I love my thermapen. Use it everyday and it is worth every penny. Reads instantly. I even used it to test the soil in my garden to see if it was warm enough to plant tomatoes.

I have all of these, I totally agree, these are essential. I got an ove glove from my father in law for Christmas, lol, it is the best hing ever, I love it!

I got 2 silpats as a wedding gift and thought they would change my life somehow, everyone praises them up and down after all. However, I almost never use them. They are such a pain in the ass to clean and store that I find myself restocking my parchment paper stash every other month.

Any suggestions for washing a silpat without getting water all over me and looking like a 5 year old trying to rinse an apple??

i use my le creuset spatulas all the time.. the rubber part pops off the wooden handle easily for washing. the sad part is when i used mine to scrape out my blender once, the rubber got hung up on the blade and was quite sliced up by the time i was able to get it out. it still works pretty well though.

@jess, too funny! you make me feel better about not owning a silpat. maybe i can stop coveting one now. :)

Jess13- I wash my silpats while they are still in the pan. It makes it a lot easier, then I flip them over and wipe down the other side. I also store them on my baking sheets so that they are ready to go the next time I want to use them.

To Jess13, Silpat does seem to worry people. I find it easy to wash if I simply keep it on the cooky sheet washing rinsing each side as I go, then rinsing off the front side again. Then I place the Silpat on a kitchen towel and simply roll it up. Dries quickly.

Don't worry if the Siplat still feels oily - that is the nature of the beast. It is safe and sanitary after you wash and rinse it.

After it is dry (takes just a few seconds for the towel to absorb the rinse water), I simply roll it up and slide on a rubber band (well, I use a silicone rubber band designed for the oven, but only because this way I know where it is). I then store it on a shelf.

I use my Silpats a lot more now that I have down this technique. Hope it helps you.

Just had to share a family anecdote that makes us smile to this day. A few years ago when our daughter started a program at UC-Berkeley, she lived in the basement of a family home and had kitchen privileges there.

One day, as she was cooking, her landlady (an otherwise sophisticated and competent cook) asked her what it was that she was using to turn the food in the skillet. Our daughter replied, "oh, these are just tongs," not registering the fact that it might be unusual for someone not to recognize them.

The landlady then asked, "oh, is that some Midwestern thing, some regional specialty? Do you think I could order some?"

Oh, yes, you know how exotic and weird we Midwestern cooks are, hehe.

who needs a timer when you have an Iphone, just tell Siri to remind you in 5 minutes, and put the ringer to loud.... as simple as that - I am all for good tools, and for saving my money when I can...

I don't like active 'cooking' at the stove, and I prefer to use my oven, pressure cooker or microwave to cook the food, whilst I watch a bit of TV or make phone calls, so a timer is essential! I would add some more 'prep' tools: vegetable peeler, zester, juicer, a small pestle and mortar and freezer bags for marinating meat.

I completely disagree about the adjustable steamer basket - I had a metal fold-up style one for a few years and I nearly burned myself and/or dropped the food on the floor every time I used it because there was no good way to get it out of the pan. One of my "must haves" when I bought new cookware recently was to get a set that included a steamer basket that fit one of the pots. Now I have a steamer basket that is rigid and has handles which makes it a million times easier to work with. I guess it might be worth keeping the fold up one around for the rare occasions that I want to steam something large like artichokes, but the one I have is big enough for broccoli, green beans, asparagus, etc.

I use an iPhone too, but it is really a pain; much better to have a dedicated kitchen timer. The problem is that the kids always sneak away with it to play games and watch videos, so the darn thing is never where I left it. I have found myself standing next to my pot of pasta trying not to miss the al dente window.

I like the look of the Bengt Ek timers, but don't know where to find them...

http://bengtekdesign.com/category/products/timers/

Mschatelaine, I have a Bengt timer, the one on the bottom left. Got it at at local gift-y boutique. It's very very pretty, but after about a year it just stopped working. : ( Now I keep it on the shelf and hide my cheap-o digital timer from Target behind it. : ) I'm a little OCD, so I prefer the precision of a digital timer anyway.

Does anyone have good metal turner "alternative" suggestions for nonstick pans? I ruined my last set by persisting in using my metal utensils, and I'm determined to make these ones last a long time. (And Blue_eyes, I'm absolutely with you on the steamer basket! My new set of pans has a handled steamer topper and a double boiler, and I don't know how I ever got by without them. One of the feet on my old metal steamer basket broke off, and the leaves of the basket warped and started falling off, too!)

I have a few of the brightly-colored magnetic timers from Anthropologie, though at a previous apartment I melted the clockworks on two of them beyond repair by keeping them on the side of the fridge... right next to the stove. If you keep them away from steam and frying oil, though, they're great. I'll use the timer on my microwave sometimes, too, especially if I want more precise timekeeping.

I love reusable kitchen tech!! I am going to have to get a silpat. I have the rest but that is a wonderful idea. @Jess; I have such high water pressure that it may be almost stupid to get one but I have to try it!

KS- I could kiss you, if it weren't weird to kiss a stranger. Cleaning and storage of my silpats has been the bane of my existence for ages. I won't even show you how I store them because it's embarrassing (they're collapsed down the side of the oven as we speak). Thank you for that.

@hipsterhousewife
Oxo makes a rather thin silicone turner (in a couple sizes).

Small, digital kitchen scale. I find this to be my #1 item I use daily other than my VitaMix and good knife. The scale is perfect for portion control, but also, it is wonderful for measuring baking ingredients directly into bowls. It's more accurate and cuts down on extra measuring devices. Love it! I pack it in my suitcase on every trip!