kitchen (un)essentials!

So, it's the holiday season. We've passed Thanksgiving and now on to Christmas and New Year's. For most of us that means extra time in the kitchen. I've come to enjoy the kitchen, and I thought I'd pass on a few things that make my time there more productive and, well, just more fun! :)

I cannot take credit for this first one:

A dear friend of mine uses her olive oil jars (I'm not sure of the specific name) for liquid dish soap. It's easier, cleaner, and it just looks cuter!


This is my most recent purchase: A Salad Spinner (WalMart, $10)

I stopped buying bagged salad and began purchasing heads of lettuce, but wasn't sure how to get ALL that water off to store it without it becoming slimy. Presto! (Kevin even likes this one!)

Next up we have: My Food Processor!

It makes slicing and dicing a snap! It's not easy to clean, so sometimes it's easier to just do it by hand, but I used it recently to cut up a whole onion--fabulous!

And what's a kitchen without some mixing bowls!? But these aren't just any mixing bowls--these are colorful mixing bowls! They make me want to cook just so I can play with them! :)

And where there are mixing bowls, there are measuring spoons! But these aren't just any measuring spoons...these are MAGNETIC measuring spoons! There's a tiny magnet in the middle of them, so they stick, stack, and are easy to find in the drawer. There are also two sides to each, so no need to rinse of when measuring two ingredients any more.

Excessive, you say? For only $8 at Target, you can have some of your own! Go ahead--indulge yourself!

This last picture has a story with it...

Back in January, I helped my sister-in-law pack for her and her family's trek west. :'-( I got all of two whole boxes packed for them, BUT one box I packed contained her spices. The truck was heading out a little before them and as Kim pondered which ones to keep for their last few days in Tennessee and which ones to send ahead, she said, "I just don't know--they're like my friends."

I've thought of that comment many times since then, especially as my own cooking and spicing ventures have expanded, and I think I now know how she feels.

So here are my friends, in their cozy little home: