MY FAVORITE THINGS

Here's a list of kitchen/cooking items that I adore:

Kitchenaid stand mixer - I love my big red mixer.  The only other color I would consider for my kitchen is the custom copper but I'm too cheap to pay the extra for the custom color.

Zojirushi bread machine - I initially bought my Kitchenaid to knead dough. A few years later I started reading about the Zoji. I found a gently used (she used it twice) one on craigslist.  We drove up to Longmont, CO to pick it up.  I adapt virtually all bread recipes for the Zoji dough cycle. I haven't baked a loaf in the Zoji since I first bought it so I'm not sure if the baking function still works.

Snapware cupcake carrier - I actually have two cupcake carriers.  One is a two-tiered Oneida carrier that uses the metal cupcake tin as the bottom layer (which I think is pretty lame).  When I saw the two-tier Snapware container, I was in love but I held off on buying it.  I then found the three-tier at Costco and it jumped into my cart.

Aluminum cake pans - I slowly changed out all of my grocery store dark nonstick bakeware for heavy aluminum ones.  The brands all vary.  My sheet pans are Nordicware.  My cakepans are Magic Line, Ateco and Fat Daddios.

All-Clad cookware - They don't match because I didn't buy it in a set.  I bought the pieces separately so some are LTD and some are regular stainless.  I also love my All-Clad two-burner grill pan.

Le Creuset - I love the French ovens and the Poterie line of stoneware bakers. I have five French ovens in Cherry red and Caribbean blue.

Cuisinart food processor - It makes me happy whenever I shred potatoes for latkes.

Cuisinart immersion blender - I don't know how I was able to live for so long without an immersion blender.

Food containers - I have an addiction to food containers.  I love the cheapo Ziploc Twist 'n Lock containers and will buy some whenever I can find them in a special edition lid color.  I also have a weakness for Snapware and Lock & Lock containers.

Silicone liners - I hate throwing away parchment so I line my baking sheets with silicone liners whenever possible.

Rice cooker - It doesn't have to be an expensive Zoji or Tiger.  I've been using the Aroma brand for years and it makes a perfectly good pot of rice.  And yes, I do know how to cook jasmine rice in a regular pot on the stove top but it's so much easier to use a rice cooker.  Most Asian families have one.

Flour sack towels - I have a stack of these. I store hide them separate from the other kitchen towels because those occasionally frequently find their way into Fancy's (our cat) basket of pee pee towels. I used to buy white bar mop towels for the kitchen. They slowly migrated over to Fancy's basket. Kitchen towels are now a color other than white.  My flour sack towels are still white, so I hide them in the china cabinet. I love these towels and it's even more important to keep them separate because they touch food. I use a damp flour sack towel to cover bread dough, egg roll skins, wonton wrappers, and anything else I don't want exposed to air or dry out. I use flour sack towels instead of cheesecloth because I never cared for cheesecloth. They're hard to find in stores, usually cost several dollars, and not reusable.