Resources

All my favorite cooking gadgets and gizmos. I use all of the below in my kitchen so whether you’re looking for a place to start your cooking journey or you just curious what I use, check out the below for everything from essentials to upgrades!

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Cookbooks

One of the easiest ways to learn to cook (and keep your favorite recipes stored) is using a cookbook! Below are my favorites.

Complete Thanksgiving Guide eBook by me! – My 44-page guide to hosting Thanksgiving. It includes general tips, cooking tips, week-of scheduler, Thanksgiving Day-schedule, kitchen space organization tips, sample menus and 3 free printables at the back. Bonus: There are 13 of my own personal Thanksgiving recipes included that you won’t find on the blog!

Fanny Farmer Cookbook – the first cookbook I ever used and it taught me how to cook. I grew up making these recipes and I absolutely love this cookbook. The original was published in 1896, so if that’s not a collection of tried and tested recipes, I don’t know what is. Check it out for some classic recipes.

Betty Crocker Cookbook – my go-to cookbook in college. Easy-to-follow recipes for beginner cooks. If you’re looking for a place to start with both classics and modern recipes, this is probably the way to go!

Kitchen Essentials

There are a couple essentials every cook should have in their kitchen. You really can’t cook without ‘em!

Non Stick Pans – essential for every cook. You can’t very well cook a steak in a dish, can you? Get some easy to use non-stick pans to get started. Just be careful you don’t use metal utensils to cook, or you’ll scrape off the non-stick coating. (Yep, I still make this mistake sometimes.)

Silicon Whisks, Spatulas, and Tongs – You’ll use these for scraping, stirring, flipping, lifting, poking, prodding, adjusting, etc. Why silicon? They won’t rub off any non-stick coatings. The multiple sizes may seem excessive, but you will absolutely find a time to use the tiny ones.

Plastic Cooking Utensils – similar to silicon but definitely cheaper. The perfect starter kit, I still have mine today. It’s hard to cook in the kitchen without them, honestly.

Wooden Spoon, Set of 3 – versatile and universal. Use it in place of silicon for mixing and stirring. (Also if you’re making cookies, there is no better stirrer out there!)

Measuring Cups and Spoons – essential and unavoidable. Unless you plan on using your hands to estimate cups of water. Which won’t work. Don’t do it. I like this set especially because the numerical amounts won’t get washed off. My old set has entirely lost their painted on numbers so I have to guess every time. 

KitchenAid Hand-mixer – Feel like beating egg whites by hand? No, you don’t. It takes forever. So does creaming butter and sugar. And whipping cream. And mixing cookie dough. An electric hand mixer is a huge time saver.

Cuisinart Food Processor – Similar to a hand mixer and I can also ask you some annoying questions. Want to crush 3 cups of walnuts by hand? How about grinding up some beef? Or mincing parsley and olive oil for salad dressing? No. You do not want to do those things by hand. Just buy it.

Knife Sharpener – I’ve talked about this about a zillion times in my blog posts. You need to sharpen your knives. Not only does it make cutting and prepping anything about 50% faster, but it’s also much safer for you to have sharp knives. This one has three settings so you can tailor all your knives to the perfect sharpness!

Poultry Roaster – The best possible way to cook a roast chicken. Or a turkey or a duck or cornish game hens. But you can also use it to roast some veggies or even stuffing.

Casserole Dish – Useful for any sort of baked chicken, fish, or vegetable. Also works for brownies! Yes, glass is cheaper, but I am terrified of the new pyrex formula shattering.

Kitchen Upgrades

Looking to upgrade your equipment and start making fancier dishes? These are all items that were on my wishlist as a new cook and I’ve slowly been adding them to my kitchen. (Thanks, mom!) Bonus: They make great gifts!

Lodge Pans – Cast Iron Skillets sound really impressive, but they are so easy to use and create the best versions of dishes. Take the time to season them when they arrive and they will give you years of perfectly crafted breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and desserts. When you’re ready to upgrade from non-stick, choose these. If three is to many, try one to start. You need at least one in your life if you cook at all.

