Four Favorites

Here are four of my favorite things in the kitchen.

I kick off with a bold assertion:

This makes the best coffee available outside of a cafe, full stop.  

The first time I encountered one of these, in the kitchen of my Spanish host mother, I was mystified.  One lesson in assembly and an unforgettable cup later, I was hooked for life.  It even comes with me on vacations.  My husband rolls his eyes when he finds it in the suitcase, but that's just because he takes it for granted.  

I have friends who hold off on their first cup of the day (shudder) in anticipation of a coffee at my place, NOT because of my superior coffee making skills, but because of the magic this little percolator does.  

I usually use Lavazza D'Oro, but, honestly, the brand of bean doesn't seem to make much difference.  

It's all about the pot.  

Do you ever open the refrigerator to find shelves and shelves of mysterious little containers of God-knows-what staring back at you?  

Do you shut the door without investigating, for fear of what you might uncover?  

Possibly, the nation's largest domestic supply of penicillin?

You need a Sharpie and some masking tape.  

This is a hangover from my restaurant days where everything that went into the refrigerator was labeled.  We always included the date, but as I am the only cook in the house, I find this step unnecessary.  

Labeling means there is a greater chance that you will actually use whatever it is you went to the trouble of saving.  

They live right out in the open on my kitchen bench, always within reach. 

Loose-leaf tea.  (Yes, more caffeine.  Do you sense a theme?)  It's more of a treat.  It takes 10 seconds more than grabbing a tea bag.  It tastes better. Enough said.

Vintage egg cups.  Tap-Tap eggs, as the boys call them (because of the tapping you do on the shell to crack them open) are about as simple a meal as you can get, but they become down-right elegant when served in one of these.  

They make me smile.