What are your go-to utensils when you're cooking, baking or prepping in the kitchen? Or what gadgets do you have that either make prep-time easier or are just cool & fun to have?

1. Garlic Press

2. Micro plane grater

3. Caphlon skillet

4. Mandolin slicer

5. Tongs-I have a pair that have a rubbery tong end so they can be used in non-stick cookware. I love tongs. I should have listed them first. We use tongs every single day. The ones I have are from IKEA and they are wonderful.

Jill

1. Cast iron skillets

2. Salad spinner

3. Coffee grinders. (I have 2, one for coffee and one for spices.)

4. Silcone scrapers/spatulas

5. Pampered Chef batter bowl. I like how deep it is and I love the handle. I also like that it has a lid.

Dawn

1. Silpat - I have been using mine for many years. They never seem to wear out. NOTHING sticks to them!

2. Salad spinner

3. microplane grater - for stuff mike nutmeg, zesting

4. Good knives

5. Vitamix brand blender. I use it for everything from smoothies to pureeing soups to making iced coffee.

BONUS: #6: I use my Cuisinart food processors frequently. I have 2 on the countertop- one for sweets and one for savory.

I really like my inexpensive Presto griddle.

To go with it, I have an Oneida brand pancake spatula. The plastic blade is very wide, and quite thin.

When it comes to zesting, nothing beats a Microplane brand rasp-type zester.

We have a nice butcher block on wheels. In addition to it's obvious use, it's good for transporting "liquidy" things to the oven, without spilling. I sometimes also roll it up right next to the range, as a portable work station.

I rarely make cookies, but when I do, I use a medium OXO Cookie Scoop.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sheltieguy,

1. Anything dishwasher proof... anything that will come out clean, that is.

2. A garlic press you don't have to peel the cloves for.

3. Onion chopper

4. Food processor w/whirling blades (pulverizes ANYTHING) and blender

5. A Tupperware three-piece bowl and lid set from 20 years ago. Great for taking lunches, storing/nuking leftovers etc.

My Fave 5:

1. Tovolo Silicon Spatula: I don't bake much but, when I do, this spatula is my best friend. It is not only gorgeous (silver handle and cobalt blue paddle) but it works GREAT--it gets every last bit of batter out of the bowl with its multi-shaped paddle.

2. Braun stick blender: While I don't use it as much as I did 5 years ago, and I no longer have the ridiculously-tiny kitchen that had no space for a full-size food processor, I still love my Braun. It's both immersion blender and a food processor.

My most frequent uses of the Braun these days are to smooth out chunks in jar spaghetti sauce or canned tomatoes (cuz I don't like my chili or spaghetti sauce chunky), to chop nuts and to make my homemade-salsa-in-a-minute.

3. OXO Good Grips Locking Tongs: I have 2 sets of these--one longer and one shorter--and I use them constantly.

I do my marinating in a gallon-size Ziploc bag and they are great for reaching into the bag and getting out the meat w/o getting my hands messy. I also use them mostly for moving food around while cooking (like stir frying) and flipping meat on the grill (or in the grill pan).

4. OXO Good Grips Nylon Flexible Turner: I never realized that I use the word spatula for both a flat utensil to flip eggs and an oblong utensil to blend and turn out batter from a bowl. Hmm...well, OXO calls the flat one a turner. I use it in my nonstick pans to cook and flip eggs, burgers, etc.

5. Chicago Cutlery Metropolitan 6.75" Santoko Knife: Perhaps because of my small hands and short arms, I now prefer to do all my veggie prepping with this shorter santoko than with the longer chef's knives I used to use.

1. Silicone pot holders and mitten - love, love, how heat resistant they are at all temps.

2. Silcone spatula

3. My butcher's knife - my dad gave it to me when I moved out and it's awesome. He sharpens it for me when he comes to the house ; )

4. My flexible cutting boards - soooo easy to clean

5. My cast iron pan - it's used every single day.

PS Thanks Sheri for starting these threads - I'm enjoying them!