I don't use special ones-I just measure/put my ingredients into different random bowls or plates when I am cooking which, to be honest, in not often anymore-simple easy dishes these days unless entertaining which is also a rarity now.

ETA: After seeing all your beautiful bowls though and that gorgeous Migas set up, I may need to rethink! You are always so inspiring, Lars!

I also have quite a few little bowls but if I have chopped things I tend to just leave them on the cutting board until I need to add them. I use the bowl to mix up liquids usually or for lemon juice.

I use ramekins, plus various sized glass bowls that nest for mis-en-place. No pretty bowls, some English pudding bowls too.

I made Migas for lunch today:

I used four mise en place bowl in addition to using the chopping board and a measuring cup. I put a combination of my bean dip and Spanish rice in the green bowl in the bottom left - the first new glass bowl has the chopped onion plus a chopped Serrano chili, and the next glass bowl has 2/3 of a red bell pepper. These go into a pan in a very specific order - first the onion with chili, then the bell pepper, followed by the chopped tortillas, egg, the rice/bean mixture (which I microwave for 1.5 minutes to preheat, and finally the cheddar cheese:

I serve it in a bowl (for me) with guacamole and chopped (or crumbled) Cotija cheese:

I eat mine with a spoon, but Kevin puts his on a plate and eats it with a fork.

When possible I use just the chopping board instead of bowls, but I usually have way too many ingredients for this to be practical.

If need be I use small clear Pyrex bowls that have many other uses in the kitchen from small leftovers, to pudding or a sauce on the side. I try to keep the amount of dishes in the cabinets streamlined.

Looks completely wonderful, Lars. Now, I'm hungry ;0)

These days, if I put peanut butter on artisan bread, it's considered gourmet.

I do like you - random bowls large and small, the cutting board for things easily handled.

I had to look up "miga", not something I'd heard of. If what I found was accurate, your Tex-Mex is showing and maybe that's why I hadn't heard of it.

The new set of Pyrex bowls that I got this week have multiple uses, and they came with plastic lids. However, if I am storing something in them with the lids, then I cannot use them for mise en place, and so I need dedicated mise en place bowls so that they will always be available.

I have plenty of bowls in L.A., but not too many, or else I would have brought them to Cathedral City with me.

I consider Migas to be peasant food and far from gourmet. It's a very easy dish to throw together, but it actually goes faster when I have everything in place before I start cooking. It's the same when I make Pad Thai, and that has even more ingredients and requires even more mise en place bowls. Anyway, this is just the way I cook, and I've been doing it this way for decades. In the distant past I had to scrounge for bowls, and often they were not an efficient size.

Sometimes after having chopped mushrooms in a small bowl, I just wipe the bowl clean instead of washing it. I do wash bowls that have had onions or chilies in them, especially chilies.

I should be receiving these Turkish bowls on Sunday. I'm hoping I won't think that they are too pretty to use. At least they were cheaper than the Spanish bowls, which were cheaper than the Italian hand-painted bowls.

I won't receive these Japanese bowls until next week, but I'm sure I'll get plenty of use from them. If I were in L.A., I would have just gone to Marukai Market to buy similar bowls, and that would have been cheaper, but we've been hesitant to go to the Japanese markets in L.A. because they are so crowded. There are no Japanese markets in Coachella Valley, and the closest thing we have is a Filipino market in Cathedral City, and it was closed the last time we tried to go there. I still haven't been inside that market yet. I have low expectations for this market, partly because I do not like Filipino food, and I do not consider it Asian - I consider it Pacific Islander, as least as a cuisine.

Elmer, migas are extremely common in Texas, and I really have not looked for them in California, as they are so easy to make at home.

I use a variety of things: small rice bowls, some nested glass ones, some of the metal restaurant condiment cups, some strange little wooden ones that I've had for ages. For larger amounts, I usually just use a paper towel.

Weeeeeell......about 30 years ago....I purchased Dansk Blue Mesa ceramic dishes(made in Japan). I have several bowls that I use from the set that are the size of the center bowl...altho....I have that set of 3. The cereal bowls are "flat", the sides are low, and good for tomatoes, chopped lettuce. ♥

Lars that looks so yummy!!! Kevin is lucky to have the benefit of your wonderful cooking talents.

I have lots of pretty bowls. I don't use them for mise en place. My go-tos are Arc (French) graduated glass bowls like these (the picture is actually Duralex but they're indistinguishable except the name on the bottom).

I also have a set of the smallest four that really are Duralex, as well as these little Le Creuset silicone bowls which were a gift:

For big projects, too big for the glass, which I also use for mixing, I have two sets of red melamine nesting bowls, one set of three tall ones with spouts and grip ring bottoms and one shaped more like mixing or serving bowls (though melamine isn't good for mixing) ranging in size from nut bowl to large salad server. I think there are six.

