year I make cookies. I use my cookie sheets for frozen french fries and frozen garlic bread.
My kitchen is so small. Not enough room for anything. We have a toaster oven that we use A LOT. That and the crock pot are the most used appliances. I do have a ton of spices though. We like to season things.
My fridge is full usually of fresh fruits and veggies, juices, and iced teas. Can’t go without those.
Always out on the counters: rice steamer (#1 son), coffee bean grinder (DH), toaster oven (everyone), coffee machine (DH), blender (DH makes smoothies for the kids), and kitchenaid mixer (mine!). My crockpot is also out because I made pulled pork yesterday, but that will be brought back down to the basement.
I swore when we got our beautiful granite countertops that they would remain bare, but it just wasn’t practical…
I have a blender, food processor, slow cooker, toaster oven (no toaster), some cookie sheets, a hand mixer, 2 coffee makers (one for regular for Jonathan, one for decaf which I drink), a George Foreman grill, this sandwich maker thing that makes small paninis, an immersion blender, and that’s about it.
Stuff I use on a regular basis: coffee makers, toaster oven, my drawer full of spices, cookie sheets.
You’ve inspired me to dig out some of my kitchen gadgets and make it a point to use them.
Fun post! Since we cook a lot of Indian, we do have an idli steamer and a crepe pan (for dosas - a South Indian thing, sorta like sourdough crepes). I think rice steamers are superfluous to any kitchen and not really needed. I make perfectly good rice in a regular pot and use a steamer basket for veggies. We have a blender, but for the life of me, cannot think of what in the world I would use a food processor for! And what are mixers for? Those things are frockin’ EXPENSIVE. Why??? We have a George Foreman grill, but I use it for potatoes and even then, only once in awhile (I should get rid of, come to think of it.) I also have a hand mixer, which I use a few times a year and I LOVE IT. It is from the early 70s, a hand-me-down from my grandma from my first college apartment in the early 90s. It gits ‘er done, so I have no complaints.
I keep spices in 2 different cupboards and the amount we have is CRAZY. We also have a mortar and pestle for grinding the “whole” ones (like fennel seeds). I also have a small 1 cup chopper for grinding larger amounts, if needed.
I have a “thing” for dishes though - I love, love pretty, pretty things. So I have a full complement of wine glasses, port glasses, highball glasses, lowball glasses (?), martini glasses and champagne glasses (hollow stems and flutes). I also have martini shakers and pitchers (shaken? stirred? your choice.) Do these things get used very often? Sadly, no. But they are pretty and I love them. I also have enough silver to serve a 7 course dinner for 60 people, I kid you (my grandma and great aunt each gave me a full set of the same pattern.) Apparently, I am a closeted 1950s Housewife. *sigh*
We have about half a pantry shelf full of spices. 2 crock pots, a blender, toaster oven, toaster, hand held mixer. Also a cabinet full of cookies sheets, muffins tins etc…
I do not, do not like to have anything left out on the counters so a place for everything and everything in its place or its outta my house.
The only things always out on my counters are my food processor, coffee maker, knife block, utensil crock, salt, pepper, and olive oil.
I have other appliances - a blender, a toaster, and an immersion blender - but the only one that ever gets used is the immersion blender (for smoothies and soup).
My wine glasses and corkscrew are used frequently, but I have a simple corkscrew like servers use in a restaurant rather than one of those expensive, complex ones.
My refrigerator is always full of cheese, fruit, vegetables, and condiments. And bottles of white wine.
I cook a lot, but I try to get by with good knives, good cookware, and a bunch of wooden spoons, whisks, and spatulas. I have a tiny kitchen and it’s easier to just get by with fewer gadgets and appliances than it is to work on counters covered with stuff.
The one appliance I wish I had is a KitchenAid mixer, but realistically, I would only use it once a month, to make pizza crust or flatbread and I can knead dough by hand without too much trouble, so it’s probably not worth the money for me.
I have a ton of kitchen stuff but I am simplifying our lives so I’ve cut down on some of the kitchen gadgets and most things are small and geared toward an Asian kitchen.
Some of my favorite items:
Kitchen Aid Professional Mixer: I used to make flat bread on an almost daily basis so it made life much easier. Living in AZ I don’t bake near as much as I used to but hope to get back at it.
