My microplanes. I've been using a microplane for over 12 years and don't know what I did before that. Nothing is better for grating garlic or lemon zest or ginger, etc.. than a microplane. I have a number of them with different grating surfaces, including a box grater.

Ann

I don't know the exact name but those plunger type measuring gizmos/thingmies.

The ones you can pack brown sugar or shortening into and just push it out.

We bought one for Mrs.M as a lark, a stocking stuffer, a few years ago but it works so well we now have about three or maybe four, from small (teaspoon and tablespoon size) to quite large. (a couple of cups size).

They all have multiple dry and wet gradients on them and are a breeze to clean up and make putting something together so very much easier.

I'm with you on the flexible cutting mats!
And about 4 years ago I bought a small, about 8 inches, chef's knife. With that and cut cutting mat, I am a happy camper!

I'll second the microplanes.
And my Cutco knives. They just "fit" me perfectly.
Pampered Chef batter bowls w/ lids (I have two 4-cup and one 8-cup).
Multiple types and sizes of cutting boards.
And one can never have too many rubber spatulas/scrapers!!

Deanna

Anything silicone. Especially my loaf tin.

I won't even tell where my mind went on this one, grin

A zester

Put me in with the Microplane group. I have several also and use them constantly.

Alexa

Here, here, to everything mentioned... I'd have to add my Silpat (silicon mat) to the growing list.

-I use it for forming dough on, instead of a floured counter or a bread board. As long as you handle the dough with oiled hands, no bench flour is necessary and clean-up is q & e.

-I pour that holiday peanut brittle on it and it doesn't stick. Great for making small rounds of peanut brittle.

-Line a jelly roll pan with a Silpat and bake meatballs or sausage balls on it. The grease wipes off and the meatballs don't stick.

Odd thing though, I don't bake cookies on my Silpat mats, but use parchment paper for that (another favorite small thing). I never liked how cookies baked on Silpats. About 10-years ago I bought what will end up being a lifetime supply of parchment paper at a restaurant supply store and have never regretted the investment.

-Grainlady

I finally got a decent can opener. It was so silly, my opener was a piece of junk that I got a million years ago, probably in college, for pennies at the grocery store. I don't open cans that often, but everytime I did it was a struggle and frustrating. But for some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to get a new one, since the one I had still worked. I don't know why.

A week ago, I broke down and bought a decent OXO can opener. Just a few dollars, but what a difference. I'm usually not particularly frugal. A little frivolous, even. But there was just something stopping me.

Can't explain it.

AM

My 5 1/2 inch ceramic Kyocera chef's knife. Used according to package instructions on a wooden cutting board mine stayed keenly sharp for two years. When it became slightly less sharp I packaged it up, enclosed a check for $10.00 and sent it off to be resharpened per company instructions. I use this knife 90% of the time except for heavy cutting, twisting jobs. You have to try one to realize how fantastic they are.

Kitchen scissors-I use these for everything from cutting sandwiches to green beans.
Hand held Food Saver-I use this several times a day.
Timers-Peppi started me off with the timer on a rope which I used until I broke it. My latest is a very large one that sticks to the refrigerator and I can see it from afar. Since my refrigerator is black, it doesn't look so bad. But, I love it to keep me from forgetting that I have something on the stove.

RE: Can opener-several years ago I bought the Kuhn Rikon hand held that AnnT recommended. I was on a trip with girl friends, I called home to check on the House Guest (DH) he said he couldn't open cans. At the encouragement of my friends, I called daily to see if he had figured out the can opener yet. He said no and if he didn't soon he and the cats were going starve. I sent my BIL over to show him--I certainly didn't want my kitties to starve!

Here is a link that might be useful: Large Timer

Add me to the microplane fan club.

Since we like the flavor of fresh lemons, this would have to be one of my favorite small kitchen items. It screws into a lemon and the juice comes out the spout. The cap can be snapped on to store the lemon in the fridge for its next usage without it drying out.

