We LOVE to cook. With cooking we have found having proper tools helps to make preparation, cooking, serving, and eating easier. This past Sunday the weather in Nashville was horrendous; it was raining and storming literally ALL day. This would normally impact our mood, however our family has been non-stop with house repairs, playing outside, playing inside, cooking and cleaning (does laundry ever stop?) so we elected to spend the day on the couch in from of the tube.*
We often get asked what television shows we’re watching and typically don’t have a good answer. Some might find it funny, but if you know us it doesn’t seem too far fetched that we spent the afternoon watching reviews on various kitchen appliances and tools. We absolutely adore American’s Test Kitchen. Their cook books, their magazines (Cook’s Illustrated), and by far we enjoy watching the equipment reviews on YouTube.
One of the first reviews we watched was on non-stick pans and if they are truly harmful. From watching this in addition to various other articles, our consensus was we don’t yet have enough data to be certain, but why chance what is speculated to harm us. Since our non-stick pans are in dire need for replacement, we were looking to purchase a new pan that has the same non-stick characteristics, but we didn’t want to replace with non-stick chemicals. We didn’t want to use only stainless steel, which is a bugger to clean, or cast iron (which we love and is naturally non-stick, but uber heavy), so we elected to purchase this carbon steel pan. This video was very interesting and informative, if you have time I highly recommend watching.
The second purchase we ended up prioritization is this scale. A scale is extremely beneficial if you’re cooking, but can also be helpful for avoiding the US Post Office. Even without social distancing, I would like to avoid any government operated facilities; avoiding removes one stress I don’t need.
Thirdly, we use our baking pans ALL THE TIME and ours are cheap and browning (which alone, is not necessarily a bad thing). Roasting veggies or nuts, making cookies, flipping over to allow cakes/desserts to cool, cook pizza, etc. We opted to replace our baking sheets with these.
These next items are on our wish list, but we didn’t want to spend all of our money on kitchen stuff…Not yet anyway! :)
Sink Sponges - Apparently there are better ones out there
Parchment Paper Sheets - Great for clean up and use instead of aluminum foil
Bread Knife - Apparently block knife sets are not the best bang for your buck
Oven Toaster - We are definitely getting this SOON. It can roast a whole chicken, how cool
Cooking from scratch can be quite intimidating for some, but having the right tools (like sharp knives) can make the process 10x’s easier. Seriously, do not use a dull knife, it is way more dangerous! While you’re home quarantined, think of some exotic or different meal you’ve always wanted to try, or perhaps even your favorite from a restaurant and search for the recipe online. Trust me, there are thousands of recipes out there and you’ll enjoy the challenge, if you don’t kill your sous chef!
*We don’t watch t.v. much, especially with our 1.5 year old son, however when we do we aim to watch together as a family.
Cheers,
Sarah