My Tool Kit

Hi everyone,

I am so sorry that we have slipped posting for 4 months! But don't worry we have been trying and testing new recipes during this time and it has occurred to me that I have never shared with you all the key things I have in my tool kit in the kitchen!

So I know it varies household to household and even culture to culture but here is some items on my essentials list and my nice to have list:

Essentials List:

Wooden Spoons

Ladle

Pots

Frying Pans/Griddle

Whisk

Weighing Scales

Tupperware

Mixing Bowls

Measuring Spoons/Cups

Knife Block

Apron

Pallet Knives

(Just to name a few- laughs)

Nice To Have List:

Stand Mixer (Coming to my house this year)

Hand Blender/Blender

Food Processor

Coffee Machine

Dishwasher (Oh wait- I already have one in my husband- laughs)

To Be Continued....

Wooden Spoons/Ladle/Whisk/Measuring Spoons or Cups/Pallet Knives/Knife Block:

So it's important to have the above items in the kitchen as it does make cooking and baking a lot easier. It doesn't have to be the most expensive ones either as long as they are practical. Wooden spoons are helpful in making sauces, to cook pasta, starting a dough and more. A ladle is very handy for making batch meals, making pancakes, portioning out soup/stews etc. A whisk (whether handheld or electric) is very handy for making cake mixes, biscuits, ice cream etc. Pallet knives are a lifesaver when it comes to putting icing/buttercream on cakes/cupcakes but they are also great to help with presentation on a plate when plating sauces/puree's etc. Knife blocks can be very handy in the kitchen particularly if you have little ones as you can store them on your worktops towards the back of the wall but also because having knives for cutting veg, bread, meats etc. means that you can keep a cross contaminated free kitchen. Now you don't need a set of fancy knives (unless you're training to become a chef that is) because often I find with certain kitchen items that the most expensive options don't always give the best quality.

Frying Pans/Griddle Pan/Pots:

So one of the things that I brought with my husband when we got married is a set of pots and pans from M&S. You can usually get a set of 3-4 together and I also find having a small milk pot to be useful as well particularly when you are making scrambled egg etc. I also have two frying pans (of different sizes) and a griddle pan as I find that we often make dishes where you can cook meats or eggs in pans rather than always doing them oven baked etc. My griddle pan is great for making kebabs, grilling Halloumi and more. If you have a small kitchen like I do (one day I'll get my dream kitchen!) having the basic essentials is a good idea so that you don't compromise on space. If you have a larger kitchen or need more than the basic essentials because you have a family or have family gatherings often requiring multiple pots and pans and you do have space- there are shops out there that do sets of 5+.

Weighing Scales & Mixing Bowls:

Now I would say I'm skilled enough to not always have to measure ingredients but in the cases where I do (such as making meringue) I use weighing scales. I prefer using manual weighing scales with a bowl (like you would weigh loose fruit and veg in the supermarket) rather than using electric scales. The reason being I find manual weighing scales more reliable and accurate. But each to their own. Equally the same applies to my mixing bowls. I use metal ones for making bread and cast iron/China bowls for making cakes, meringues etc. Mason Cash do amazing mixing bowls but any from your average supermarket or homeware store still do the trick. Remember expense isn't always the best choice so I'll leave it up to you. My mason cash bowls were from my husband's family.

Tupperware:

Now if you're as old as I am (no pun nor offense intended) you'll remember your mum's either attending or hosting a Tupperware party. My mum hosted a few when I was a kid and the way she stored things with them is instilled in me today. Although the company Tupperware is no longer, the practice still remains strong in our world today. I recently have been buying Tupperware boxes for making batch meals from Tesco's. In terms of general storage, it has varied over the years where I have brought them from- Home Bargains, TK Maxx, M&S to name a few. Having Tupperware really does help to keep food fresh for longer and can be space saving as well.

Apron:

I always have aprons in the house. To me they are essential not only for cooking and baking but I also have one designated for cleaning. My lovely sister Mary and her fiancé Jordan went to New York in April for their birthday's (having saved up for a few years) and they went into a Carlos Bakery Shop and brought me a Carlos Bakery apron. I haven't used it and I'm on the fence as to whether I should as it's a lovely gift and a precious one but if I do you'll be the first to know (I'll even post a picture of me wearing it.) They keep ingredients off your clothes but equally when you are handling meats, veg, fish etc they are an ideal tool to prevent cross contamination.

Hand Blender/Blender/Food Processor/Stand Mixer:

These aren't essentials to have in the kitchen but if you happen to have any of these they can be very useful when cooking or baking. My husband and I have talked for ages about getting a stand mixer but there's a long list of nice to haves at the moment and this one falls about halfway (a new sofa is more pressing! laughs). I do have a mini chopper which has many a use more than what it says on the tin so to speak as it does make a great puree plus crushes down veg for a soup etc.

Coffee Machine:

Now I'm on the fence with this one as I do already have two cafetières (one was a wedding gift and the other was a first Christmas gift from close family) and I use instant coffee daily. Having said that there are so many varieties of coffee machines and so many reviews of them, that I am not sure where to start (apart from window shopping occasionally in Curry's) so if you have a particular coffee machine that you love and would like to share your thoughts with us please do let us know.

Dishwasher:

Our very first apartment that we rented after we got married had a half size dishwasher. Now I am going to be totally honest, I have absolutely no clue when it comes to dishwashers, in terms of how to use them let alone look after them. So my husband often did the dishes either by hand or using the dishwasher. Our second rented property didn't have one and doing dishes is my least favourite chore so my husband did them for me (with me doing them occasionally). Now we're in our first property that we own, there isn't really any space for a dishwasher (whether half sized or full sized) so my husband does the majority of the dishes again with me doing them occasionally. But there is one chore my husband can't stand doing which is the ironing. I'll happily stand there for even 3 hours doing ironing and it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

What is in your tool kit in your kitchen? Do you have similar items to me or a completely different list?

Let us know especially if you have a coffee machine that you love- I'm going to need all the help I can get!

Love Lily xxxx