Immersion Blender – I cannot tell you how much I love mine. I am obsessed. It does everything that a food processor and blender does. But it’s one device. If you have the choice between getting both of those or getting just this, but this. You can even make my Brown Butter Butternut Squash Soup with it, so that’s a plus!

Crockpot – If you’re a millennial or recent college student, you probably already have one. They seem to be the go-to gift for dorm-livers and young grads. If you don’t have one, get one. Meal prep is so much easier. (If you just got your first job, you don’t want to be agonizing over meal prep all the time.) Plus, they cook things like mashed potatoes and stuffing and cakes too so they free up oven space for parties!

Cute Spatulas – Because they’re cute. Why not. The perfect way to dress up your kitchen and style it, while also being super practical. Because you will definitely use them. And. They’re cute. Great as a gift!

Fancy Roaster – If you cook birds all the time or host alot of dinners, take a step up and choose a really nice roasting pan.  It will be much more durable and fits larger amounts so you can host a crowd.

Roasting Racks – One of those tiny things you don’t realize you need until you don’t have it. I pull them out about once a week. I prefer these two oval ones because they fit in most pans and are much more versatile than the turkey-sized ones with handles. You can really only use those for turkeys. These work for veggies, birds, fish, even as cooling racks for cookies! 

Le Creuset Dutch Oven – Essential for pot roasts and some braised dishes. Besides, who doesn’t want a pot that they can use on the stove and then stick in the oven?

Baking Essentials

Interested in the world of cookies, cakes, pies, and baked treats? Below is a good starter kit!

Cookie Sheet – probably the most essential cooking/baking dish you can get (other than pots and pans). You’ll use it for cookies, obviously, but also roasted veggies, sheet pan dinners, roasted fish, baked chicken breasts, etc. It’s so universal. And this one is non stick!

Muffin Tin – make muffins, cupcakes, chocolate shells, use it as an ingredient holder. Incredibly versatile and you won’t realize how much you missed one until you have it.

Pie Tin – absolutely necessary if you want to make a pie. Stop buying disposable aluminum ones.

Bread Pan – this cooks loaves of bread, also meatloaf and pound cake. The major selling point? You can’t make pumpkin or banana bread without it.

Cake Pan Square – Useful not just for cakes, but also for brownies, casseroles, baked chicken, quick heat ups, etc. So universal and helpful to have around the house.

Cake Pan Round – If you want to make a cake, round cake pans are probably the best way to go. Round cakes are easier to frost.

Mixing Bowl Set – You’ve no idea how much easier your life in the kitchen will be with one of these! Do yourself a favor and invest in one of these. Then buy yourself two more in different sizes. I went from 1 mixing bowl to 5 and now I have no idea how I lived before that.

Baking Upgrades

Ready to become a next-level baker? Invest in these upgrades for a whole new outlook on baking. More great gifts!

Red Pie Pan – Ah! So cute! I fell in love the first time I saw mine and just had to buy it on the spot. I love love love the way it cooks pies and pie crusts. It’s a deep dish pie pan so you’ll be able to fit more filling too! A deep-dish apple pie served in a bright red pie dish? Classic. (Other colors available.)

Springform Pan – For the cake-bakers among you! These are pans that easily spring apart and separate from the cake itself. Helpful while it cools so you’re not desperately trying to slide a stuck cake out of a cake pan. Just make sure you grease it and use parchment paper on the bottom!

Scone Pan – So cute. I feel like a farmer’s wife every time I take it out of the oven. (The only time I’ll ever feel that because Vasiliy has put his foot down about getting a farm.) Because this one is cast iron, the scones don’t stick to it either and instead get a lovely golden-brown crust! 

KitchenAid – A big purchase, both in cost and size. But it will last you for ages! Think of it as an immobile hand-mixer on steroids.

Jelly Roll Pan – Useful for roll cakes like jelly rolls, swiss rolls, and Bûche de Noël. Also useful for larger sheetpan dinners!

Cooling Rack – The best way to cool cookies. Keeps their bottoms brown and crisp. Also useful for drying and roasting!