These are all functional. The glass goes easily into the dishwasher. The melamine is light and doesn't break so can be perched precariously. My pretty mixing bowls are ceramic and not really good for mixing, so they're on a high shelf with museum putty looking pretty with brass cans and wood serving bowls my father made. :) http://jcskitchen.net/images/Finished/Captioned/24%20Open%20shelves.jpg

I have lots of bowls of all sizes. Mine are pink or heart shaped or both. I do have some nesting bowls that that are WHITE of all things but they have pink and red hearts all over them, as well as a hot pink interior. I use those quite a bit. For fall and Christmas time, I have pumpkin, gingerbread men, and snowmen bowls as well as other random holiday ones. A candy corn bowl, a turkey bowl, a peppermint striped bowl, etc. I am one of those obnoxious types that must use ONLY themed items during the holidays. And that includes food prep, serving and storage. Sue me. I'm festive.

Lars you mentioned sushi dipping bowls. While I do not eat sushi, these are the ones i have and they are often the vessel for ketchup, ranch, or other gourmet accompaniments.....😛:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S52JNBH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I KNOW these probably are not your taste (or many other people) but I thought I would share. I love them and they are so useful.

I use Pyrex custard dishes. I have them in two sizes. For larger amounts, I have some nesting stainless steel bowls.

I use these old small glass bowls (about 2.5" wide at the top) for most things - I can't tell you where I got them, or if that was the original reason I bought them. I use the bright silicone pinch bowls a lot to pour things into small openings, like spices into a spice jar, and they sometimes double as tiny bowls for crafting too.....I have about 6 of them in different colours.

I use this small one for finishing salt. I seldom add salt to anything i cook, so I keep it on the table and use a pinch for a few things, especially fresh summer vegetables, preferring it to plain table salt.

I have a couple of sets of small prep bowls and use them all the time. Both sets are glass with lids with one set being very shallow.

I use Duralex for cooking prep. I have 5 different sizes. 6 in each size except for the biggest I just have one.

In the baking area I have a set of Mason & Cash measuring cups my DH got me in England and then bigger metal (5) and plastic bowls (2).

I have a long run of maple butcher block for one of my counters so my use of bowls is limited -- smaller individual rice bowls if needed. Chopped items usually remain on the butcher block until needed.

We're big Duralex fans. We have bowls and a variety of drinking glass sizes, in the Picardie style.

With granite counters and tile floors in our homes, its tempered glass material has proven its durability and strength numerous times. Duralex products are remarkably inexpensive for the quality.

I love collecting bowls of various sizes when we go on holiday - practical souvenirs. We're camping at the moment so I can't take any pictures of what I love using.....

I collect small bowls when traveling also, and I bought a set of small nesting olive wood bowls in Tuscany, but the bowls were made in Turkey. I buy bowls like these thinking I might use them as gifts, but I usually end up keeping them. I don't really use the olive wood bowls, but perhaps I should. Of course they would have to be hand washed and oiled, but they would be nice to use because I like the way they look.

Amylou, the heart shaped bowls might be good for measuring things like yeast and salt because it would be easy to direct the ingredients at the point of the heart.

This is what my Italian ceramic bowls look like, and as you can see they are a bit expensive.

Cooking for just one, I very rarely have need of any mise en place bowls, there is more than enough space on the cutting board for a number of little piles of whatever. But as a lover of dishes of all kinds, I have to be very careful, or I would be completely inundated by all sorts of intriguing little bowls. Lars, your Italian glass bowls with handles sound very interesting!

I do have several ramekins in various sizes that I use when I need a small bowl for something. The smallest one, in particular, I use when breaking eggs one at a time. (Old habits die hard!)

Rusty

We use the Pyrex bowls in 2 different sizes. They stack nicely, last forever and are very versatile.

I found these little Chrysanthemum bowls .....SUPER CUTE! or these....blue Japanese bowls. Something different for me to use!

I have thise clear glass stacking bowls, maybe Pyrex that go from a teaspoon to a cup. also have some japenese china that has the wasabi bowls I sometimes use.

Like others above, I have a collection of Pyrex custard cups I often use to corral prepped ingredients. And I also use a collection of stainless steel bowls in many different sizes.

I never had Pyrex custard cups before, but I do have some ceramic ramekins in L.A. that I use for baking, but they are boat-shaped and really too big and clunky to use for mise en place. I use the ramekins to make individual chicken pot pies, but I very seldom make that dish, as it is not something that I grew up eating. I only made my first ones a couple of years ago, and they were a bit bland for my taste. If I make them again, I will add some chilies to them, but that was not part of the recipe that I used.

