I was revisiting a post about gadgets and was surprised at how many of the kitchen gadgets in a post from 2016 are still in use in my kitchen, even after moving and downsizing and will probably make the move to France with us.
- Mini spatula from GIR. I use it at least once a day, generally more. You can find it hanging out in the dish drainer more often than in its handsome utensil holder my friend Ivan made for me. Six years later, it’s still the most used thing in my kitchen (and it’s the same one I’ve had for forever)
- Ladle from GIR. It acts as a scraper while you are ladling stuff so you can get every last drop out of the pot. Brilliant! While not in use as much as the mini spatula, that and the silicone spoon from GIR are all on active duty.
- Wine-keeping carafe from Savino. It keeps the wine in good shape for about a week. The floaty thing stops the air from penetrating the wine. Has wine in it right now. Makes a great gift for anyone who drinks wine.
- Silicone lids, also from GIR. Like the mini spatula, the round ones are in use almost every day. They act as a drain stopper when I want to thaw something or soak spinach. The bigger ones are lids for cooking, covering food in the fridge, or for heating something in the microwave. We also have a small one that looks like a pig that my cousin gave me years ago that we use for heating up almost everything in the microwave. “Where’s piggy?” is a common mealtime refrain.
- POURfect measuring spoons I initially mocked these but cannot live without them! With measurements from a pinch to 2 tablespoons, these may seem overly precious, but trust me you’ll toss all others that came before. We did “improve” them a bit, by putting some black tape on the 1 teaspoon just to make finding it easier. And the fact that they have metric measurements, too, means I’m taking them to France.
- Fasta Pasta (life changing pasta cooker). Just trust me on this — it’s the best $20 you’ll spend. We’ve gifted these to so many people and use ours every time we cook pasta.
There are a few more, like the lemon juicer I bought years ago for $1 that is small, light, unbreakable and has posts to keep the pits from getting in the juice. If I could find it again, I’d buy lots and gift all my friends, but haven’t found anything quite as perfect. And a 5 in 1 peeler, grater, julienner. Supposedly you could get these in Asia for pennies. I got mine online for $4 and love it.
What are your must-have gadgets in the kitchen?
