Best Kitchen Tool

I confess I am a bit of a kitchen gadget collector. For several years, if Pampered Chef came out with a new tool, I wanted it - even before I had a kitchen of my own, I would buy some of these great kitchen gadgets they have. It really got bad for a while. My husband would groan whenever I was invited to another Pampered Chef party.

I've kinda gotten over my kitchen gadget obsession; partly because I've gathered so many tools and partly because I've finally figured out which ones I really need, which ones will do multiple jobs, and which ones just make one more dish to wash instead of actually being helpful. And in fact now, most of my kitchen gadgets are not Pampered Chef tools!

The microplane is one of my favorite kitchen tools.

This gadget is most definitely one of my very favorites. It helps me with so many small quick jobs, and yet it also handles several large jobs very well also. I'll admit I don't use it every day, but I do use it at least once/week, sometimes more often. I use this baby for:

• adding a bit of cheese to my daughter's tomato soup.
• grating fresh ginger and garlic for my stir fry.
• grating carrots for salad.
• grating parmesan or mozzerella into spaghetti sauce.
• grating chocolate to garnish a dessert.
• zesting a lemon, lime or orange.
  
• grating a 1/2 cup of fresh ginger for Indonesian Ginger Chicken (recipe posted soon).
• and more.
• and even more.
  

I love the way it grates so easily. I love that I can easily scoop off whatever is sticking to the underside. I love that it goes in the dishwasher. This tool just helps me get the job done faster and better in so many ways. It really is fantastic. I think every home cook should have one.

I have a few other favorite kitchen gadgets which I will share over the next several weeks. I'm curious. What are your favorite kitchen gadgets?

For more great kitchen tips visit Amy's Finer Things and go visit DiaperDiaries for more things other people love.