Another item I'd be lost without is a stainless steel baby's feeding spoon with a small oval bowl. Whether it's cleaning gills from a portabella mushroom, popping out a fish eye, stuffing small vegetables or adding a caper to the exact spot needed for a garnish, it's a very useful tool in my kitchen.

I think my favorite small things are those items that do their job very well for the small amount of money that was spent to purchase them:

~parchment paper - how did I bake all those cookies before I found this?

~a cheese slicer - think a small stainless cleaver, the edge is very handy for prying things up, too

~a very thin, flexible stainless spatula - works better than a knife to separate just baked loaves of bread from their pans

~plastic "shower cap" covers - I have dozens, all sizes, all thicknesses of plastic, they wash easily and no fighting "cling film"/plastic wrap anymore!

Teresa

I'd be lost without my microplanes, good knives, flexible cutting boards, parchment paper and submersion blender.
Good tools make any job easier.

Nancy

My onion googles! Someone here recommended them ages ago and I finally bought a pair. I am very, very sensitive to onions and over the years tried every known no-tears remedy without success. No matter what, I ended up in tears and in pain.

These work!

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Onion Googles

mustangs - where do you find the bags for your food saver? I have three of them and can't find bags anymore.

A grill/griddle (plug in type) that is big enough for my when my big family comes over (5 brothers and sisters, all of whom are married and have children, three parents, and a partridge in a pear tree).

I wish someone would give me lessons on a microplane. When I grate stuff, the food ends up stuck in the grater and nothing on the other side! I envision whispy curly peel and I get juice on one side, mushed peel on the other. It never comes out looking like it does when they grate things on tv??? And I think, I must be missing something! What it could be, I dunno.

Kitchen shears
Small Salad shooter
(use it mostly for grating)
And 2 cheese cutters.
I don't know the 'proper' names.
One is the wire type, the other more of a 'shaver'.

Rusty

A fan of parchment paper here. Also use lots of waxed paper.

A small ceramic mortar and pestle. I broke the bowl but still use the unbroken side. A new one in my shopping cart... which I should checkout today.

: )
lyra

Angelaid, My local grocery store has a brand that isn't FoodSaver, I buy those inexpensively. Walmart and Target both have a section for FoodSaver accessories. Also, you can order from the website below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bags

Shame on you, vacuumfreak, for not mentioning this as your favorite:

My frequently used small thing in the kitchen is my cordless vacuum.

dcarch :-)

Ah yes! A subject near and dear...

I recently tried some collapsible bowls, which I find I'm loving. Made by Progressive, they have all sizes, including a strainer. I also like the collapsible ''berry'' bowls, which are a sort of a rectangular silicone colander. (They're great for rinsing small amounts and things like rice.)

Love my dual sided grater. I use this a lot for frozen butter or cheese.

Silicone utensils, most especially spatulas, spoons, tongs and ladle.

Chefn dual sided grater.

I recently bought some silicone bowls in the Michael Graves section at Target. These are quickly becoming a favorite, as they're light, you can actually pour from them with great accuracy, and they fit easily into a tight space.

Love my Jonathan salad tongs that fold flat for storage. Also he makes a cookie spatula that is the perfect size for breaking up meat/scraping in a frying pan.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dual sided grater

Your hand held must be different than my Reynold's Handi Vac things. It has a little vacuum button that fits into a special hole in the bags. As soon as I bought three of them, they discontinued the Handi Vac and the bags. LOL

Most of my faves come from CF gifts, swaps or recommendations. My stick blender, microplanes, french press coffemaker and definitely the silicone spoonula that Annie suggested I purchase during Canny Camp when we visited Grand Rapids.
One of my other alltime favorites is the Cutco spreader knife. Go figure, my other knives are Messermeister, but that spreader knife is the best for avocados, peanut or almond butter and for making sandwiches!

Definitely parchment paper for cookies and my microplanes, although I "only " have four: one very fine for ginger, nutmeg, etc., one coarser for zests, one grater size for cheese and one for my heels in the bathroom, which gets used for nothing else, LOL. Thanks lars for that tip.

