2015 Holiday Gift Guide: Kitchen Equipment

Today's memo to Santa includes our favorite kitchen equipment. (BTW, in case you missed our previous installments, we have you covered on cookbooks and kitchen gadgets, too.)

Let's get cooking...er, shopping!
Erin, Amy, and Andrea

Disclaimer: These ideas are solely the opinions of your favorite bringers of hot dinner. No companies or manufacturers asked us to provide reviews or compensated us for writing about their products.

Erin's Favorites:

Immersion Blender: This handy tool makes pureed soups a whiz. Before I had an immersion blender, I had a bit of an incident pureeing hot soup in a regular blender. Let's just say I was cleaning soup from under the cupboards for years. Now my soup prep is mess-free. Use it to make Curried Butternut Squash Soup, a Berry Smoothie, or even baby food. --Erin

Le Creuset Dutch Oven: The husband bought me a 5 1/2 quart Le Creuset dutch oven several years ago, and it's one of my all-time favorite pots. Perfect for making Beef Stew, Pot Roast, or Andrea's Cincinnati Chili. If I had to choose one pot or pan to use for the rest of my life, this would be it. --Erin

Amy's Favorites:



Cuisinart PerfecTemp Stainless Steel Steel Cordless Electric Kettle: Last year, I had to give up coffee for health reasons. I switched to tea and this electric kettle helped me through those dark java-free mornings. It heats up water super fast, doesn't take up space on your stove top and has an automatic shut-off. Plus, there are settings for different kinds of tea -- black, white, green, oolong and delicate. There's even a French press setting for you coffee drinkers. --Amy





Instant Pot 7-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker, 6 QT: I buy myself a lot of cooking gifts and last year this was one of them. Totally worth it. In fact, for a while I  was saying I was cheating on my slow cooker with my pressure cooker. Truth is, I couldn't feed my family on the regular without both handy appliances. This model is easy to use and cleans up like a dream. See our 2015 Holiday Gift Guide post on cookbooks for a pressure cooker cookbook recommendation. As for what to make in yours, check out my Pressure Cooker Chicken Noodle  Soup, Midwestern Vegetable-Beef Soup and Shrimp Curry Under Pressure. --Amy



Vitamix Professional Series 500: I'm not sure what I could write to convince you go pay upwards of $500 on a blender. It makes no sense except it does. It beats paying $200 on a blender that you will never use. The Vitamix -- the one with programmable settings for smoothies, hot soups and frozen desserts -- is a fine machine. I'm sure we will have it years; it comes with a seven-year warranty. For the first year and a half or so, I used my Vitamix daily for smoothies for me and my husband and then we tired of smoothies every single day. I still use it a lot for smoothies. I also use it when I need to emulsify ingredients -- i.e. recently for a mole chicken chili. I have also used it to make banana ice cream. (Note to self: post smoothie and banana ice cream recipes to this blog.) Next year, I want to make more nut-based vegan creams and for that the powerful Vitamix is super handy because you don't have to soak the nuts in advance. --Amy

Andrea's Favorites: 

Cuisinart Pro Custom 11-Cup Food Processor: The more I cook, the more uses I find for my food processor. The tool makes so many preparations so much easier. I love using it to slice apples for Apple Crisp or Apple Pie. The list is endless. For those who love to cook, a food processor does it all, from chopping, slicing and grating to mixing and blending. I use mine to make everything from Triple Almond Chocolate Banana Pudding to Green Rice. --Andrea

Crock-Pot Programmable Touchscreen 6.5 Quart Slow Cooker: Thanks to the Slow Cooker Revolution cookbooks from America's Test Kitchen, I'm using my Crock Pot more than ever before. This model works beautifully and I like the digital count down for tracking the cooking time. The most recent meal I made in my slow cooker was Erin's Beer Braised Pot Roast. It's also great for Pork Tomatillo-Verde Tacos and Thai Peanut Pork. --Andrea

Ninja Professional Blender: This model offers 3-way speed control and a single serve blade. It comes with two single serve cups which are perfect for whipping up smoothies. The Ninja does a great job chopping fruit and veggies. It's perfect for emulsifying Berry Vinaigrette and Thai Dressing. And it's the next best thing to an immersion blender when you need to finish off Butternut Squash Soup. --Andrea

2015 Holiday Gift Guide: Kitchen Gadgets

Now that we've shared our favorite cookbooks, here are some of the tools we use to make our time in the kitchen pay off.

