We have finally moved in to our house. It has been a whirlwind two weeks of moving across the country. Until today I haven’t had any access to the internet (thank goodness for being able to schedule automatic blog posts!), which is why I haven’t responded to your comments and been commenting on any blogs lately. But I promise to get to them soon. After I lay on my couch for a while and detox from all the unpacking, that is.
Enough complaining, what I really want to do today is celebrate! Celebrate that my kitchen is unpacked, that I have actually been cooking and baking again (wahoo!) and celebrate that I am back to blogging.
If there is one thing that unpacking, which I loathe, has done, it has made me realize what things I love. Especially kitchen things. I was practically kissing and hugging my citrus reamer, silpat liners and perfect white platters just from having been without them for so long.
In honor of being back in the blogging world after a crazy move (did I mention that all four of my kids came down with strep throat and ear infections??), I am hereby giving a shout out for two of the kitchen things I unpacked this week that I can’t live without…and I am giving away one of each to two lucky winners!
Here they are (drum roll, please):
Silpat Liner: oh my, I am not exaggerating (and if you know me, you know I love to exaggerate) when I say I use these babies at least three times a week (I have two of them). I line my baking sheets with them every time I make cookies, breadsticks, french bread, rolls, etc. I love them. A lot. They are absolutely nonstick and make clean up a cinch. I’m giving away one of these beauties.
Digital Scale (Salter): If you haven’t been converted to weighing your ingredients, now is the time. For any recipe that gives weights and measures, I ALWAYS weigh. It is accurate and precise and provides practically no-fail results. Plus it makes me feel very culinarily scientific. I have a Salter Digital Scale. I heart it. I’m giving away one just like mine!
Leave me a comment telling me your favorite kitchen item (or just saying hello) and your email address and I’ll enter you in the contest. Only one entry per person, please. Contest ends Friday at 6:00 pm CST. I’ll announce the winners that evening.
By the way, this contest isn’t sponsored by any company. Salter and Silpat (Demarle) have no idea who I am and would probably be embarrassed to know I am waxing poetic about their products. It is simply because I love the products and want to share them with you. Okay, bye now.
I love my Cuisinart Mini Chopper. I love not having to chop onions…or anything that I don’t want to chop. It makes my marinara sauce a breeze. One day I’ll get a full-size food processor, but in the mean time, this will do.
jessicafk at gmail dot com
I love your blog and have been sharing it with all my cooking friends! [email protected]
It’s so hard to choose just one . . . so I’ll have to mention a few: my garlic press, my OXO mixing bowls, my zester. Thanks for all the fabulous recipes – I have yet to find one we haven’t liked and many are becoming regulars in my household.
[email protected]
Welcome back!
My all time favorite kitchen gadget is my prof. sized Kitchen-Aid mixer and as of late I am now loving my Flexipan (silicone) tart pan…Both have improved my baking.
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I must have a sharp knife, and a saute pan
I enjoy your blog. Your recipes are terrific. Thanks for sharing.
I have a little mini chopper that I LOVE! It is especially helpful when chopping onions. No more crying!!
tiffinclark at cox dot net
Hi! My favorite kitchen item is my Kitchen Aid mixer. Hands down. I’m thankful I have it everytime I use it!
I love to bake and I use all of the tools that I have, meaning, I don’t just buy every gadget out there, if I add to my kitchen it must be something I am converted to. One of my most surprising tools is my offset spatula. I thought for years that a knife is completely sufficient and I didn’t need an offset spatula, I am totally converted though, I just can’t live without it now.
Thank you for your blog. I love checking to see what you have made. You are very inspiring!
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MEL! I have missed you and thought of you often during your move. I hope it went beautifully. My favorite kitchen gadgets are my pampered chef garlic press- it is the best, my dough cutter which I use to transport cut onions, score things, and actually cut dough, and my very favorite things are my two 1 cup vintage measuring cups that were my moms- they are avocado green and a very bright teal-about 20 years old and PERFECT! I have to admit, I look at the Silpat everytime I go to Sur La Table, but I have never given in! So glad you are back, and oh, I made the chicken curry tonight… my kids DEVOURED it! My picky 5 year old twinboy even had seconds and declared it delicious! YEAH!
