A Few of My Favorite Things – TPW422

This week I'm sharing some of my favorite things--items that are making my life more productive, more pleasant, or just more fun. Having your favorite tools and other items around you each day can bring you joy and improve your productivity For this coming holiday season, I thought I’d share some of my favorite things to which you might treat yourself. Some would make good gifts too! Kitchen tools "Meat masher" tool The meat masher! Technically, the one I have is called the “Farberware Professional Heat Resistant Nylon Meat/Potato Masher.” It might seem like a silly thing, but it’s a game changer for a very specific purpose: it’s perfect for breaking up ground meat when you’re cooking it. If you’ve ever been aggravated trying to do that in a skillet with a wooden spoon, you’ll want to try this little tool. It can also mash potatoes or cooked chicken that needs to be shredded for soup or tacos. It's safe for non-stick cookware and dishwasher safe. I wish I could describe what it looks like, but I love this thing. There are several different versions by different manufacturers, but the Farberware one I have costs less than $10 on Amazon.  My Always Pan This is a premium skillet with a non-stick ceramic coating. It's designed to replace a fry pan, sauté pan, steamer, skillet, saucier, and more. The pan comes with a wooden spatula that fits into the built-in spoon rest, as well as a steamer basket. It comes in tons of pretty colors, and I love how easily it cleans up. The manufacturer currently has holiday sales going on. Check the pan out here. Countertop suction slicer and grater This is another somewhat silly thing to be so happy about, but I love this thing. It attaches to the countertop by suction to keep it in place while you use it, and then you turn a handle to grate or slice your cheese, potatoes, or whatever else you might otherwise use a grater for. Faster than doing it by hand (and you don’t risk scraping your fingers on the grater) and quicker to set up and clean up than a food processor. I first learned about this in a cooking video on Mandy In the Making YouTube channel. I don’t remember where I bought mine (I think it was on QVC.com, per Mandy’s recommendation), but will link to a couple of places you can look to see what I’m talking about. Less than $30 and comes with 3 interchangeable barrels for fine shredding, coarser shredding, and slicing. Find examples on Amazon or QVC. Cookbooks  * The Magnolia Table cookbooks, volumes 1 and 2. I bought mine at Target. Here is a link to Volume 1. *