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I grew up in a home rich with culinary joy -- my father worked from home in the early 2000s before WFH was a vibe, so I was exposed to his weekly meal prep and menu planning to create a nightly ritual of family dinner. Fast forward to present tense, I’ve carried that tradition of cooking into my own home. We’ve battle tested the following inspired kitchen products in our home kitchen -- and encourage you to throw an apron on and give them a try in yours!
Looking to graduate from my starter set of Costco pots and pans, I was on the market for a streamlined cookware brand both reflected my elevated sense of style and could also deliver chef quality functionality. The team at Our Place delivered on all fronts with their Essential Cooking Pan -- it’s just deep enough for my weekly Bolognese (In Marcella Hazan’s Recipe I trust), has high quality non-stick coating making scrambling eggs painless and clean-up a breeze, and has a genius basket insert to steam your daily dose of veggies. It’s as if a mad scientist did a focus group with millennial insta-inspired home cooks and birthed this creation from the heavens.
After dinner is prepped and scarfed down -- the least enjoyable part of the process ensues: clean-up. We grew up with products that would make our environmentally conscious generation cringe -- Brillo, Comet, 409 and the like from 100 year old CPG brands. Luckily we’ve evolved from those domestic dark ages and into the light of the Blueland essentials line.
They offer 3 core cleaners (Multi-surface, Glass + Mirror, Bathroom) along with a foaming Hand Soap, all in concentrated tablets that you dissolve yourself in the provided reusable cleaning bottles. This eco-friendly approach has huge environmental impacts cutting down on single use plastic, while helping lower costs over time due with very inexpensive refill tablets. A win-win in my book!
This eco-friendly approach has huge environmental impacts cutting down on single use plastic, while helping lower costs over time due with very inexpensive refill tablets. A win-win in my book!
I’ve moved to more apartments I care to remember in my 20s and 30s, each with their own unique Kitchen appliances. Some really old (hello Berkeley sophomore year!), some quite small (Hi junior 1 BR in Manhattan), and my most recent setup -- brand new stainless steel appliances from Fridgeaire (thank you landlord!). The trouble I noticed with all this change (and all this cooking!) is the variability in cook times. The recipes I work from give general guidance (e.g. preheat oven to 500 degrees for this killer rotisserie chicken dish), but no two ovens are exactly the same. Enter this great equalizer to solve my woes: The Thermoworks Instant read thermometer. At $99 its not cheap, but it’s some of the best money I’ve spent in the kitchen. I use it multiple times a week -- from checking proteins on the grill and in the oven to baking bread and sweets. My food is cooked consistently and perfectly not because of some voodoo magic, but because I have the tools the pro’s use!