Steamers: wood baskets, steel baskets. dokla and idli steamers
Pressure Cooker: LOVE IT. I make lentil and beans every other day or so.
Mixers: Hand and stick. They aren’t used too often but here and there.
Blenders: Big and small for various grinding needs. I’m dying for a Sumeet Grinder. Love.
Mortor and Pestles: A Japanese variety with deep ridges and a smaller one with a smoother edge for garlic pastes or honey/garlic mixes etc.
We have a ton of bowls for curries and noodles.
We don’t cook American food too often in our house but when I do we don’t really use anything special. However, I have enough glass bowls to make incredibly huge meals back from when I used to entertain frequently.
I realized I don’t have a bundt pan this weekend when I tried to make angel food cake. I just made it in one big pan instead, and it worked out ok, though it fell a bit in the middle. Whatever.
I only have about 5 spices, and that is if you count salt, pepper, and vanilla as spices.
I have a rice steamer and use it all the time. My breadmaker is in the garage. It’s handy for making THE BEST pizza crust, but it takes up too much space to actually let it into the house.
I have a fancy mixer and a hand-held one and a food processor, all of which I use sometimes. I also have a bunch of cake pans, including a bundt pan (Did you not see My Big Fat Greek Wedding?!!) and a brand-new, super-fancy Williams Sonoma train cake pan.
Our coffee maker is stored in the cabinet above the stove (you know the one you actually have to get up onto a chair to reach). Our tea kettle is in constant use, though…
I have a LOT of cake pans, even though I only use them a couple of times a year. I have a magnificent Cuisinart, which I can’t use because I accidentally threw out on of the little parts you need to run the thing.
OMG SO INTERESTING.
We have a breadmaker, which we use twice a week to make pizza dough (twice on the same night—that’s how much it takes to feed all of us now). I have a big stand mixer that I use a lot. I have a ton of spices, most of which are probably expired because I used 1/2 t. in a new recipe and then never made it again, but if I throw them out I’ll immediately need them for another recipe.
We have a rice steamer that we use a lot for awhile and then it sits in the cupboard for awhile. Same with the coffee maker. I used to have a bundt pan but never used it so got rid of it. I have 2 muffin tins and 2 9×13 pans.
Our refrigerator is usually full to half-full, and we have a separate freezer downstairs. I don’t have a food processor.
We never use our wine glasses but they’re so pretty I keep them. And when I say “never”—I mean, they DO get used like once every year or two, so it’s not NEVER-never.
want a crockpot but dont have one. use the kitchenaid stand up mixer for anything i possibly can - even box brownies (but i also enjoy baking). borrow a food processor once a year to make carrot cake for easter - it’s the fastest way to chop carrots. otherwise, i dont use much in the kitchen as my husband does all the cooking. i dont even know how to make coffee. oh, and the toaster - almost NEVER used.
The small appliance that I use the least is my pasta machine. I’m thankful to say I didn’t buy it, my mom bought it for me after she bought it for herself and loved it. Guess what? She doesn’t use hers either, anymore. I’d like to use mine more often, I just don’t have the time these days.
What do I use the most…hmm. Probably my hand mixer at the moment, I’m in the mood to bake these days. I do have an inexpensive Blender/Food Processor doodad from Wal-Mart that I’m not super impressed with, food processor turns everything to mush. I’ve used the blender for smoothies but all of a sudden it doesn’t want to crush ice. I guess I wore it out quickly.
I also have a crockpot which I’m interested in putting to more use - the weather’s gotten much cooler here since the leftovers from Ike came through, so I’m looking forward to making a beef stew and other cool weather comfort food.
The toaster gets used daily by at least two people, the coffe pot is only used by one person, I don’t think he drinks coffee daily, but it does get used a few times per week.
The fridge is usually at least half full, along with the stand alone freezer, which holds all the meats, frozen pizzas, an extra gallon of milk, and Healthy Choice meals and pot pies for the nights that I go to work because the menfolk in this house don’t cook. The freezer above the fridge usually holds extra loaves of bread, frozen fruit and veggies, and sometimes ice cream and/or cool whip.
If it has fancy ridges, it’s a bundt pan. If it’s flat bottom and sides, it’s a tube pan. I don’t have either one.
