Flavors of Kentucky

Cooks tell us their favorite things — some new, some old

No doubt about it, cooking at home saves money. In these tough economic times, many of us are sharpening our knives and our cooking skills, and eating the food prepared in our kitchens.
If you haven’t cooked in your kitchen for a while - or are just learning - you might need to update your cooking gear. We asked a couple of knowledgeable home cooks which kitchen items they can’t live without and why. They’ve learned that a few good tools can make dinner preparation much quicker and easier.

Elaine Hiatt, Lexington
Onion chopper: One of the most useful and time-saving items in Hiatt’s kitchen is a Vidalia onion chopper. “I purchased it from Good Housekeeping years ago, but now they have them at local stores. In minutes, you can prepare fresh vegetables, pecans, fruits, boiled eggs or anything that can be chopped. When I make potato salad, I can use it to chop all the ingredients in the recipe.”
KitchenAid stand mixer: “I bake a lot and am always trying new recipes. I like having my hands free while mixing.”
Pressure cooker: “Besides saving time, it tenderizes meat. My mother-in-law gave me a Mirro Matic pressure cooker 50 years ago, and I am still using it. I will admit I need a new one and have been shopping to find one, but so far none pleases me.”
Cast-iron skillets: “I couldn’t make corn bread or cook breakfast foods without my cast-iron skillets. They are hand-me-downs from my mother and are in good ’seasoned’ condition.”
Paring knife: “Having a good knife to work with is important to me. I even carry my paring knife on vacation to Hilton Head, (S.C.) because I cook there for my family.”

Bill McAtee, Lexington
Easy Twist by Farley: “It’s almost impossible for me to twist the cap off the apple juice bottle without my Easy Twist by Farley,” the retired minister said.
Cast-iron muffin pan: “My cast-iron corn bread muffin ‘tin,’ with 11 individual cups all welded together, came from a Civil War plantation in Louisiana, where the wife of one of my seminary professors grew up, and was given to me by her years ago.”
Wooden spoon: “My 111/2-inch wooden spoon … has worn down on one side from years of stirring soup, grits, oatmeal, lactose-free pimento cheese and no telling what else that was sticking to the bottom of pans and cast-iron skillets.”
Butcher knife: “My 8-inch Victorinox butcher knife we got in Switzerland in 1990. I use it to cut up everything. Always stays on the counter top.”
Crock: “My mother-in-law’s Wesson Oil Crock - “For Making Good Things to Eat” - that sits by the stove and holds wooden spoons, spatulas, whisks and all sorts of cooking utensils at the ready.”

