These are a Few of My Favorite Things

*Jason has never seen The Sound of Music before. I find this shocking. But maybe it is not so uncommon among non-musical -loving males?

Since I have been gone most of the week (and have not done a whole lot of cooking as a result), I don’t have any new recipes to share just yet.  Instead I thought I would share a few of our favorite kitchen-related items to tide you over in case the random musings about travel and phones aren’t doing it for you (I’m looking at you, Jason). Here are some of our kitchen essentials (in no particular order):

1.Wood cutting board. This was a wedding registry item and I love it. It gets used pretty much every day.  Wood cutting boards tend to dry out over time so I recommend oiling it down with some mineral oil once a week to keep it looking nice (as you can see our board needs a good rub down).

2.Sharp chef’s knife. Another item which gets used everyday, this knife is actually Jason’s. When we were dating he occasionally cooked dinner for me at his apartment and he used to complain about not having any good knives. I bought the Victorinox 8 inch Chef's Knife for him one year as a birthday gift and soon had knife envy. It is a great all-around knife and pretty inexpensive for the quality.  I was pretty psyched when he moved in and it became partially mine as well.

3.Dutch oven. This one is another wedding registry item (one that I didn’t really expect anyone to give us given the price tag---I was originally planning to buy this ourselves post-wedding with gift cards). Dutch ovens in general are great because you can use them on top of the stove and in the oven. I’ve used this one (and another smaller, round one—not pictured) to make soups, pot roast, and even bake bread. The colorful enamel coated ones (like Le Creuset and their much more affordable cousins) are so nice looking you can set them out—which is good because this baby would not fit in any of our small and already crowded kitchen cabinets so it lives on top of the stove.

4.KitchenAid Stand Mixer. This was a Christmas gift a few years ago. It makes baking (and making things like mashed potatoes) a breeze. Not much more I can say other than it’s pretty awesome.

5.Cuisnart Griddler. Yet another wedding registry item and one of the few things on it that Jason was excited about. Although we have used its Panini making capabilities a few times, it gets (almost) weekly use in the making of pancakes and French toast. Jason has insisted that the only way to make these items is to use an electric griddle and since he is the expert pancake/French toast maker in our family, I’ll give it to him.

6.Aerogarden. My parents gave me this as a Christmas gift last year and I was little skeptical at first but it works pretty well. And when you live in an apartment with a barely-there balcony, it is one of the only ways to grow your own herbs. (Jason also thinks its constant glow helps combat Seasonal Affective Disorder.)  Right now we are testing out cherry tomatoes…we’ll see how they do.

Cherry Tomato Flowers!

7.Seghesio Wine Club. Summer before last we made a trip out to Northern California for my friend Amanda’s wedding. While we there we stopped by Healdsburg to visit my cousin Stephanie and her boyfriend. They took us on a crazy tour of the area’s wineries including Seghesio. I let myself get talked into joining their wine club (not too difficult considering it was our third or fourth stop of the day) which Jason made fun of me for in the days following our trip. Almost two years later we are still members and love getting the quarterly shipments of tasty Zinfandels and other California reds.

We get two bottles a shipment, four shipments a year. Here's what's currently in our inventory.

I'm always on the look out for new and amazing kitchen things...what are some of your favorite things?