Kitchen Wish List

If you know me, you’ll know that the majority of my time is spent in the kitchen. I love to cook and bake. I love to try new things, to perfect difficult things, to repeatedly make comforting favorites. I am a bit of a romantic when it comes to cooking and baking, so to me there is a peace and joy in the long, often slow, act of preparing.

My kitchen is full of gadgets, pretty plates, random ingredients. Even still, I keep an ongoing list of things I wish for. I thought I’d share a few of them here!

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Espresso Maker

First off, I have dreamed for years of an espresso maker. I am a coffee fiend. I would love nothing more than to take a moment of morning preparation for a homemade latte. In fact, my 101 things list includes replacing my coffee pot with an espresso maker by the end of my 1001 days.

Speaking of coffee…

When we moved into our new apartment, the ONLY thing that broke in the course of our move was the glass insert to my French press. Noooo. I have a lovely gold press, but I haven’t been able to enjoy it since before January. Sad face. Replacing my insert is on my list so I can enjoy another pot of French pressed coffee soon!

Dutch Oven

In the future, I’ll be sharing our open pantry situation, and when that day comes your keen eye may notice that I already own two Dutch ovens. That’s right, two enameled Dutch ovens, and still this made my list. I’m not crazy, so let me explain!

If you don’t have a Dutch oven, and you do a lot of cooking, you are MISSING OUT! Dutch ovens are cast iron (enameled or not) dishes that can withstand and hold intense heat. These babies can go from the stove top directly into your oven without missing a beat. They are also lovely for serving and can be pulled from your oven and placed directly onto your table.

So why do I need three? I have two of varying sizes. One is a large 5.5 quart that my parents got me years back. It has lasted me probably 7-8 years by now. It is perfect for stews, soups, large meals when entertaining, it’s even where I make my sourdough bread! When we got married I registered for and received a smaller 3 qt.Dutch oven. I use this one for smaller meals, and more often than anything, drinks! During the holidays I love to use my small Dutch oven for atole, spiced cider, and mulled wine—this size perfectly holds a 1 liter bottle of wine for sharing!

So why a third? Bread! In the beginning I made only round loaves, but have hoped to make batards (oval shaped loaves) in the future. I have small oval proofing baskets but my loaves still appear more round as they cook in a perfectly round Dutch oven. With an oval Dutch oven, and longer proofing baskets, I could make batards more traditionally shaped for sandwich slicing.

If none of the bread words made sense, you should just know that your kitchen is in need of at least ONE piece of cast iron cookware, enameled or not!

Butter Warmer

Our apartment does not have a microwave, and I honestly don't care. I only ever used our microwave very rarely, and in our last apartment I almost only used it to melt butter and make popcorn. It’s easy enough to make popcorn on the stove, but wasting a pot to melt a stick of butter has been a hassle I try to avoid. I would love to get a small butter warmer, in a light color which would help when browning butter in baking!

Bread Knife

Have I talked about bread enough? If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve certainly gotten waaaaay more than your share of bread talk from me. I would love to add a sharp, sturdy bread knife to my utensils drawer.

Silpat and Sheet Pans
My kitchen is a mish mash of gifted and thrifted. For instance, I have three cookie sheets, all of different sizes. They are absolutely usable, but I would love to have identical half sheet pans for consistency of production. I also use obscene amounts of parchment paper and could love to cut back with reusable silpat liners.