Susan Lambert, Anderson County
Jar opener: “I am on the high side of 50 years old and have a touch of arthritis in my hands. I sometimes need help popping the seal so I can turn the top and open the jar. A very inexpensive tool that I found is a ‘vacuum popper jar opener.’ The little plastic tool fits under the lip of the jar lid and also on top, and it levers the edge of the jar lid away from the jar and breaks the seal.”
Knife sharpener: “I like for my knives to be really sharp. I have not invested in really high-end knives, but instead, buy the ones recommended by Cook’s Illustrated magazine as the best buys. When I pull them out of the knife block, I turn them upside down on the counter and run an Accusharp knife sharpener down them 4 or 5 times. This little tool will put a very fine edge on a knife.”
Flexible cutting mats: “I have four or five of them in the kitchen. I have one section of my counter that is butcher block and a lot of counter space that is not. These are great for throwing down and chopping food up anywhere on the counter. The really cool thing about them is when you’ve got the food chopped, you pick the mat up by the edges, roll the edges up kind of like a funnel and dump the chopped ingredients into whatever you’re preparing.”
Microplane grater: “This grater makes very short work of turning hard cheeses into piles of feathery cheese that just melts on top of my marinara. It also does a fine job of zesting citrus.”
Garlic peeler: “You put the garlic cloves inside the sleeve, put it down on the counter and roll the sleeve under your palm with a little pressure like you would a rolling pin. You dump the garlic out of the sleeve and the skins have come off.”
On-the-counter olive oil dispenser: “I use a lot of extra-virgin olive oil when I cook. I’ve begun to substitute it for butter. Rather than going to the pantry and hauling out a bottle of olive oil, uncapping, opening, pouring, recapping and taking it back to the pantry, I keep a dark-green glass bottle with a dispenser cap on it right on the counter with the salt and pepper.”
Virginia Long, Lexington
Iron skillet: “My mother, a great cook, owned no small appliances,” Long said. “She relied heavily on her well- seasoned iron skillet. Mine is over 50 years old, indestructible and indispensable.”
Cutting boards and clever: “For simplicity and usefulness,” she said, “I value my various cutting boards and my favorite cleaver.”
Spoon holder: Long’s newest kitchen gadget is a spoon holder that clamps to the side of the pot.
Slow cooker and bread machine: “I am partial to my many time-saving electrical appliances, and when I have house guests, I can prepare a savory stew in my slow-cooker and I fill the bread-making machine, and enjoy my company. Oh, the aroma in my house.”
Betsy Lowe, Lexington
“I have a lot of kitchen items that I love,” Lowe said. “They’re all Pampered Chef, but basically that is all I use anymore.”
Food chopper: “Very versatile. I can chop (anything from) onions to chocolate bars.”
Stainless steel bowls: Rubber bottoms prevent them from sliding on the counter, and there’s a thumb hole in the handle for easy mixing and lids for storage.
Batter bowl: For mixing and measuring.
Tool turnabout: “Keeps all of my handy tools on the counter top for easy access.”
Sondra Holt, Lexington
Mixer: “A must for cakes,” Holt said.
Food processor: for grinding pretzels for pretzel salad; chopping or grinding pecans for cookies, cakes; and especially for softening cheese for pimiento cheese.
Jonell Tobin, West Liberty
Food processor: Tobin uses her Cuisinart food processor more than she does a mixer.
Antique utensil: Tobin has an “antique utensil that I use to fold egg whites, particularly into a sour cream cake. It was my mother’s, and it is special, but very useful. I have not seen anything like this in the stores. I don’t think I could replace it.”
Microwave: “I don’t really cook in the microwave, but I use it for something every day.”
Iron skillet: Tobin said one simply can’t make good corn bread without a seasoned iron skillet.
Baking stone: The Pampered Chef baking stone is great for baking. Also, “if I could add one more item, it would be the stand mixer. “In my community and church, I am known for making sour cream cakes. … I could not make them without the mixer.”
Pat Reed, Winchester
Serrated knife: Every day, Reed uses her Miracle serrated knife, which was part of a set given to her several years ago by her son Mike. “The handle is curved upward so that when you slice food, your knuckles do not hit the counter. It is especially wonderful for slicing homemade bread.”
Bosch mixer: “Second would have to be my Bosch mixer. I can make 10 French loaves of bread at one time and freeze for later use. It will hold 15 to 16 cups of flour and not walk all over the counter and does all the kneading for me,” she said.
Potato masher: “An old-fashioned potato masher from Stanley Home Products that they used to give as hostess gifts for home parties,” she said. “It has small round holes instead of the traditional zig zag wire style and is great for mashing potatoes before using an electric mixer to finish.
Food Saver: From her son Clay. “We buy whole rib-eye steaks and freeze individual steaks with the Food Saver bags to last longer without freezer burn.”
Helen Morgan, Nicholasville
Townecraft cookware: Morgan said one of the mainstays in her kitchen is “a set of Townecraft cookware purchased in the 1960s at an in-home cooking party. The stainless steel pans cost between $300 and $400 for about 10 pieces counting the lids, and that was a lot of money at that time. I value them for their strength, endurance and versatility, and even at their age, they are still beautiful.”
KitchenAid stand mixer: “It is essential, especially in making wedding cakes. I make a lot of cakes and do a great deal of baking.”
Pampered Chef cookie dough scoops: “I use them frequently. I have all three sizes of their scoops, which are wonderful for producing uniform-sized cookies to be baked and enjoyed fresh from the oven, and I also use them for putting muffin batter in the pans.”
Biscuit cutter: “I don’t use it often, but its sentimental value outweighs any functional value. It is an old biscuit cutter which my mother made from a food can; she cut off one end and somehow left a smooth edge, and then poked three holes in the other end. She started her married life about the time of the Depression, and although I am sure she had many unmet needs in the kitchen, she was an excellent cook … and good at improvising and operating on a shoestring.”
Rosemary Sackleh, Lexington
Bench scraper: Can be used as a pizza cutter, bagel slicer or for scooping up chopped items (it even gets up dried candle wax).
Kitchen shears: For opening packages and cutting meats, fruits and vegetables.
Three-quart Pyrex mixing bowl: For mixing, microwaving, storing and serving.
Crock-Pot: For mulled cider, barbecue, roasts and spiced fruit.
Cookbooks: “Especially the old ones.”
Linda Huff, Lexington
Zojirushi bread machine and KitchenAid mixer: “I would have to say that the bread machine is my overall favorite,” said Huff. “We haven’t bought bread for years. I used to make bread by hand or knead it with my KitchenAid mixer. The bread machine makes this much easier.”
Canning funnel: “Of course, we have to have homemade jams and jellies to go with the bread. I use my mother’s old aluminum canning funnel to fill the jars.”
Cast iron: Huff said she prefers to use a set of old iron skillets and muffin pans, rather than any modern cookware. “I have an iron skillet that belonged to my grandmother, who died 90 years ago.”
Whisk: “It’s an excellent utensil for making sauces, especially chocolate sauce, and chocolate cream pie.
Wayne Greer, Danville
Mixing cups and spoons: “When trying a new recipe, I will make it to the exact measurements of the author,” said Greer, who’s a baker. “If it measures up to my taste, I will continue with the original, or if not, I will change to suit my taste.”
Wooden spoon: “This is my most-used item in the kitchen. I like to use the wooden spoon and enjoy the aroma that evolves as you are mixing the ingredients.”
Coffee cup, knife and fork: “Sitting down with a fresh cup of coffee, a slice of cake or pie, and the fork is the ultimate test of what you expected or what you received. I have several ‘taste testers’ in the neighborhood that will sample and provide feedback.”
Hope Arnold, Georgetown
KitchenAid mixer: Arnold uses her mixer for many things: cake mix, mashed potatoes or a hard stick of cream cheese. “And it looks good on the counter,” she said.
Bamboo cutting board: It doesn’t dull knives like glass, and it doesn’t harbor bacteria like wood, she said.
Bamboo spoons: The bamboo spoons from Pampered Chef are a cross between a spoon and a spatula, so you need only one utensil.
Chef’s knife: “A 5-inch chef’s knife is just the right size. You can chop an onion or use it to spread peanut butter on a sandwich, then cut off the crust.”
Hand-held can opener: “A hand-held can opener fits in the drawer next to the stove, so you can open the can, pour it in the pot, and it doesn’t clutter up the counter.”