I love my kitchen. Seriously, my husband’s favorite saying when I really love something is to tell me I ought to marry it. If I could marry this room, I might kinda consider it. LOL

I spend a lot of time in this room doing everything from list making, writing, meal planning, cooking, baking, canning, jam-making, and planning everything from birthdays to holidays and everything in between.

When I’m trying to put a meal on the table, it is made infinitely more enjoyable and efficient when I have the right kitchen tools. This is even more important now that my husband and I have subscribed to one of those weekly meal delivery subscription services. I love how everything I need for delicious and nutritious meals comes right to my door, eliminating the need to research recipes and getting frustrated trying to track down ingredients all over town.

Old Knife Block

The single most-used item in my kitchen would probably have to be the knife block. The knives and kitchen shears are used an awful lot. Somewhere along the way my small paring knife has gone missing. If I had to guess, I’d say my husband probably used it for something. I don’t know that for sure, but in any case, it’s missing.

I’ve been looking for a new knife block with a more varied selection of knives. I’m really excited by the T-fal® Comfort Stainless Steel 12pc Cutlery Set because it includes knives for everything.

The set includes:

• 8 in. chef’s knife
• 8 in. serrated bread knife
• 6 in. chef’s knife
• 5 in. utility knife
• 5 in. santoku knife
• four 5 in. serrated steak knives
• 3.5 in. paring knife
• shears
• knife block

Kitchen shears are an absolute must for me. I can’t live without them. They come in handy for opening food packaging, trimming meat, cutting aluminum foil or parchment paper to fit pans, clipping kitchen twine, and cutting tape on packages.

My favorite knife in this new set is the 5 in. Santoku knife. It is easily the most used for everything from slicing tomatoes and cheeses, dicing potatoes, trimming and cutting meat and so much more.

Here’s the santoku knife in action slicing a chicken breast. That is just such a pretty sight! It makes me feel happy. The handles are ergonomic, making them very comfortable to hold and use. As much as I use these tools in meal prep, that’s a very important consideration for me.

It’s recommended to hand wash these stainless steel utensils, which is fine by me. It just gives me an extra opportunity to admire how beautiful they are!

Another kitchen tool I’ve really been wanting to acquire is a good digital meat thermometer. I’ve looked at about a million of them. I wanted something reliable but small enough to fit in the kitchen drawer with all of my other kitchen tools. I also wanted one that was super simple to use.

The EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Food Thermometer is the perfect addition to my meal prep tool kit. It’s already getting a lot of use and is helping me to know when the meats I prepare are ready to serve. I have a bad habit of overcooking meats to make sure there’s no chance I’m serving an under-cooked meal.

What I most love about it are that the display is backlit, making reading the temperature a cinch, and the listing right on the cap of the recommended temperature and/or temperature ranges to look for when determining whether meats are done cooking.

Pork chops are particularly troublesome for me for some reason. But, look how great they turned out here with this tool to help me know when they were perfectly cooked!

Of course, this isn’t something you’d throw in the dishwasher or the sink to wash. All you need to do is wipe it with a wet washcloth and a little dish soap to clean it. Then dry completely before replacing the cap and storing it away.

If you know anyone looking to replace old kitchen tools with new ones or someone who’s moving into their first home these will make great gifts for anyone who loves to cook. If you need these items for your own home, these are some very good high quality, affordable options to consider, in my opinion. I’m very satisfied with how they are working in my kitchen.

Are you in the market for new kitchen tools? What’s on your wish list?

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Purchase your own!

T-fal® Comfort Stainless Steel 12pc Cutlery Set – Amazon | Bed Bath & Beyond | Kohl’s

EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Food Thermometer – Amazon | Best Buy | Sears