I have the flexible mats but find them bothersome because they end up curling up and then I fight with them to keep them flat.

I like my Swingaway can oener, Elery has one of those KR safety lidlifter blasted things that cut the edges of the cans instead of the tops, he loves it and I've never been able to use thing successfully, ever. The last time I needed to open something at his house I futzed around for about 15 minutes, then went and got my swiss army knife with the can opener out of the Jeep and used that! I also HATE electric can openers, the last one I had I tossed out into the driveway in frustration...

The only timer I have is the one on the microwave, I haven't been able to successfully use the timer and the oven on the stove at the same time either. I'm just too impatient to take the time to learn how to use things when I already know another way and the Princess appropriated the one that Peppi gave me, she just loves it!

Let's not talk about the new cell phone, which I am refusing to charge.

Annie

Angelaid, Debbie Meyers now handles the bags for the Reynolds vacuum. You can order the replacement bags from HSN, see link below. I'm assuming that's the brand you are referring to.

BTW, my FoodSaver hand held is electric not battery like the Reynolds.

Annie, Ray will be happy to hear that you also had issues with the KR can opener!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Reynolds Bags

Several sets of measuring cups and mini measuring glasses
Ceramic Chef Knife
Three Victorinox paring knives
Rubbermaid Square Stackable Bowls (saves lots of room in the fridge)
many more items to numerous to mention
and
You probably wouldn't call this a kitchen item - since I go around with a glass of iced tea in my hands at all times I love my Tervis Tumbler mugs and they are lifetime guaranteed.

Plastic bag clips, instead of twist ties.

AeroPress coffee maker, plus Bodum-style milk frother.

Oh my, you all are putting ideas in my head! What great ideas/responses. Cathy, thank you for pointing out that there are some aftermarket bags still available for the Reynonlds Handivac. I don't have one (I use a traditional style Food Saver, when I use it.... and have found that only genuine bags work well), but I was saddened when Reynolds stopped making the bags, declaring that they just weren't profitable. I thought how mad I'd have been if I'd just purchased the hadivac, and couldn't find replacement bags for it! I do have some Debbi Meyer green bags... I've only used them a few times, and couldn't tell much difference.

I forgot about the ceramic knives. I am just using the cheap as seen on TV Yoshi blade, but I do love it. It is so light and really cuts well. The included peeler is FABULOUS! Not bad for only 15 bucks. I've already gifted them to several (3) cooking friends and they have all loved them. Of course I had to include strong warnings about how to treat it as not to break it. Mine has gotten a very small chip in the blade right up by the handle... but that is after a lot of use (though I never put it in the dishwasher)... I kind of abuse it though.... I leave it dirty for extended periods of time, and toss it in the dish drainer without the protective sheath. A normal person wouldn't even notice it, but I'm quirky, and even small imperfections bother me. I will keep using it because it doesn't change the performance, and when it finally does break, I think a black Kyocera upgrade will be a great thing! There is a neat video on Youtube about how the Kyoceras are made (though I've heard they can chip too).

I don't use my microplane often, but when I do, I am thankful for it. I should have also included a 2nd rubber scraper/spatula/spoonula (I have one traditional one, and one spoonula, both made by Farbarware), and it is sooooo nice to have 2!

Another thing I forgot to mention isn't even made for the kitchen at all, but it has improved my life in the kitchen greatly. It is those 3M Command adhesive hooks. I live in a small apartment without much drawer space... I have my frying pans, oven mitts, whisks, rubber scrapers, and dry measuring cups all hung up. They free up so much room in cabinets and drawers, and don't leave any permanent marks on the walls. Fabulous!

You all here are ones who got me started using parchment paper, and it really is great. I always have an extra box on hand now!

