Martha's Top Ten: In the Kitchen

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Not as much as I should lately, but still a good portion of my life has been spent cooking. Here are my top ten things in my current kitchen:

10) IKEA 365+ Dinnerware - especially the side plate:

Just deep enough for all kinds of things. It's perfect for a salad, soup, or pasta. We have the whole set though - dinner plate, salad plate, soup bowl. They're durable and match everything since they're white.

9) Le Gourmet Chef 12 qt stainless steel pot with pasta and steamer inserts:

Good for sealing jars when Adam makes applesauce or pickles, steaming crab legs, cooking pasta or mass amounts of sweet corn.

8) Presto Electric Griddle:

Good for pancakes, bacon, grilled cheese...

7) Cuisinart Toaster Oven Broiler:

Good for garlic bread, quick sandwiches, cinnamon toast in the morning.

6) Cuisinart Panini and Sandwich Press:

We use this a lot for easy paninis. It's quick and pretty much foolproof.

5) George Foreman Grill:

I had one of these in college (but don't tell anyone because those kind of things were banned in the dorms.) It can cook a frozen solid chicken breast in about 10 minutes. It's a wonderful appliance to have around and our go-to housewarming gift.

4) KitchenAid 5-qt stand mixer:

This mixer is amazing and I can't imagine making cookies or cakes without it. It can beat eggs like nobody's business and it works great on doughs as well.

3) This one's a two-fer: Rival 5-qt SmartPot Slow Cooker:

and
Cuisinart 4-qt Programmable Slow Cooker:

With just two of us I found the 5-qt was too big sometimes (I still use it for big pots of chili or spaghetti sauce and at our parties) so Adam got me the smaller 4-qt which is just perfect sized for us. Both have high/low settings, a timer, and an auto-warm function which is absolutely necessary on CrockPot Monday's since I start it before I go to work and it's usually done before I get home.

2) Tramontina Professional Series Santoku Knife :

This knife can cut anything. It's seriously awesome.

1) Analon Ovation 12" Covered Skillet:

Of course, it looks like they no longer make this item. Go figure. Every time I find something I absolutely love, the manufacturer discontinues it. Boo.

Anyway. This pan is fabulous. Deep enough for sauces, good for searing and cooking chicken breasts, oven-safe, non-stick, heats evenly. My favorite pan for sure.