It’s that time of year again. When you go shopping for others, but see a million things you’d like for yourself. Let’s face it, we don’t really look as much or as deeply at ‘product’ any other time of the year. With that in mind–and the desire to have a minimalist but highly functional working kitchen–this is the final installment of ‘kitchen toys I love having,’ just in time for the holiday season shopping frenzy! (Click here for the essentials and here for I really wouldn’t want to do without them kitchen tools.)

1.Pesto. I don’t really have to say anything else do I? What with the basil pesto recipe and the arugula pesto recipe, you have tapped the hidden and flavorful potential of some of your favorite green leafies.

2. I love this pan. It is the exact pan that I have–and use often!–in my kitchen. It is thick-bottomed, so evenly distributes stove top heat, and best of all, it can go directly from stove top into the oven. After you saute things, then you can bake them in the same pan! How’s that for easy clean up? This also just reminded me of my favorite bluefish recipe. Coming soon…

3. I have a scar on the pointer finger of my right hand where I, you guessed it, I grated my finger instead of the carrot I was holding. Not that oxo guarantees that you won’t grate your fingers, but their kitchen tools are engineered for design and functionality. I learned my lesson and I now own any number of oxo products. However, this is the one I find indispensable.

4. My hand mixer stayed in it’s box for almost a year before I broke it out. I just didn’t know what to do with it. Now I do. My mixer gets a workout on roasted butternut soup, turkey gravy and the pièce de ré·sis·tance: Mia’s mayonnaise– a recipe I’ll be sharing with you at Thanksgiving. Hmmm. It seems as if many Thanksgiving dishes would benefit from a handheld mixer. Just saying.

Happy cooking to my favorite revolutionaries!
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