I do have a kitchenaid, and it’s probably the small appliance I use second most often after my crock pot (I only have one, but I’m using it today to make polenta). I do have a food processor, which I use for making pesto, hummus, and chopped nuts for baking (’cause it’s WAY cheaper than buying chopped nuts). I own a rice steamer, but it only worked properly the first couple times I used it, so I usually just do rice on the stove.
I have more spices than I can reasonably store in my current kitchen, but lots of them are doubles (and triples) of the same two or three things (oregano and cinnamon come to mind) that I keep forgetting I have extra of.
i am so attached to my kitchen gadgets. When i was first out on my own, i wanted to just pack up my mom’s kitchen and bring it with me — she has so much great stuff, and let’s face it, they just don’t make tupperware like they used to.
my most-used (by me) is my rada cutlery. omg. i will be buried with those knives. most used (of mine by the roommates) is the crock pot. i hate that damn thing. or at least i used to until the invention of crock pot liners. we have a HUGE one so it is a BITCH to clean, and if we’re out of liners i REFUSE to use it. ew.
least-used are probably some of the spoons and spatulas (we have more than is even close to necessary).
i had to seriously talk myself out of buying a $300 kitchenaid off qvc this weekend. my 4 qt works fine… but the 5 qt is so pretty. sigh.
see? sick.
I have lots of corkscrews and bar implements because I am a lush and also because the Minister of Details likes shiny kitchen gadgets.
We just bought the same oven that you have in your kitchen! We’re gutting our kitchen this month and replacing everything…finally saying a final goodbye to the year 1992 in terms of kitchen decor. But, I’m willing to bet that my corkscrew still gets more use than my lovely, new stainless steel oven.
First of all, we have TOO MUCH crap on the counters. Makes for the krazy.
Starting in one corner (in a cabinet, tyvm) is a rice cooker that I hate (it always burns the rice) and a Huge crockpot that is no good for 2-4 portions. So, useless.
The first thing on the counter is our juicer, yum. Gets used frequently. Next is the blender, used not so much but there’s no room elsewhere.
Then there’s the toaster oven next to the stove, and the electric water heater and coffeepot. Those get used daily.
And, using, the island space, there is the regular toaster (our toaster oven has a hissy fit if you ask it to make regular toast) and the George Foreman grill, used for both meats and veggies.
The pots and pans and baking implements are endless. The spices are pretty much in one drawer, but I have it on good authority that you should toss all of your herbs and spices that are over a year old, which is nice in theory, but holy cow would I not want to pay for all new at one time.
We do have a separate freezer which is pretty full, as are the regular fridge/freezer in the house. Actually, the fridge is bipolar. When I’m the only one home, I eat or discard items that are in there before I will buy more groceries.
I know all this as I cleaned out my entire kitchen inventory last week. PAH! Never want to do that again!
Oh what an interesting topic.
Let’s see….I have a ton of spices, like a bazillion. I use about half on a regular basis and then some for specific things.
I have nothing with which to bake anything-no flour, baking soda, baking powder, etc. If I want to bake anything I buy a boxed mix.
I have two crockpots (a big one and little one), a food processer, a rice pot, two griddles, a skillet, a set of cast iron pans, and two complete sets of pans (saucepans and frying pans and etc).
I have five million spoons and utensils of every type: wooden, plastic, metal, silicone. I have a friend who has not one wooden spoon in her house and it drives me insane.
I have about three cookie shoots, 2 pyrex casseroles, a few odd sized casseroles, muffin tins and small cake pans that don’t get used for cakes.
I have a coffee pot that only gets used maybe once a week, a toaster that’s not even plugged in, and no blender.
That pot on your stove has to be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!
I avoid my kitchen like the plague. My Mom just brought over lunch to heat up and asked me where a lid for a pot was and I actually didn’t have a clue.
Thank God I married someone that knows how to cook or we’d all starve.
Do you own a rice steamer? Yes and we use it often
A breadmaker? Had one. Never used it. Sold it in a garage sale.
How much room do your spices take up? Quite a bit and I use probably 10 or so quite a bit.
Is your fridge constantly full? Nope. We try to eat until it’s empty before we grocery shop.
Do you use a separate freezer? We want one but bought new furniture this year instead.
Do your wine glasses get used? Not as much as they used to.
What about your coffee maker? Every day.
What is the appliance you use the most? Toaster oven or coffee pot
What is the appliance you use the least? Stand mixer
Do you have a food processor? Yes, a mini one.
