We are living with my in-laws currently. We have since mid-April when we returned to Missouri. Our house is probably 3 weeks from move-in ready. Everything is in storage.
Except… my shoebox.
I love to cook and while most homes where I’m a guest have great pots and cookware, I’ve become so attached to a few of my gadgets and knives that I decided to bring them with me.
(Que Ariel singing her “ahhhh”s)
This shoebox of glory holds my favorite must-haves. When the kids and I went on vacation last week and the rental kitchen was a little lacking I phoned home and my husband sent my beautiful shoebox with my dad and brother who joined us soon after.
My exact words…
Then later…
So what is in this box?!?
A tea bag press, a garlic press, a lemon/lime press, a microplane grater (lemons need zesting), my thermapen, a chefs knife, bread knife, tomato/bagel knife, a paring knife and a knife sharpener (that last one I bought recently).
Now to lay them out pretty…
The chefs knife, thermapen, sharpener and citrus press are America’s Test Kitchen’s picks from product testing. Any new equipment I buy now, I want their approval. Once you begin that slippery slope of buying quality it’s hard to stop. They often have “best buys” that are budget friendly. I’m keeping knives in a shoebox not a safe. The thermapen costs about $100 and is easily the most expensive thing I’ve bought that does one thing (Alton Brown would dub it a “uni-tasker”), but it does that one thing well. If you want your chicken cooked through but not overcooked, you need a thermapen or another instant read thermometer.
My immersion mixer/hand blender is also essential to me, but my mother-in-law owns one just like mine, so mine’s in storage.
How about you? What would be in your box? Would it fit in the box?
manageable mess 