Cathy, that is a great idea about kitchen shears for cutting sandwiches. I had never even thought about that! I usually use a knife or my D shaped pizza rocker, but if it's a grilled cheese with turkey bacon or something, they have a hard time getting through the bacon and actually smash or tear the bread. I have 2 kitchen shears, one that came with the knife block, and the Kitchen Aid ones you gave me at our FL mini meet a few years ago. The ones that came with the knife block have handles that are too small. The Kitchen Aid ones you gave me cut very well, but the handles hurt my hands (they are still great as a back up pair, when my go to shears are dirty). I got a cheap pair of office scissors at Wal-mart, not even 5 bucks. The are the traditional kind with the small round hole on one side and the bigger one at the bottom. They are the best scissors I've ever used, save my good Fiskars fabric shears. I've even used these things on fabric when I couldn't find the Fiskars and the worked great. I snip foods, open food packages, even used them to get into crab legs one time! I even put them in the dishwasher, and they weren't made for kitchen use. I keep them on the side of the refrigerator in the magnetic holder that came with the Kitchen Aid set you gave me. Very handy!

Wow, I said too much... Gadgets and tools really are near and dear! I need to go get ready to meet my personal trainer for our first session! :o)

Love that little lemon thing ruthanna. I'll have to look for one the next time I'm out shopping.

Microplanes for sure here too. My newest fave are those little SS condiment cups like some restaurants use for dipping sauces and whatnot. I love to use them for various things while entertaining or having guests for dinner.

Can't forget the little appy forks and cocktail picks I received from Woodie and Sharon at Martini Mayhem a few years ago.

David

My favorite small thing is something I have repurposed into a new use. I have an old wooden butter paddle. I use it in my teflon pans to break up hamburger when frying, and also for making scrambled eggs. It is strong enough to break up cooking hamburger but gentle enough on my pans and doesn't scratch it.

Stacie

I want ruthanna's little lemon thing also! I'll keep an eye out for it, as I should have lemons in another month or so.

As for my own small things - I really like my dough scraper more than I thought I would when I first bought it. I keep it handy on a magnetic knife holder and use it for transferring chopped vegetables/garlic, etc. I like my collection of small Japanese bowls that I use for mise en place. I also use Italian dipping bowls and soy sauce bowls for that as well - I guess they are like David's condiment cups. I find tiny bowls to be very useful, including the Rubbermaid versions. I also like the tiny measuring cup I got in a swap which measures in increments of 1 tsp up to 2 tbsp. I use that all the time. Also bag clips, which I get at an office supply store - they are meant to hold stacks of paper together, but they work great on tortilla chip bags.

Lars

My Kuhn Rikon handheld mandoline is by far my favorite kitchen gadget.

Funny you should mention a second set of measuring spoons and cups. I've been thinking of this too. Since I've been dieting, and measuring out my portions, the measuring cups are always in the dishwasher.

Microplanes, parchment paper, freezer wrap which I use on the counter while baking to catch the crumbs/spills, a set of small pyrex custard cups that like Lars' Japanese bowls get used everyday to hold mise en place and my splatter screen!!!

Dale

Susy, that's part of the reason I got a 2nd set too. Mine were in the dishwasher all the time and I had to hand wash them when I needed them. Measuring cups/spoons are so cheap, I couldn't believe I waited so long! I have been dieting too and measuring things like ice cream or cereal (it's amazing what a 1/2 cup of ice cream or 3/4 cups of cereal looks like!)... it's a lot of extra work, but I've lost 8 pounds in 2 and 1/2 weeks (dieting combined with working out), so I'm not stopping! Good luck on your journey!

Vacuum freak, congratulations on your weight loss!

I would hate to have to cook without my wooden spoons too. Such a simple and inexpensive thing means so much.
Also, how can anyone do without a colander of some sort. I use mine several times a week.

Instant access to salt and pepper. On the oddments shelf above my range, I have two small open bowls of salt (kosher and sea), and an electric pepper mill. Takes only a few seconds with one free hand to season whatever I'm working on. Especially useful when the other hand is slimy or wet or chicken-y.

Lots of small prep bowls. I have about ten 4'' glass bowls stacked by the prep area. As each item is minced, diced, sliced, etc, it gets swept into a bowl, set aside, and the board is wiped off for the next item. Keeps things organized.