These kitchen gadgets make meal prep a snap. They also make great gifts (hint, hint)!

Best wishes for some happy cooking.

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea, Amy and Erin

Disclaimer: These ideas are solely the opinions of your favorite bringers of hot dinner. No companies or manufacturers asked us to provide reviews or compensated us for writing about their products.

Andrea's Picks:

Foldio: If you're reading this blog, you probably take pictures of food just like us. This cool portable photo studio is on my wish list this year. I always struggle to reduce shadows in my foodie photos and this little cube does that and so much more. I hope Santa is reading this post. --Andrea

Microplane Zester: I use this tool at least once a week. It's super handy for zesting oranges, lemons and limes, fresh ginger, garlic and any number of other ingredients, including Parmesan cheese. --Andrea

Miu France Stainless Steel Professional Mandoline Slicer: My husband picked this up several years ago and I'm glad he did. The mandoline makes slicing potatoes and vegetables a breeze. Packet Potatoes come out so crispy when prepped with the mandoline. --Andrea

Oxo Good Grips 7 Piece Liquid Measuring Beakers Set: These beakers are making my time in the kitchen a bit less crazy. I no longer need to search out my measure spoons because these little nesting cups are always easy to find. The stable bases do indeed prevent spills and everything cleans up in the top rack of my dishwasher. --Andrea


Erin's Picks:

CDN Digital Thermometer: I have had this baby for years. I was always afraid of over- or under-cooking meat until I got this handy tool. Who would have thought that a simple thermometer could give me so much confidence in the kitchen? --Erin

Skrub'a Potato Gloves: My mom bought me these gloves, and when I first saw them, I thought she was a little crazy. I mean...they're gloves for cleaning potatoes. Then I used them. In addition to adding a bit of novelty to scrubbing potatoes, they make cleaning spuds a breeze! Skrub'a Gloves are the perfect stocking stuffer for the potato lover in your life. --Erin

Zyliss Ice Cream Scoop: My mother-in-law bought us this ice cream scoop a few years back, and it gets a lot of use. You see, I eat quite a bit of ice cream. Most nights the husband and I scoop up a frozen treat after we tuck the kids into bed. Chocolate chip cookie dough for me. Vanilla ice cream with bananas and hot fudge for the husband. I consider myself a bit of an expert when it comes to ice cream, and this handy gadget makes scooping ice cream a treat in itself. --Erin

Amy's Picks:

Curious Chef 3-Piece Nylon Knife Set: I got these knives for my own curious chef, my daughter Penny, 6, so that she can cook alongside me. I welcome the help cutting veggies for my Pressure Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup or chopping dates for a cake or for my No Sugar Banana Bread. Perfect stocking stuffer for the young sous chef in your life. --Amy



KitchenAid Pouring Shield: I bake a lot and I always double the recipe. Without this shield for my stand mixer, my kitchen would be covered in a layer of flour. Essential item for bakers. --Amy



Le Creuset Stoneware Butter Crock: I got tired of buying spreadable butter and wondered why we can't just leave real butter on the counter like the French do. Well, with this handy butter crock we can. Just fill the bottom with a bit of cold water and pack the butter into the lid. My husband was skeptical that it was $40 well spent until he realized how much easier fixing the kids' waffles and toast before school is now. --Amy



Pampered Chef Food Chopper: My mom got this handy chopper for me and I use it mostly to chop nuts to go into baked goods. It's also good for chopping vegetables like celery and onions. Added benefit: decent arm workout. --Amy



Spicy Shelf Patented Spice Rack and Stackable Organizer: Christmas came early for me. My husband recently picked up two of these stackable spice racks at our local hardware store and put them together for me. I wouldn't care if he didn't get me anything else, because I've been looking for a way to organize my spices for ... well forever. I like that it can adjust to fit a narrow pantry or expanded and even doubled for a wider cabinet like mine. I also like that you can adjust the levels so you have a row for small bottles like cloves and saffron and a row for taller bottles like oregano and paprika. --Amy