I love my little in-hand lemon/lime squeezer. Love my Kitchenaid mixer which I’ve had over 30 years. Just bought a new paddle beater with ‘wings’ this week for it. Love microwave!
I have been going to buy a silpat and scale for quite a while. Glad to know you like them.
Kitchen Aide Stand Mixer! Gotta Love it!
Congrats on surviving the move!
My favorite kitchen item is my pink hand mixer. It’s so easy and convinient to use, plus it’s not as much of a hassle as my stand mixer.
hmmmm….really love my bosche …but wish i had a bigger one.
My favorite “items” currently in my kitchen are my two little men. Whenever possible, they like to be at my side helping me bake and cook.
As far as the “unhuman” favorite kitchen item, it would have to be my KitchenAid stand mixer. Love, love, love it!
I absolutely love my KitchenAid Mixer! It is a beauty and I don’t know what I would do without it!
rachaelandmichael@gmail.com
Thanks!
My favorite kitchen item… my 2 year olds hands. She loves to help me cook, and I love it when she does.
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I love my kitchen aid! It makes everything so much easier.
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My favorite item has GOT to be my KitchenAid stand mixer! I don’t know what I would do with out it!
I love my Calphalon pan…Thanks for the chance.
My pampered chef kitchen shears. I use them every day for thing as easy as cutting open a rice packet to snipping herbs. LOVE THEM!
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My favorite kitchen tool would have to be my wooden spoons.
I love my sharp kitchen knives. They are the very best things I have been given.
I love my BIG sharp knife. Its a must have
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can i only pick one? because you asked me today, i’m gonna say my ice cube tray … the little one that makes bite sized ice cubes. i’m totally loving that these days.
any other day? probably my kitchen aid.
I love my Bosch. Favorite thing I own. Thanks! [email protected]
Great Blog! I would have to say I love my kitchenaid and couldn’t live without it! I’m ready to start weighing my ingredients as I’m an avid Alton Brown fan
Welcome back! I can’t believe that I don’t have a Silpat or a digital scale, yet! Hands down, is my Kitchen Aid mixer, which I used several times per week… I don’t know if I could ever live without it!
I would have to say, like you, I love my citrus reamer, my silpat, and my pampered chef mini spatula and gravy whisk.
I love your recipes! I’m always grateful for my Kitchen Aid mixer, but right now I’m really loving my mandolin slicer with the crinkle-cut edge since it makes the coolest homemade pickles. (So many cucumbers from the garden!) So crunchy and tasty!
Oh I love my blender. I know so silly but it has so many uses and makes yummy shakes!!!
I really could use both of these items. My fingers and toes are crossed.
Best of luck in your new home!
I love my KA mixer, it was a gift from my sons and I use it all the time!
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I absolutely love my BOSCH! Don’t know what I would do without it. My email is [email protected]
Thanks for all you share… i love your blog and use it often!
My favorite kitchen item right now is my Kitchenaid mini chopper. I have a 1 year old without molars and it works great for chopping up her food! But, I would have to say I don’t love it as much as your blog.
Welcome back,and congratulations on surviving your move (especially with 4 sick kids!).
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Yeah for giveaways, you’re awsome!
I could NOT live without our garlic press. A must-have, die-without item in the kitchen.
That and my husband, doing dishes. But I don’t think that counts.
I can’t say that I have a favorite kitchen appliance that I OWN. Haha, there is so much I want still!
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My favorite kitchen tool is my heat resistant spatulas. I love your blog. Keep the recipes coming!
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My favorite item is my bundt pan! I just love it.
It’s hard to pick just one thing, but I’m going to say my pampered chef stones…I have several and I love them all.
mbourns at aol dot com
I cook quite a bit but don’t really have a favorite kitchen item. Maybe one of your prizes will become one of my new favorites!
The first thing I thought of was my pampered chef garlic press. I cook with garlic a lot and couldn’t live without it. I love, love, love it!!!
I love my mini ice cream scooper. I use it to make pergect round chocolate chip cookies! Yum.
ARE YOU FREAKING OUT AT ALL THE COMMENTS OR WHAT????? AWESOME MEL!!!
