Evie Eats Everything

For Baking

	The #1 most useful tool in my kitchen is my RED KitchenAid Pro Mixer. Red is very important, it denotes that you are stylish and only the really really cool people get the red mixers. Pro because when you mix pasta doughs, it will take some power to knead that sucker, and with this, you won’t have to worry that your motor will burn out. Or if you decide to make macarons, pasta dough, and brioche in the same day and you literally run your kitchenaid for an hour straight, I’d feel much better with the pro than the wimpy normal kind.  I suppose the anniversary edition is pretty hot too if you prefer a clear bowl, but this doesn’t have the beefy motor.  Or if you prefer something not red because your kitchen is blue, this beauty comes in a variety of colors.
	A nice silicon pastry mat.  I got mine from King Arthur, it’s about 16×24.  This is super great because you don’t have to use a cutting board or get flour all over your counter top, it makes clean up a breeze.
	A digital instant read thermometer.  Now you’re probably saying, why do I want to blow almost $100 on a stupid thermometer?  Because the cheap stuff break, a lot.  I’ve went through 3 cheap thermometers that were about $20 each, that adds up.  I’ve had my thermapen thermometer for a long time now, it’s durable, splash proof, super accurate, and super fast.  This thermometer has an added infra-red sensor to measure the surface temperature as well!  It’s pretty cool but it’s not that useful, who cares about surface temperature of a roast?  I would get the thermapen, for sure!  Just read the reviews.  I use this on meats, breads, and water (for yeast!).
	Kitchen scale!!!! Especially when you are baking, you need a scale.  A lot of recipes will say “1 cup of all-purpose flour” which equates to about 4.4 oz.  If you actually measure it with a cup, you could get anywhere from 4-5 oz.  In baking, more times than not, you want to be very precise with your measurements. I wish I had this one from Williams Sonoma because it has a pull out display.  Once I was trying to weigh a badger box for shipping and I used my kitchen scale (see, multiple purpose!) – but the box was big enough to cover up the display of my scale!  Another thing to look for is that the scale has a flat surface, bowl surfaces seems less useful.  Also most scales will let you hit a button and zero out the display so you don’t have to do complicated math in your head.  This is very similar to my scale, this is also pretty cool, and THIS is like the coolest thing ever, I’m probably going to buy one soon.

For Asian Food

LOL I bet you didn’t see this one coming!  Really, for Asian food you kind of need a wok?  Anyway this is the wok that I have after throwing away my cheap one in a fit of rage. There is a big debate over whether stainless steel is better than non stick, but I really don’t care.  This one was super pretty so there.  I am however intrigued by these cast iron woks.

Bamboo steamers are essential for some asian dishes like dumpings, baos, shumai, and so on.  I have one of these and it has lasted me for about 4 years so far, and for $10 it’s not bad at all!  Just remember to oil them down once in a while, always rinse it under water before steaming, they will last a long time for you.   They will fit over any wok and steams very nicely.  My mom however, prefers these stainless steel REAL steamers and is demanding a new one for Christmas because her old one only has one tier, and it’s not enough room.  I tell her, Mom, I bought you a bamboo one, just use that!  She still demands a pot steamer, oh well.  Maybe I can steal her bamboo one when mine finally breaks.