After staying in two different homes over the holidays (and doing a little cooking in each), I came home to our kitchen with a new appreciation for some of our everyday tools (and a few items to add to our wish list that I loved using as a visitor!). Since we cook at home at least six dinners a week, I thought it might be fun to share some of our most-loved and most-used kitchen work horses. Whether you’re adding items to your wedding registry, building up your own mealtime arsenal, or looking for an idea for the next time your mother-in-law asks you for a gift idea, I hope this is helpful!
I’ve already waxed poetic about our Le Creuset dutch ovens (and the funny story of how we bought our first one), but they easily deserve the first spot on this list. We have a round 5 1/2 quart (my favorite) and a shallow round 3 1/2 quart. We use the biggie for making soups, stews, pastas, braised meats, risotto, orzo, and much more. I probably cook with it 5/7 nights a week. It goes from stovetop to oven to table beautifully, and is so easy to clean. Pick a color you love, because you’ll have it forever :)
Speaking of easy-to-clean: one of my favorite Shark Tank discoveries is the Scrub Daddy. His smile accurately expresses how easy he makes dishwashing!
We registered for a Calphalon cookware set and use many of the pieces daily (particularly the small and medium sauce pans and the stock pot). These are also easy to clean, which I love, but my favorite feature might be the glass tops, which makes it easy to see what’s bubbling at a glance! Our set is very similar to this one except ours are silver, not black.
More registry big dogs: our KitchenAid mixer (ours is black) and our food processor. The food processor got daily use in our seasons of making purees, but even now it earns its spot for making salsa, tikka paste, and just generally chopping stuff.
We don’t have a huge collection of one-off tools, but there are two that I’d recommend: an immersion blender and a griddler. We use the immersion blender for soups often (plus the mini chopper it comes with is really useful, too!). The griddler is great for grilled cheese, pancakes, and quesadillas in a pinch. The plates go in the dishwasher, which, if you can’t already tell, is an important attribute in our home.
I don’t have a ton to say about knives except that you should have them and keep them sharp :) I would recommend specializing with a great bread knife, and we love these little paring knives, too. This is the best peeler.
Now for a few things that I have no brand loyalty to, but would recommend saving a spot for in your kitchen: a blender, crockpot, simple wooden spoons, a citrus reamer, a big (for pasta) and little (for berries) strainer, a set of nesting mixing bowls (ours are very similar to this), mini silicone spatulas, several plastic cutting boards, and a slim plastic slotted spoon (I don’t love the bulky ones).
Finally, two things I’d like to add to our mix: a compost bin (this one is in my cart) and a lovelier dish rack.
TL;DR: I really, really love our Le Creuset.
I’d love to hear: what’s your number one kitchen item? Everyone’s cooking patterns and favorite recipes are so different, and I’m curious to hear!
Ready for a little movie break on your Thursday? Shep to the rescue with his first starring role: Sheptember, Volume One! (Though personally, I think big sister might steal the show at 1:45.)
This installment is particularly sweet to me, because I love the way it fixes this moment in time with our boy. Photos and videos have a way of doing that, don’t they? They add to and shape our memories. I appreciate that, because some of the things that so frustrate and fatigue us in the moment just don’t really need to be remembered.
While June has a 365-days-of-California-sun temperament — something of a unicorn child (a comparison she would be delighted by, no doubt), Shep’s temperament is more, well, normal — most of the time he’s lovely, and sometimes he’s really, really grumpy. We intentionally left those grumpy moments on the cutting room floor (including one memorable clip where Shep is screaming his head off, and you can hear John in the background saying “this one’s not going to make the movie,” HA!).
His sweetness, his fun-loving spirit, his impishness, his curiosity, and — of course — his love for his big sister all come across so strongly here. Enjoy this little glimpse into life with our favorite baby boy at one year!
We have a four year old in the house! Three was the sweetest of sweet ages (proof) and I am expectant to see what four has to offer. If it’s more of the same, that sounds great to me :)
Over the years, we’ve collected a few simple family birthday traditions — a balloon for each year at your chair, the birthday banner hung on the fireplace, and getting to choose your birthday dinner.
Last year, we introduced one more: the birthday interview!
