STK Favorites: Kitchen tools

Last week I showed you a few of my favorite kitchen appliances. Now, I wanted to share two of my must have kitchen tools! Seriously...I cant live without these.

Messermeister take apart kitchen shears

I had never thought kitchen sears would really be something I would use much in the kitchen..until I actually bought a pair. Now, I wonder how I lived without them! I use these for so many things. From snipping herbs into small pieces (easier then getting out a cutting board and knife) to breaking down a whole chicken.

The reason I really like the Messermeister brand is because the scissor blades can be taken apart. This is great for food safety reasons because it allows for more complete cleaning. After you cut up raw chicken you don't want any of the meat or potential bacteria getting caught in the joint. Right? These pull apart really easily and can be thrown in the dishwasher.

Microplane grater/zester

The microplane is another awesome tool you must have in your kitchen stockpile. I use this puppy all the time. Its great for turning parmesan and other hard cheeses into piles of fluffy goodness and also for zesting citrus and grating spices.

If you want to add these to your kitchen they can be purchased directly from Amazon though my STK Favorites list!

STK favorite things: Kitchen appliances

You may have noticed my new "STK Favorites" list over on the side bar. These are all the kitchen tools, appliances and cookbooks I simply cant live without. As I find new and cool things I will add them to the list so you can just click on over to Amazon if you feel the urge buy it for your kitchen (or maybe a friends).

Today I wanted to introduce you to a few of my must have appliances...

Kitchen Aid Mixer - What kitchen doesn't need one of these? This workhorse literally does it all. I use mine mostly for baking but am dying to get the ice cream and pasta making attachments. I might also try my hand at homemade sausage using the meat grinder.

Cuisinart Food Processor: This is another powerhouse in the kitchen. If you need to quickly chop or slice large amounts of product this will do the job. I use it for shredding bulk cheese (doing it yourself saves money!) and also to slice and dice veggies. It also makes a great dough for baking.

Breville Icon blender: I have professed my love for this blender in a previous post about making smoothies. It is seriously the best blender I have ever used. It chops ice with ease and even has a special smoothie setting! I have used to to make sauces as well.

Cuisinart mini chopper: Meet my mini sous chef! I use it almost on a daily basis to chop onions, garlic and herbs. Sure, you could chop them by hand but that's kind of a pain. Plus, Im the type of person who hates big chunks of onion (and even worse celery) in my food. The mini chopper dices fine enough for any ingredient to meld into your recipes perfectly. Its also awesome for super spicy things like jalapenos. All the parts can be placed in the dishwasher so cleanup is a snap.

{all images from Amazon}

Do you have any favorites I should add to the list?