Five Things 1

Five Things Tuesday Kitchen Essentials

Five things you absolutely need in the kitchen in random order of importance (and yes I am aware it is no longer Tuesday but there’s probably another one coming up):

1. An Instant Pot. Because let’s face it, the less time you have to spend messing about with food, the better your state of mental health. This may not be true for everyone, but I personally swear by it. Get in, get out, do something else.

2. Lots and lots of bowls and utensils and pots and pans and measuring paraphernalia and baking things so that there is always something hanging about for you to grab which will probably work for whatever you’re trying to prepare. I find if you make a colossal mess people are more likely to believe you worked really hard.

3. More than three electrical outlets, for the love of God. (Sorry, there’s really no need to involve God in this.) Whoever wired our house did not ask his wife for advice on how many kitchen plug-ins are required, apart from the ones for the fridge and the stove of course, for anyone to function like a normal person who doesn’t trip breakers while using more than two appliances at once. She would have told him minimum fifty. All working independently. I can’t brew coffee and make toast at the same time. Add something going in the microwave to that and the whole place blows up. Me included.

4. A really good dishwasher. We are going to get one of those, I swear, because at the moment we have a really bad one. It turns on, sprays water around, makes everything very hot and turns itself off, all without doing any actual cleaning. I use it every day relentlessly, willing it to self destruct.

5. Lots and lots of cupboards and shelves and drawers and nooks and crannies to store all the stuff you’ve accumulated over the years, including special storage for all those things you don’t actually use, but you might someday, so you can’t just throw them out. My mom used to say you can have too many cupboards for exactly this reason. I have never in my life had “too many” cupboards. See item number two above.

I sincerely hope this list was helpful, while at the same time being reasonably certain it totally wasn’t. One last essential thing you don’t necessarily have to keep in the kitchen, just handy on all your devices – the app for Skip the Dishes.