Just recently, my husband and I walked into a ranch and home supply store.. It is one of my favorites as it contains many, many wonderful kitchen utensils. My husband laughed at how excited I was to be purchasing baking sheets, whisks, and a few other must have kitchen items. Restaurant supply stores are like some of my favorite places to shop. Finding new little gadgets, plates, bowls, and other utensils for my kitchen excites me way more than finding a cute top or dress. I even told my husband, if he’s ever in doubt on what to get me, I will gladly take anything for the kitchen. I mean clothes are great, but I use my kitchen every single day so it is important it is functional and full of items I love using that will last.
In the spirit of Christmas I decided to share with you the Prairie Californian Christmas List for the Home Cook. These items are some of my must haves in the kitchen. They make my life easier without adding unnecessary clutter to my kitchen. If you know someone who loves to cook, but aren’t sure what to pick up for them for Christmas, here’s your go-to list!
These are hands down my favorite baking sheets EVER. As you can tell in the photo, this one is well loved! They are wonderful quality and don’t cost a fortune. They cook evenly and are honestly perfect for cookies. I own two full sheets, two half sheets, and a quarter sheet.
I registered for this scale when we got married. I wasn’t sure if I was going to use it as much. But surprisingly, I use it all the time. I use it to measure spices, baking ingredients, and even ensuring I am using the right weight for any recipe really. This scale weighs in both U.S. and metric increments which makes it easy to use non-U.S. recipes. It is a great tool to have around for a great price.
Many of us have the standard clear pyrex or tin boring ole pie dishes. Every home cook needs a pretty pie dish! I love this fluted one. It is pretty enough to set right on the table and serve. I have a pure white one that I love. The red one is pretty tempting as well!
I know these dutch ovens may cause you sticker shock… They are spendy. But honestly, they are the shining star in my kitchen. I use my mine at least once a week. I use it for roasts, soups, stews.. Anything that needs to cook for a long period of time. They can go from stove top to oven and back. They clean like a dream and cook like a dream. Men, your lady will love you long time when she opens up this on Christmas morning! You’ll thank me later.
I use my meat tenderizer mallet for all sorts of uses besides pounding out chicken breasts or pork tenderloins. I also use it to crush crackers for breadcrumbs or nuts for cookies. It makes the perfect chicken or pork cutlets as well as helps me flatten out my pork tenderloins to stuff them.
Before I owned one of these, I either didn’t grate citrus or I would pull out my huge cheese grater. It was a pain in the butt having to drag it out and wash it for a teaspoon of lemon zest. Then I picked up this grater and realized how convenient it is. It doesn’t take up much space in the drawer and makes adding zest to things a breeze. Now I add lemon or orange zest
There is nothing I hate more in my kitchen than dull knives. Knives for the kitchen can cost you in the thousands of dollars. I, personally, haven’t ever had a knife that cost me in the hundreds of dollars that I needed in my kitchen. At the butcher shop, we use Victorinox knives. They are the best bang for your buck. They hold an edge well and if something happens to it, you aren’t out a ton of money. I love this four piece set as a starter set: it includes an 8-inch chef’s knife, a 10-1/4-inch bread knife, a 6-inch chef/utility knife, and a 4-inch paring knife. I bought a block set that also has steak knives included. If you only want to purchase one knife, go for the 8 inch chef’s knife. It’s my favorite.
When we got married, I knew the one thing I wanted to spend some of our wedding money on was a good set of pots and pans. Some people are partial to stainless steel. I’ve had some bad experiences with them so I went with nonstick. I LOVE these pans. They are one of the best investments we’ve ever made in our kitchen. The copper cores allow the pans to cook evenly, even on our electric top. These pans clean like a dream, nothing I have made has ever stuck to them. I know All-Clad pans have been highly recommeded as well, but I’ve been extremely happy with these Anolon pans.
I’ve always sucked at rolling things out with your conventional rolling pin. It never seemed to roll the way I wanted it to. So I figured I would give the french rolling pin a try and it forever changed my rolling skills. This rolling pin is light and the tapered edges make it so easy to control how your dough rolls. I have much more control with this one that I can now get bread loaves the right size the first time around.
I would gather this machine is a pretty common thing in most households, but in case you don’t own one. Don’t be afraid. Bite the bullet and get it! Honestly, I don’t know where I would be without my stand mixer. It shreds my chicken breasts, it mixes my meatloaf, it kneads my bread or pizza dough, it mixes cookies. The possibilities are endless and these things last forever. My aunt still has hers she received when she got married. I love my kitchen aid mixer so much, I even blogged about it and my husband took photos of me whispering sweet nothings into its’ bowl.
I love my glass mixing bowls. This set comes with some smaller bowls than you typically find in a mixing bowl set. I love the small bowls for prep cups and mixing spices. I like glass versus plastic or metal because I get wild when I mix apparently and tend to scratch anything besides glass. Plus sometimes when making different doughs, you need a non-reactive bowl. If you already have a set of great mixing bowls, find some awesome prep cups. You can never have too many small bowls.
I didn’t think I needed this until I owned it. Now I cannot imagine making soups or smoothies without it! Who has time for a big blender on the counter? Certainly not me. I love sticking this immersion blender into my soup pot and pureeing my soup right in the pan. Plus it cleans up well once it is done. I also make a personal smoothie with it, stick it right in the cup and blend. No more washing out that big blender. This thing is one of the handiest things to have in your kitchen.
I bought my ramekins at Target. They were yellow and I couldn’t resist them. I had no idea what I would use them for, but surprisingly, they’ve become extremely useful in my kitchen. I use these for individual pot pies or regular dessert pies as well as smaller containers for dips. Being that there is just two of us right now in our house, this makes the perfect sized appetizers for us. It also works great for pot pies, a large pot pie leftover does not store well. These store perfectly with the crust completely intact.
When I saw these measuring spoons, I knew I would love them. I honestly hate the fact that most measuring spoons are linked together on a ring. If I want just one spoon, I would have to pull out all of them. These magnetic spoons link together in the drawer, but if I want just one, it’s a breeze. I also enjoy that they have two different shapes. The oblong side works well for measuring our of small spice containers when the round doesn’t fit.
My mother-in-law first purchased these for me. And now I cannot live without them. I use them for everything from breads to cookies and even sometimes when I bake chicken breasts. And forget trying to rip off parchment paper at the exactly right size, these fit perfectly in the Nordic Ware Baker’s Half Sheets. These work the best for sticky bars that don’t like to come out of your pan.
There you go. My list of some of my favorite kitchen items that are perfect gifts for your home cook! Below I have included an easy printable list to take shopping with you! Or simply click the links above to order online. You can also shop online for more of my favorite kitchen items.
What are some of your favorite kitchen items? Some items you cannot live without? Comment below!
Prairie Californian Christmas List for the Home Cook PDF PRINTABLE VERSION
I love so many of these products too! I have tha pie plate in green, the zester, the ramikins! But the Le Crueset baker is on my list of wishes! I want the purple one so badly lol
I would love an induction burner–pretty much have your least already 😉
I love my measuring spoons labeled “dash” and “pinch.” Last Christmas I got a set of spoons that measure 2 tsp, 1.5 T and 2 T. I use them a lot!