I can’t live without my BOSCH mixer!!! It is worth its weight in gold…and I love it more every time I use it! I don’t have either of the two items up for giveaway…both things on my wish list!
Oh pick me! I’d love the Silpat liner. Favotire kitchen things that I already have: my food processor is my favorite appliance, but my olive oil mister is my favorite gadget.
I love my wooden spoon. It is absolutely necessary for me to cook or bake. I love stirring cookie dough like my grandmother used to.
I would have to say it is my KitchenAid Blender or Mixer or both…
I love my can strainer I bought at Bed Bath and Beyond recently! It’s so much easier than using the can’s lid to strain the liquid.
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I love my springform pans, because getting them out means that it’s cheesecake time!
I love my disher. I make lots and lots of cookies and the disher always makes the cookies the same size.
Karen
Glad you’re getting settled in. I love my Wusthof knives and my food processor (i despise chopping onions!). Thanks for the giveaway!
Yeah! You’re back! I’ve been enjoying some recipes of yours…thanks! I really want that scale! I have lots of kitchen gadgets that I love, but I’ll say…Um…I love my wheat grinder and my bosch. Gotta love home made bread!
I’m not sure what I would do without the GRILL! My husband went on a really healthy streak where he had 2 pieces of grilled chicken for lunch and dinner.
akalei2001 (@) yahoo (dot) com
I am so glad that you are settling in! Can’t imagine what a monumental task that would be with four boys, especially when one of them is a baby. Yay for you!!!
My favorite kitchen item is my Bosch mixer. My 4 boys go through a lot of bread!
Love all the recipes! My favorite cooking thing is one of my pots, it has a strainer built into the lid, SOOOOO nice. [email protected]
Jen
I could not live without my KitchenAid!
You crack me up!
It’s a tie between my kitchen aid and my pampered chef chef’s knife! I hope your little ones are feeling better and that you recover from the move soon!
tari.mcdonald [at] gmail [dot] com
My rolling pin is my favorite kitchen item, even though I don’t use it all that often. It was my great-grandmother’s, made of birds-eye maple.
Kathi
http://oak-hill-homestead.blogspot.com/
Thanks for your blog. I have tried many many recipes and they are all fantanstic! My favorite kitchen item is my Kitchen Aid. I use it almost daily. I hope to one day have a Bosch too!
[email protected]
my favs are my santoku knife and oxo cookie scoops.
[email protected] Love your blog!
I love my Kitchen Aid Mixer and my Panini Maker.
Thanks!
kajrstohl(at)msn(dot)com
I ::heart:: my kitchen aid stand mixer (I actually saved my pennies and bought it when I was 18!)
My other FAV is my doughmakers pans – they’re WONDERFUL! I’ve never burnt anything on them and they cook so evenly – no more domed cakes!
I’m so glad you are finally settled in. There is nothing so terrible as a cross country move!
MY favoite would have to be my red kitchen aid. Love it love it LOVE IT. (I love your blog too!)
You’re recipes are such hit with all my family. You may remember the Foy’s from Ponca City.
I love my immersion blender from Kitchen Aid. It makes soups so much easier, no waiting for it to cool to put in the blender and all the spillage in transfers. It also makes chopping herbs a cinch. Amber
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You’re recipes are such hit with all my family. You may remember the Foy’s from Ponca City.
I love my immersion blender from Kitchen Aid. It makes soups so much easier, no waiting for it to cool to put in the blender and all the spillage in transfers. It also makes chopping herbs a cinch. Amber
[email protected]
Could not live without my Bosch! It allows me to make homemade bread every week – a little easier
! Love your blog and the great recipes you share! [email protected]
Mixing bowls. Can’t cook without them.
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I LOVE LOVE LOVE my rubber heat resistant spatula. My husband calls it a spoonula (thanks Rachel Ray), but i use it to stir and scrape up everything in the kitchen. I hope i win!!!
I love my small kitchen hand mixer – so handy for smaller jobs!! Glad you are getting settles. [email protected]
I love my Bosh Mixer. I use it all the time. I love reading yuor blog and getting new ideas for yummy food!
YAY- you are back and alive! Hope all is well and I am so excited to see what you are cooking up.