What do you use it for? Making baby food, chopping onions and other veggies, chopping herbs (like parsley for tabbouli)
Do you own a rice steamer? No. I like rice better when cooked on the stove.
A breadmaker? We used to, but it… umm… vibrated right off the counter onto the floor. Oops.
How much room do your spices take up? About a shelf of one cupboard.
Is your fridge constantly full? Only of stuff that I need to throw away.
Do you use a separate freezer? No, but my husband turned one into a refrigerator for beer brewing purposes.
Do your wine glasses get used? We use water goblets for wine glasses.
What about your coffee maker? Everyday.
What is the appliance you use the most? Probably the crock pot too.
What is the appliance you use the least? Hmm… The blender.
Do you have a food processor? I have a mini-one. I like to use it for canned tomato products to make them smooth for sauces. I also use it to cut onions and garlic when I’m too lazy to chop ‘em myself.
Do you own a rice steamer? Yes, but we don’t use that much lately. I have taken up microwave rice. (cough cough)
A breadmaker? Nope. Waste of space.
How much room do your spices take up? I have about 10-15
Is your fridge constantly full? It is full after grocery shopping. I try not to buy again until it is 90% empty. Wish I have an extra freezer too. The things I can store! You know body parts and such.
Do your wine glasses get used? Not as much as they used to.
What about your coffee maker? Every day.
What is the appliance you use the most? Coffee maker, oven, and slow cooker.
What is the appliance you use the least? hand-held mixer
Do you have a food processor? Nope
Also have muffin tins and cookie pan. I like to make muffins, cookies, and brownies.
This is fun! Which tells you what a kitchen-tool dork I am! I have pretty much everything under the sun because kitchen tools have long been my favorite presents to receive.
I’ve got a Kitchenaid Mixer that I use more than I anticipated considering that I don’t love to bake, a food processor (I use it to make pesto and hummus most of the time), an immersion blender (soups and the whisk attachment for whipping cream or egg whites), and a crockpot I got two years ago for Christmas and have never used. I also have a food mill that languishes for the most part. I got it thinking I’d use it for mashed potatoes, but the potato masher is just a whole lot easier.
My most used tools would be santuko knife and my cutting board. I use those at least once a day. And my All-Clad pots and pans. Those would probably be my favorites.
I’m still growing out my kitchen. I love to cook, but I’ve never actually had much stuff to do it with - I always just went to a family member’s house for the harder stuff. I don’t have a fancy mixer, but I would sell one of my kidneys for one.
I have two favorite items - one is this William Sonoma thing that chops onions/garlic/whatever. You just put the onion on the grid of blades, and smash the top down, and, VIOLA! Diced onions! The second thing is my garlic press - I love using crushed garlic in sauces and stuff.
I always have a toaster oven on my countertop because you can do just about everything with that thing! I have a KitchenAid Mixer & regular toaster on my counters. I don’t use the mixer near enough but I do love it. I hardly ever use the toaster but it’s pink and matches the mixer…and.. that’s reason enough for me. Otherwise? I don’t use much else. I am an on and off again cook. I go through spurts where I love to cook and will cook 4/5 meals a week and then there will be weeks where we are eating cereal for dinner.
However, it is just me and the Hubby right now. I’m pregnant with our first kiddo so I’m sure our culinary lives will change forever after he/she is born
The double cabinet above my stove is completely devoted to spices and things like EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil), Pam cooking sprays, Canola Coil etc…I don’t own a rice steamer since I eat very little rice, but my favorite frivolous kitchen appliance is the Magic Bullet (I know it sounds like a vibrator, and though they are also fantastic this isn’t the same thing). It’s a personal size blender, that can also do a lot of other things. I don’t own a kitchen aide stand mixer because I can not stand clutter on my counter tops. I would rarely use it anyhow so why bother. I do have a nice hand held kitchen aide mixer though that I can tuck into a cabinet. I do own a breadmaker, three crockpots, and my fridge is constantly over flowing as well as my deep freezer. But I am raising a damn picky teenager, and have a husband who is a big eater as well. I feel like my second home is at the grocery store or Sams. I drink my beer straight from the long neck bottle.
I finally figured out what appliance we use the most - the waffle iron. I love waffles.
