For me, my favorite kitchen item has to be my Kitchenaid Mixer- I've had it since I was 18 or 19 (worked in bakeries and did cake decorating)- yikes, I've had it 16 years now. I have a lot of the attachments- love the metal graters for making 'snow cones' (I use to freeze my ScanDiet meal replacement shakes & then run them through the grater so it was like eating ice cream). I also love my non-Foreman grill...I went through a couple of the small Foreman ones (we use them several times a day, every single day). A few years ago, HSN had a panini maker/grill unit on clearance for $20 with grill area a little bigger then a piece of paper, with removeable grills plates (one set is flat & the other has ridges). The coolest thing is that it has a floating hinge with a lock so it can be open a couple inches without resting on the food,- I put just about anything in there and not squash it. Honnestly, I would never go back to a GF brand grill...except maybe the new one with all the different plate- I like the idea of getting rid of my waffle iron. I think you pay a lot for the GF name, and would be better of buying a similar type of grill at WalMart (and if you want it to slant downward, just slide something under the back legs
). I also have one of those convertable stick mixers- it has so many different attachments- from imersion blender, two different sized chopper containers, whip, beaters, etc. It is so handy & easy to switch from one to another...couldn't imagine cooking without it.
My two favorite things when it comes to eating healthy have to be a good set of electronic kitchen scales (I also weigh a lot of my ingrediants when I'm baking...old habits from all those years in the bakery during college) and my Food Saver system. Whatever you do, don't get one of the cheap food sealers- I did that years ago and I used it so few times that its not even funny....just a big waste of money, IMHO. With the Food Saver & digital scales, I make sure when I put things in the freezer that they are individual sized servings- I can always take out more if I need to. The Food Saver is also great for resealing cereal, pretzels, & such- it really makes you think about 'just grabbing a few' if you have cut it open & reseal it...plus things don't get stale like they use to.
If you can't tell, I love kitchen gadgets a lot
I have been thinning them out some since I started watching Alton Brown on Good Eats (Food Channel). I need to see if my library has his book "Gear for Your Kitchen"- he has some great ideas that sometimes come from the hardware store, or other non-kitchen item. In his opinoin, the only tool in the kitchen that should have only one use is the fire extinguisher- everything else needs to be able to do multiple tasks...and I have to say that most of the gadgetity-gadgets I've bought are pretty much useless.