My favourite things

We did not bring ANY of our kitchen aplliances with us. the voltage/current/whatever is not the same here so bringing it was silly unless we planned to buy fairly expensive transformers for all of them. Becuase of that, when we moved I got to start my kitchen from scratch.

I am really not big on huge kitchen appliances, especially if they are, in the words of the Esteemed Alton Brown "Unitaskers". So I do not own a rice maker, I do not have a bread machine. Heck, even though it is a multitasker I do not even have a full mixmaster or quisenart.

But there are a few things that I went out and bought almost right away. There were some things that I needed in order to function. These "must have" items in my kitchen are as follows.

A Microwave- No questions asked. Yes I know I can heat stuff up in the oven and on the stove, but lets me honest. Who has that sort of patience? Not I!

A toaster- Ok, not a total necessity, but as our is large and we keep it milchiks it is a useful second oven as well as a quick way to heat pizza, make breakfast or lunch, and even bake. Israeli ovens are smaller than North American ones, so the extra space is useful.

A stick blender - Awesome for smushing sauces, soups, and whipping eggs and nutri whip. Also useful for pureeing vegies for kugels and cassaroles and crushing ice. It is a wonderful multi tasker that has a home on my counter because I use it pretty much daily. The one I have is parve but I am seriously considering buying a 2nd or even a 3rd one so I have for meat and dairy (milkshakes!). This is the single most useful small appliance in my kitchen.

Electric Beaters- like old style egg beaters but the electric version. Not quite the multi tasker the stick blender is, but great for most baking and pulling together batters. The one I bought has regular beaters as well as dough hooks so it has a lot of versatility without taking up a lot of room.

Crock Pot- Not just for shabbat lunch! We actually use ours for dinners as well. Load it up in the morning, have a busy day, then come home to the apartment smelling awesome and a hot dinner ready to go on the table. We are actually considering getting a 2nd one because we have found some incredible looking dairy crock pot recipies. It is probably just a pipe dream, but once in a while you find an awesome recipie that makes you reconsider.

What I consider the basics for a fully functioning, cook every night, kosher kitchen.

Dairy Stuff- a large soup/pasta pot, a small sauce pot, and a frying pan. I have a couple various sized pyrex dishes, 1 large mixing bowl, a collander, a 2 C measuring cup. 1 sharp knife. Cutting board. silicon spatulah and brush.

Parve - a large soup/pasta pot, a colander, 2 mixing bowls, pasta stiry thing, 1 & 2 C measuring cups, measuring spoons, a few pyrex dishes. chef knife, parring knife. Cutting board. silicon spatulah and brush.

Meat- full set of pots including giant stock pot, soup pot, collander, frying pan, medium sized sauce pot, small sauce pot. I normally have a wok but my old one was not worth bringing and I haven to gotten a new one yet. 1 & 2 C measuring cups, 3 mixing bowls, 3 mixing bowls with lids. Utility knife, carving set, poultry shears. silicon spatulah and brush.