We have an electric griddle that has never been used (got it as a wedding present 3 years ago), and we have 2 crockpots, but we rarely use either.
No I don’t have a rice steamer. No where to put it. We only have two cupboards one for large crockery, patty pans ect and the other for cleaning products. Everything is on deep shelves that run the length of the room. Not our design but it works. I don’t have many gadget’s, just one hand held Blender for soups and a wonder coffee maker we were given. I cut veggies up by hand. Make pastry and cakes by hand in a big old earthernware bowl and cook casseroles slowly in the oven. Crock pots sound interesting. Yes we use lots of glasses, wine, champagne, scotch, water tumblers, tiny lequires glasses. All from Ikea. No we don’t drink like fishes but we do frequently entertain.:)
I think American fridges are amazing in size. I would like to have an American style one but they are expensive here and my kitchen is small. You would laugh at my teeny fridge.
Why do you need a rice steamer? can’t you just cook it in the pot?
shows what I know! Ok, so we got a microwave, a toaster, we use to have a blender but it got lost in the many many moves, we have a hand mixer, although I hand blend things a lot. I have a food grinder, an old hand one and an electric one (which I can’t figure out) to grind up food for the baby (when we can’t afford baby food!) I have a coffee maker that I bought last year and it’s already mostly broken and I can’t forget my treasured crock pot that I chose VERY carefully. We also have a griddle for weekend use.
I wish I used more spices, but really I don’t know what should go with what. So I have the basic spice rack and a couple extras (garlic salt, season salt, etc) in my cabinet.
we live in an apt, so we have very little actual counter space. I would totally get more gadgets if we had more room. I love cooking (I taught myself) but it seems like my fav meals are either crockpot meals or casseroles. yum
I use my coffee maker the most but we use it to brew ice tea because we don’t drink coffee. I make a gallon of tea a day. Next is my Crockpot which is used 2-3 times a week. The thing I use the least is my deep fryer. Hubby wanted one so bad and it only gets used 1-2 times a year. I love my MixMaster mixer but end up getting out my hand held mixer more than anything (yes I have 2 mixers
My MixMaster gets used more during the holidays when I do heavy duty baking. I love my extra freezer for stocking up on frozen veggies, meat, and frozen waffles. Hubby also hunts so it usually has venison and elk in it. I do own a a food processor but haven’t used it in years. I would rather get out my santoku knives and cutting board than wash my food processor. I try not to use to much boxed stuff because of all the preservatives in them. We eat more fresh from scratch food than anything else. I LOVE to cook and bake but HATE to clean up and wash dishes.
Hi, My name is Margalit and I am a kitchen slut. There is not a kitchen appliance or tool that I don’t own or desire to own. It is patently ridiculous because I have the world’s tiniest kitchen with absolutely no counter space, but I have a kitchenaid, a bread machine, a crock pot, a 6-slice toaster oven, a 4 slice toaster, blender, a food processor, an ice cream maker. I do not have a rice cooker because I have All Clad pots and pans and make rice on top of the stove.
Now, I admit that I have fabulous knives, the world’s best pots and pans, a complete set of baking pans including a tube pan, several bundt pans, and a lot of different size muffin tins. But I also have drawers filled with every kind of utensil imaginable.
My secret is that I purchase most of my kitchen stuff at Marshalls, where they carry really good stuff at really great prices. I’ve gotten an amazing amount of stuff there like pizza stones, baking pans, bread pans, and even a dutch oven.
As for spices, I’m almost embarassed to admit this. Not only do I grow my own herbs in the summer, I grow them through the winter on window sills. Additionally I have three spice racks. Yes, three. One has mostly baking spices, one has indian, italian, and mexican spices, and the third one has all the other dried spices like paprikas that I use less often. I get my spices at Penzys and change them all at least once a year.
We don’t have a Foreman grill, but we do have a small grill pan for burgers and a large one that fits across two burners for things like shishkabob.
I use EVERYTHING. I bake almost daily, although now that my daughter works at Panera, I don’t need to make bread anymore, and I cook pretty much every night.
My freezer is packed to the gills, my fridge is usually filled as well. We tend to buy in bulk when things are on sale, so we always have staples like pasta and rice on hand.
As for coffee… I’m such a coffee snob I use a french press and grind my own beans. I know, I’m terrible.
Told you I was a kitchen slut!
I use my pizza cutter the most.
