1-Stop Complete Guide to my Kitchen Favorites

From time to time readers will reach out to me with questions or comments about recipes, ingredients and equipment. Although I tend to sprinkle a paragraph or two on my favorite products throughout the blog, this 1-Stop Complete Guide to my Kitchen Favorites is an effort to compile a list of my top picks for anyone to reference quickly.

A good food processor is gold in the kitchen

If you’ve been following along here or on my social channels for any amount of time, you’ve likely heard me say that I only recommend brands and products that I personally use and am passionate about. Otherwise, how can you trust anything I say or put in print? In full disclosure, this post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. In this list, you’ll find recommendations for ingredients that I use in my daily life and in the recipes found throughout this blog. You’ll also find recommendations for fundamental kitchen equipment pieces that I use personally, and I believe will serve you well in your home cooking journey for many years.

What you won’t find here are links to trendy gadgets, impossible-to-find ingredients or other forms of marketing fluff. If I’ve culled an item from my own kitchen cabinets, you won’t find me promoting it here on the MOstly Bakes Blog. With all that seriousness settled, let’s get down to the fun stuff – the recommendations! Aren’t you just a wee bit curious to see what’s made the cut as essential pieces in my own home kitchen?

Your 1-Stop Complete Guide to my Kitchen Favorites: What you really need

What kitchen tools and gadgets do you really, truly need? This is a highly subjective question. If you enjoy poaching a whole, large fish at home on a regular basis, a fish serving platter or a fish poaching pan may be essential pieces in your eyes. I don’t poach an entire fish with any regularity, so it’s not an essential tool in my kitchen. Do you see my point? What is essential in your kitchen will be different from what is essential in mine simply because no two home cooks are the same.

Quality knives are essential kitchen gadgets

However, there are some basic tools and gadgets that will make any home cook’s experience in the kitchen more enjoyable. Good tools – such as a quality set of knives, pots and pans, bakeware, and a few choice appliances can do wonders for one’s technique and efficiency. In this 1-Stop Complete Guide to my Kitchen Favorites, I highlight the core pieces that I use to multitask in the kitchen.

For example, it is my humble opinion that I do not need a drawer full of specialty cutting items to slice through every fruit or vegetable that comes across my kitchen counter. Do I really need an egg slicer gadget to slice and dice a hard boiled egg? How did we ever slice an avocado, hull a strawberry, core an apple or “split” a rib of celery before a dozen more gadgets were invented? Do I really need a cherry pitter? Actually, yes. I stand by mine as will anyone who has ever pitted fresh cherries for a pie or olives for a tapenade. However, in most cases a few essential kitchen gadgets are all you really need.

I’m not saying all gadgets are bad and should be avoided, but I am suggesting you can do all these things with the right knife in hand. If you invest in good knives and care for them properly, they’ll last for decades. I use Wustof Trident Classic Knives almost exclusively. They’re old school, but they are beautifully balanced, fit perfectly in my hand and some are nearly 30 years old. Try out a few different handles to see which one fits best in your hand and then make a bold investment in yourself as a home cook.

The top kitchen tools you really need are:

The best small appliances for home cooks

A tray of Super Tender 8-Ingredient Lemon Shortcakes stand ready to be placed in the oven. — Choose quality bakeware for better baking

There’s a lot you can do by hand, and sometimes I like to whip a bowl of cream or egg whites to stiff peaks by hand so I can remember how good I have it the next time I pull out my handy little hand mixer or stand mixer. Personally, if I had to choose between spending money on a dishwasher or high-capacity stand mixer, I would choose the stand mixer every time. I can wash dishes by hand – even during the holidays when the volume of dishes is staggering. What I can’t do without my stand mixer is make homemade marshmallows with ease at Christmas. If you’re a baker, you understand this line of thinking.

Whenever someone asks me what are the best small appliances for home cooks, my mind immediately turns to a reliable hand mixer, a stand mixer, a blender that can handle ice and a small- and large-capacity food processor. I use all of these items on a regular basis in my kitchen for everything from kneading dough to making sauces and crushing frozen fruit for sorbets.

My top picks for best small appliances for home cooks are:

Ingredients commonly found in my recipes

I’m going to start with the “ingredient elephant” in the room; banana leaves. I use them in my recipe for Pork Pibil and making tamales. Fresh banana leaves are not as hard to find as you may think. Where I live, there are three places I go for banana leaves – my local Mexican and Asian markets and a little place called Horrocks Farm Market here in Lansing. For approximately 10 dollars, I can purchase a huge bundle of banana leaves, which I then clean, portion and freeze for future use.

A bubbly glass of Easy 4-Ingredient Hibiscus Piloncillo Agua Fresca is garnished with slices of fresh lemon, lime and orange. — Deliciously, tart, floral Hibiscus.

However, if you can’t find them locally, you can purchased them on Amazon as well. Achiote paste is another ingredient that I call for in several of my recipes. You can also find it at your local specialty market, most major grocery chains or through Amazon.

I also cook a lot with farro – an “ancient grain” that delivers more protein and fiber per serving than rice (approximately 3.5 grams of each). It contains a number of essential vitamins and minerals – including calcium and magnesium. In addition to its health benefits, it’s a versatile, satisfying, toothsome grain that can be used in both sweet and savory dishes. You can see why it’s one of my favorite ingredients.

I’m also crazy about the flavor and color that hibiscus flowers impart. They have a tart, raspberry- or cranberry-like flavor that makes them a popular ingredient in teas, beverages, and desserts. And the vibrant pink color they lend to a bake or beverage is absolutely stunning. When used in my agua fresca recipe, the hibiscus flowers impart beautiful color and a bright, floral flavor with a slight tanginess that balances well with the sweetness of the piloncillo.

My top list of favorite ingredients to play with in the kitchen are:

Image shows the process of wrapping the pork in banana leaves before roasting in the oven. — Banana leaves lend subtle fruit notes to this pork pibil

My personal favorites

Easy Chocolate Calavera Candies 2 Ways. A rustic, round silver platter with an etched design of swirls and angular images holds a combination of white and dark chocolate skulls. The chocolates are shaped as either elegant ladies wearing elaborate hats or as gentlemen in top hats. The white chocolate candies have toasted coconut and crushed hibiscus flowers mixed within and sprinkled on the backs of the candies, while the dark chocolate candies have roasted pepitas and dried cranberries. — Day of the Dead Chocolates

This 1-Stop Complete Guide to my Kitchen Favorites wouldn’t be complete without a few fun and functional items. They may not seem essential to everyone, but all have become favorites or long-standing traditions at my house. For example, every year, I make these Calavera candies in October. I also make homemade gummy bears with real fruit juice from time to time. Without these special mold – essential kitchen gadgets in my book – it wouldn’t be possible.

I also have a few cookbooks that I simply cannot live without and I’ve included them below as well if you wan to check them out. In this list, you’ll find a few essential kitchen gadgets, favorite cookbooks and items that just make me happy.

So there you have it, my 1-Stop Complete Guide to my Kitchen Favorites. It’s not an exhaustive list of everything you’ll find in my kitchen, but it is a list of essential kitchen gadget and tools that I rely on daily. Whether you’re looking to refresh your current kitchen or build your Wedding Registry, invest in the essential kitchen gadgets, the best small appliances for home cooks, and the kitchen tools you really need to feather your nest and you’ll never be disappointed.