This is not a new idea by any stretch of the imagination — Pinterest has a zillion free printables — though I originally got the idea not from Pinterest but from our friends the Henrys, who conduct a similar interview with their kids on Christmas Eve every year (continuing a tradition from Mackenzie’s family growing up!).
We keep it simple: I just type up and print out her answers and stick them in a binder. (When she’s older, I’ll have her write them!)
There is one twist we’ve initiated, though: we film her answering the questions! Her little voice arrests me with its cuteness daily, and I know one day I will be desperate to listen to what she used to sound like. I’m not crying, you’re crying.
When she turned three, we thought she’d be old enough to understand our questions and come up with an answer to them, and though she has indeed answered the questions both years, some of her answers are definitely… of dubious veracity, as least according to her revealed preferences. For example, this year she named grapes as her favorite fruit — even though we have grapes in our house about two times a year. I’ve been known to add commentary in parentheses to some of the more out-there answers :)
(For the record, I can sympathize: have you ever had the experience of being asked your favorite book, and literally not being able to think of a single book you’ve ever read?! What is a book???)
Eventually we’ll add Shep’s answers to the binder, too! Here are the questions we ask, if you’d like to try something similar:
Favorite color: Favorite animal: Favorite book: Favorite thing to watch: Favorite thing to wear: Favorite game: Favorite song: Favorite breakfast: Favorite snack: Favorite fruit: Favorite treat: Favorite place to eat: Favorite thing to do outside: Favorite thing to do inside: Favorite toy: Favorite stuffed animal: Favorite holiday: Best friend: I am really good at: Where I want to go on vacation: What I want to be when I grow up: What we did on my birthday:
One last note: this is the type of thing that, if I had an eight year old and was hearing about it for the first time, might stress me out, being late to the party. Don’t do that. If you have an eight year old and want to start this, just start it! I promise she won’t care that you skipped years 3-7 :)
For me, January is a month for resetting and exploring. I usually finalize my 2020 goals a few days into the new year, and then use the rest of the month to plot out a loose plan and schedule for what progress on those goals might look like. Unsurprisingly, January looks a lot like the littlest little-by-little: brainstorm, research, prepare, read instructions. The Enneagram 5 in me loves January :)
One note I wanted to add while we’re on the topic of goals. Someone asked me recently why my yearly goals haven’t (ever?) included anything finance related, even though it’s clearly a focus for us. And therein lies the answer: we are most definitely working toward a long-term financial goal, but because it’s so thoroughly accounted for in our everyday life (thanks, budget!), it’s not something that takes any extra planning or thought on my part — and therefore doesn’t need to be broken down monthly like my 2020 goals do!
On my calendar this month: — June’s birthday! We’re forgoing a party this year in favor of a day of fun with her cousin :) — Our 15th dativersary!
What I’m loving right now: — We’ve watched exactly one episode of Amazon’s Modern Love (no. 1), and it was so exquisitely beautiful and lovely (and tear inducing, it must be said) that I’m hesitant to watch another one for fear of tarnishing that memory. Watch it — and watch the rest at your own risk :) — This should not be surprising if you’ve been reading EFM for any length of time, but CLEARLY I am loving the Jeopardy! GOAT tournament. John is rooting for James and I am rooting for Ken!
What I read in December: — Reclaiming Home: I picked this up after hearing the author on the Coffee & Crumbs podcast and loving what she had to say about family traditions. Her book has a whiff of self-publishing about it, but was still worthwhile! If you want to build your family culture but Sally Clarkson is a little artsy for your vibe, I’d try Krista’s book!
January goals: — Commission a gate for our front porch — Open the Advent calendar box :) Look through everything, read instructions — Brainstorm needed zones for the loft — Clean out my existing recipe binder — Cull 2019 iPhone photos — Brainstorm “forest school” location possibilities near us — Buy a stationary bike?? — Do something fun with two of my focal friends — Conduct an initial search for a downstairs desk — Write our sweet girl a note on her fourth birthday (continuing a tradition) — Order our 2019 photos from Social Print Studio
As a reminder, many of these are drawn from my 2020 goals!
Since it’s something I’m thinking about right now, let’s talk about recipe organization. How do you organize yours? A binder? On Pinterest? Recipe cards? Something else? I’d love to hear!