I use my wok the least. I have a corkscrew and wine glasses which get used a lot…but not the “good” wine glasses. I don’t even own a coffee pot, but I use my tea kettle all the time for various things…hot chocolate, chai, cider, jello, to water my herbs on the balcony which I also never use…No frosty beer mugs in the freezer but lots of popsicles, frozen veggies, and hot pockets. I love cooking, but never quite seem to have the time.
Is it sad that I’m jealous of your three crockpots? We have one and I want another, I love them!
I have a small galley kitchen, so what’s on the counter is minimal, but used tons! I have my coffee maker, used daily. My toaster, used daily. My knife block, daily. My cookie jar, used every hour by my hubby and boys! And my Kitchen Aid mixer and flour/sugar canisters, used 2-3 times a week. We remodeled the kitchen this past Christmas and doubled the cabinet area by putting in TALL cabinets, so even though I need a stool, I love them do death! I have tons of baking dishes and cooking sheets, casserole dishes and crocks, and 2 crockpots. I also have my deep-fryer, my hand-mixer, and my waffle-iron in other cabinets. I don’t blend stuff much, so the blender is very dusty, my food processer is part of my hand mixer (love it!) and might come out monthly, and since we live in Idaho, potatoes are our side of choice, not rice. I also have an amazing microwave/convection oven, which is nice when you have to cook several dishes and the oven is full! And I have a regular fridge in the kitchen, and a upright freezer in the basement, both full. And my favorite kitchen innovation since we remodeled, my DISHWASHER!!!!!! I handwashed for 5 years, through 2 kids and all the bottles/sippies, and this was the BEST thing I ever got!
I have a fair amount of kitchen stuff. Cooking is the one household chore I actually enjoy. I have lots of baking pans and pie plates, and a pizza stone. My favorite pot is my big seven-quart Le Creuset.
As for appliances, I use my Cuisinart a lot (blending things, chopping things, making pie crusts, kneading pizza dough). I usually only get out the blender if I need to puree stuff for a soup. I use my rice cooker a lot, and I am going to make an effort to use my slow cooker more this winter. We also have an extra coffee grinder that is used as our spice grinder. I haven’t been using that too much lately, because I am mostly using fresh herbs from our garden, but in the winter when I do more curries it will get more use.
Right now I am madly in love with my Shun knives. They are so nice and sharp! They make prep work easier.
Well I still live at home, but here goes…
We have an oven, fridge/freezer, dishwasher (which we weren’t allowed to use when I was growing up, grr) and an extra freezer in the laundry.
Our pantry is ALWAYS full. I think half the things in there have been there for like, 10 years.
The top shelf is alcohol bottles, spices (we have SO many), and fancy crystal champagne/normal glasses.
Next one down is the main mug/cheap glass shelf, medicines.
Next is special occasion stuff (cupcake holders, birthday candles, etc.), and heaps of canned food and oils, all that sorta thing.
Next is baking goods like flour, sugar etc…
Bottom shelf is plates, tupperware (mostly empty).
Then on the ground is soda bottles, empty plastic bags, trays etc that are never used and a Christmas cake that has never been eaten and has been there wrapped in newspaper for what must have been at least two years. It’s meant to be preserved (it’s homemade) but I’m still not sure about it. lol
Our fridge/freezers are also full…
Cupboards - HEAPS of bowls/cooking bowls, whatever you can think of. Heaps of pots/pans, especially non-stick frying pans.
As for special appliances…the best one is the espresso machine. Also a juicer, electric beater, blender…yeah, normal stuff I suppose.
As for the questions…I don’t know about the rice steamer. No breadmaker. Our spices take up HEAPS of room. The fridge is pretty much full, although there’s always a little room. We have a separate freezer, PLUS one on top of the fridge. The wine glasses don’t get used much, but the coffee maker gets used pretty much every day. We probably use it the most actually, least would be the electric knife? lol. We had a food processor but I think it broke, now we use the blender…we use it mostly for making protein shakes/other shakes/smoothies. I want this one in baby blue…http://images.electricshopping.com/assets/images/products/Main_Images/kwmx271.jpg
These days with the price of bread increasing all the time, I think every home should have a breadmaker. They produce quality, cheap bread, and are less complex to use than a microwave.
Hmm.. wake up to that freshly baked smell.