At Thanksgiving this year, a conversation began while I was sharpening the carving knife before dinner. Every year Honey and our daughter like to pick out some sort of kitchen gadget for me. Sometimes its a stocker stuffer, sometimes it’s a gift under the tree. We had a few good laughs as we remembered some of the more unusual ones, like the rubber steamer bag/basket thingy. Yeah, I never used it. It just didn’t seem right to cook fresh vegetables in silicone.  Over the years, many of the gadgets have found their way to the Goodwill bag.

 

I really enjoy cooking and for me, part of the enjoyment is the chopping and dicing. Last year brought a custom made cutting board that has shown up in several of my online photos. Honey ordered it from a craftsman that rents a temporary space most weekends in the Wenatchee Pybus Public Market . With the board is usually my most used knife, a  Wusthof Classic Santoku . This wasn’t a gift, but its worth mentioning because a new cook in your life might love this knife, too.

 

Even though there have been duds, many items have had staying power. The first addition to my Le Crueset collection, a cherry 5 1/2 quart dutch oven has been used over and over. The size has been perfect for my small family and I still use it 1-2 times a week. This pot might be why I never use my crockpot any more…or maybe I don’t use the crockpot because I need a screw driver to turn the broken nob and I never know if I am setting it on high or low.

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving; the electric knife sharpener has also been used over and over and again. Sharp knifes are the BEST kitchen tool. After advice from The Great White Hunter (Honey’s youngest brother who keeps his hunting, fishing and pocket knifes razor sharp) I received a  Chef’s Choice sharpener . Once you go electric, you will never go back to a wet stone or manual sharpener again.

What are you loving right now?