Choices In The Kitchen Start With A Love Of Food
What's the most important piece of equipment for any home cook? Depends on who you ask. Some may say it's their pots and pans. I have a friend who says the most important piece of equipment is her Dutch oven. It's a Le Creuset, like mine. I prefer my Le Creuset over the Calphalon Dutch oven my husband bought me. But it's still not my most important piece of equipment.
Whenever I buy kitchenware I always look for discount kitchenware. It's easy to find great bargains. To me the most important piece of kitchen equipment is my knives. A dull knife can making cooking a drudge. There is nothing like the feel of a sharp knife. My favorites are Global knives. Some like other brands like Wusthof, Shun Ken, Schaff or Henckels. I was able to see each of these knives and handle them in a nearby store before I chose Global. I think that Global knives are the best kitchen knives. My sister will tell you that her favorite piece of kitchen equipment is her stove. It's a snazzy Jenn-Air with all the bells and whistles. She says it really helps her to be a better cook. I tell her I'm not sure how that's possible as cooking has to do with choice of ingredients and preparation, not the stove. I have KitchenAid kitchen appliances. They work well for me and we were able to buy discount kitchen appliances.
Another thing that is important to me is my table setting. I remember my step-mother loved to cook. It seemed that everything we ate there was so special, even hamburgers. It took me a while to figure out why. It was because the table was always beautifully set. I've take a cue from her and like to set my table with fine table linens from Sferra and Yves Delorme. These fine table linens go beautifully with the stoneware dinnerware set I chose from Vietri called Cucina Fresca. I decided long ago that my kitchen theme would be Italian. It took me a while to put the look together. My choice of stoneware dinnerware and the fine table linens that I chose carry the Italian look from the kitchen through to the dining room. Another consideration is kitchen cookware sets. What's your favorite? Mine is the gift of Le Creuset I was given over fifteen years ago. I love it. It's so different from the Revere Ware pots and pans I used to own. The Le Creuset has held up beautifully over the years. If you ask my sister-in-law she says her favorite kitchen cookware sets are lightweight aluminum with non-stick finishes. She purchases Farberware and it suits her cooking style, which is the most important thing anyway. I am always trying to get my family and friends to try new foods. I'm not always successful as some of them aren't as adventurous as I and my husband are. What I've been doing to help them along is sending gourmet food baskets for birthdays and holidays. I've done this for years now. It's so simple. My best friend loves chocolate. I send her gourmet food baskets each year for her birthday that have different chocolates in them and she loves it. My mother-in-law is a tea drinker, so her gourmet food baskets include different gourmet teas and biscuits and jam. I send my sister gourmet food baskets with crackers, cheeses, meats and wine so she and her husband can enjoy it together. These gourmet food baskets are always a big hit.
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