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Welcome Home !
My favorite kitchen items:
1. Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron Square Grill Pan – I LOVE corn OR flour tortillas heated on these to make the perfect quesadillas.
2.Emile Henry casserole pans. THEY ROCK. Nothing sticks !
3. Microplane to for zesting and parm. cheese !
A sharp paring knife
I love my Kitchen Aid knife block set. They are so sharp and make chopping and cutting a breeze. I also love my Calphalon pans.
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I really like my kitchen shears.
Mini food processor! It’s a handy dandy little machine.
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It is hard to choose just one favorite . . . but I think I’d have to go with my KitchenAid. I’m not sure how I survived without it
!
I love my Kitchenaid Mixer, I couldn’t live without it!
I can’t live without my Cutco knives set (I think a set is one item).
confusion180 at hotmail dot com
Welcome back!
I love my silpat too! And we are soon to leave the country, and live where there is no such thing as cooking spray, so another silpat would be wonderful!
I love your blog and I must say that one of my favorite kitchen tools is my food processor! I got it about one year ago and now I don’t know how I EVER lived without it!
My favorite kitchen item would have to be my kitchenaid mixer!
Great contest– welcome back!
Although it isn’t for cooking or baking, my favorite appiance is our stir crazy popcorn popper. It makes the very best popcorn.
I’m a very simple cook so I love my crock pot. I always have dinner on the table in time when the crock pot does all the work!
I love my kitchen aid mixer. I use it all of the time!
Wow – what a great giveaway. My favorite kitchen item lately is my blender – nothing fancy but it makes a great smoothie.
I have many favorite kitchen items, and since I live in a place where I have none right now, I miss them all. But one thing that I love is a zester. I don’t know the true term, but I used it for everthing (small) like garlic, lemon, oranges and anything else I can think to use it with, I also love my kitchen aid.
Great recipes!
My favorite kitchen item is my pampered chef batter bowls, not only are they great for mixing, but you can bake in them. How great is that!
My 18 month old’s favorite item is the box that I store all my leftover jar lids in for leftovers. He tends to carry the box, a small bar board, and other items from kitchen to living room several times a week.
Thanks!
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Wow – you are a popular lady! Glad your move went well and you’re getting settled! I think my favorite tool in the kitchen is, currently, my HUGE mixing bowl. It’s so great to make mixes (onion soup mix, microwave oatmeal, baking mixes, hot cocoa, etc.) without being worried about sloshing ingredients all over. I can mix with reckless abandon! [email protected]
I love two things-my kitchen aid. Although I do secretly wish it to be a Bosch at times. And my mother’s “vintage” pyrex mixing bowls. I am scouring the web now to try and find others to have.
fmandds @ comcast . net
Right now its my bullet. Its great for making the impromptu baby food.
Just one thing… that could be tough! I have so many things that I love. Lately, I guess, it has been the nesting bowls I picked up at Target. There are 6 of them, so one of them is the perfect size for just about anything I am mixing up. Glad you made the moved safely and that the kiddos are feeling better (I hope they are anyway!).
I love my pampered chef can opener. Any time I use a regular one I slice my finger open. Thank goodness for smooth edges! I would love to have a silpat. Thanks!
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One of my favorite kitchen tools is my food processor. I use it for so many more things than I ever thought I would–it makes fabulous pizza dough, pie crust, biscuits, hummus, pesto–I could go on and on. I enjoy your blog–I love the variety of recipes you include and your great photos. My e-mail address is: [email protected].
One of my favorite kitchen items is my Pampered Chef Turnabout to hold all my utensils. It works great!!
I love my miniature liquid measuring cup– perfect for measuring out a few TBS or tsp!
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My cast iron skillet. I love it and could never imagine not having it to use.
I’m glad your back and everything is going well for you!
I love my Pampered Chef garlic press and cookie scoop!
I love my Kitchenaid…cant wait to one day get a Bosch [email protected] Thanks!!
Holy Moly girl, you are popular!
I would have to say my fav. kitchen gadget would be my garlic press that works every time. Or, my big mixing bowls with rubber bottoms. Love those! Keep up the good posts, we love ‘em!
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