Probe thermometer. I like meat very under-cooked. My family doesn't like meat raw. Since we have to co-exist in this narrow band of done-ness, I use a thermometer quite a lot. My second cable probe-style thermometer from Sur La Table is falling apart. They don't seem to last more than a couple of years. I'm about to break down and spend the $100 for an instant-read Thermapen.

I'm another who cannot be without parchment paper. I've been buying mine in huge quantities, from a local restaurant supplier for the last 12 years. So if they ever pick up and leave, I'll be inconsolable.

Ice cream scoops are another necessity. And cloth towels, and metal whisks, of all shapes and sizes.

Sol

Having at least 3-5 of everything really important: measuring cup sets, measuring spoon sets, rubber high heat spatulas, mixing bowls and cookie sheets. I have a dozen+ of big mixing bowls though.
Everything goes in the dishwasher, don't make me handwash anything!

This is an interesting thread. My favorite small thing in the kitchen is a little lidded ceramic dish with a fish on top that was my grandmother's. It was probably for jewelry or some such. I use it for holding kosher salt. It makes me smile and reminds me of her. Has it improved my life? I guess any day I'm smiling and thinking of my grandmother is a good day.

I have so many things I couldn't cook without! A new discovery is that Reynold's non stick foil. I love that stuff! I like to find odd measuring cups at the thrift shop and keep then in EVERYTHING! Like my flour has a 1/2 cup measure in the container I keep it in...etc. These are usually 25 cents each.

My favorite small things would be the microplanes and the cookie scooper. It looks like a little ice cream scoop but it is cookie dough sized.

I do a lot of baking. I love my silpats! Less mess, less dough sticking to everything!

Oh my word, all these neat little gadgets that are new to me and I thought I must already have at least one of everything. I love having several sets of measuring cups and spoons. One set of spoons are flat on the bottom and I like that. I, too, keep measuring cups of different sizes in flour, sugar and cornmeal and I love my salt crock.

The one thing that hasn't been mentioned, I don't think, that I absolutely love, are my Zyliss kitchen tongs with silicone grippers and a thumb latch...so you can operate them with one hand. I bought them for each of my DD's and DIL.

jude

I really like my kitchen shears and my twisty garlic chopper as I hate chopping garlic. I also like the plastic lids I bought for my mason jars.

Well, I guess it's fund raiser time again, because my manager's wife (she works there too, in a different department) just brought in a book of stuff her daughter was selling. I never buy from those things, but I wanted to "be a sport" since everyone else was doing it... I stayed far away from the candy/cookies (they had labels for snickerdoodles and sugar cookies transposed on the wrong pictures!)... I got something called a bash and chop. It was only 6.50, cheaper than the 14.50 Vanilla Ginger candle I also got :o)

It's kind of a bench scraper/prep taxi with a sharp edge. I thought it would be useful for cleaning the countertop after baking something with dough (I have a plastic pan scraper version I've used before that worked well) and for transporting ingredients for soup to the stock pot. I don't know how much real cutting I will be able to do with it, but I like my knives anyway :o) It has one curled edge to form the handle and numbers on the business end for measuring... has anyone used one before?

Jude, I tried some silicone tongs before and the silly things wouldn't hold on to anything I tired to grab with them. I hated my silicone bakeware and threw the tongs and bakeware out on the same day, banishing silicone from my kitchen "forever". Well, I guess not because dollar store pastry brushes still reside in the drawer and I've gotten a lot of use out of them. Maybe I should check out the Zyliss... I don't have any Zyliss products! I tend to stick with Oxo and Farberware.

Cookie, do you have the green garlic thing with the teeth inside that was an "as seen on TV" thing. I got one a few months ago and I do prefer it to the garlic press.

Bobby, I don't like silicone "things" as a rule. I never used baking things I bought but once and that was enough. Just google the zyliss tongs and see if they're like what you had. I use them daily for lots of things. I picked up mine at a little shop, in a small town, that had a plethora of stuff and have never seen them in any other store, which is why I googled to see if I could find them.

jude