I'm not fond of custard as a dessert, and so I never make it. I will use custard as part of a pie filling, however, and I make crème Anglaise to make ice cream but do not eat it without freezing it with some flavorings. I don't like flan or crème brûlée either. I don't dislike them - I just do not like them enough to make them. I never order them either.

Pyrex custard cups make great nut bowls, ice cream bowls, jello/pudding/custard/any individual molded dessert bowls. I make salad dressing in them, melt butter, use them to serve toppings like on a taco bar, for the salt water on the Seder table, for side sauces at casual meals, as catch alls for oddments like snips of thread and random screws, etc., etc.

Don't let the name fool you. I liked the old shape better, but the current ones are still the most versatile dishes in the kitchen. I rarely use them for mise en place because I have other things and usually need smaller or larger, hence the French nesting versions, but I use Pyrex custard cups daily for just about everything else. :)

I did use a Pyrex custard bowl yesterday for ice cream, but I have nicer bowls for that in L.A. However it was just the right size for ice cream here, and I do not have other bowls here that are that size.

I use teacups with handles for melting butter in the microwave.

Back in the day I received a set of these bowls purchased from an expensive kitchen gadget store in a mall, 'what do you get a sister who you don't really know' is how I took them. They were ADORABLE, one had stripes, one polka dots, one a solid color etc. They lasted a short time. Too many THINGS on a cupboard seems to inspire one to "jump" off to it's death. LOL The one left now holds my garlic in the pantry. As I read through this I think hmmmm some cooks like cleaning dishes A LOT more than I. I tend to just pile. I have a large cutting board and prep all on it and all the piles are there. One move from across the kitchen to the stove and it all comes with me.

I used to have a whole set of nested mixing bowls. They gradually died over the years, tragic accidents rather than slow ailments. Nowadays, it depends.

Other than a bowl for making, say, pancakes in, bowls are only used for liquid or highly wet ingredients in. And with the pancake flour etc, the wet gets added to the dry and mixed. The rest of the mise en place endes up on the cutting board or on a plate.

A small amount: I have little finger/condiment bowls I might press into service. A bit more, some 1 dollar IKEA bowls. Larger? My soup bowl items from my dining set. Larger yet? Mostly serving bowls or salad bowls impressed into service for the event.

Since I lost that set of nested mixing bowls, I have chosen not to replace this as a set...

Oh, Lars. I’d love to watch you cook. The meals and cooking methods you sometimes post about sound so interesting. Your cooking utensils and bowls are part of that. You are the Norm Abram of food prep. (minus the plaid shirt 😀)

I’m a board chopper and piler and anything liquid is in a plain old Pyrex measuring cup.

I don’t have a set but a mix of rice bowl, glass and crystal bowls I use for ingredients when cooking or baking or for eating deserts. Alas the rice bowls are never used to eat rice, we rather serve rice in dinner plates.

"mise en place bowls".

Never even heard of them. I have various bowls for different uses. And I use them.

If I'm just chopping a few things for daily cooking, I pile them on my board, too. if I'm making a recipe, or several things at a time, I measure out things into bowls, including herbs, salt, etc. Mise en place makes things so much easier, especially with getting a bunch of things ready at once. For feasts, I supplement bowls with containers, some of which take prepped items back into the fridge to hold.

My mise en plase is done in piles on my big chopping board.

Because my kitchens are cramped (especially the one in Cathedral City), I do not have space to move a big chopping board close to my stove. Therefore, mise en place bowls are more efficient for me. I do put them on a small chopping board (not a big one) to move them close to the stove.

Here is what I received today:

These are the right size for small amounts of ingredients and also for weighing ingredients such as salt, yeast, VWG, etc. They will also hold minced garlic, minced chilies, chopped shallots, and small amounts of onion. However, I think I will use them more for serving wasabi/soy sauce for sushi. The one surprise I had with these bowls is that they have small bumps on them (wherever you see white spots), and so these may not be efficient for weighing small ingredients, as small amounts could get stuck on the white spots. I'll have to check them to see. However, I do think they are pretty, and I will enjoy using them, even if they are not the most efficient.

The custard bowls that I bought are perfect for onions, mushrooms, bell pepper, celery, carrots, etc that I chop and have to add to frying pans in a certain order to get them cooked properly. It is much easier for me to add ingredients to a pan from a mise en place bowl than from a board. If I try to add from a bowl, I always drop some of the ingredients.

I hope you post when you get the Japanese bowls. I would love to know what you think of them.

I did receive the Japanese bowls last week-end, and I have been using them. They are bigger than the Turkish bowls but smaller than the custard cups. One thing I like about the Japanese bowls is that they have decorations on the outside and are completely smooth inside, making it easier to scrape ingredients out. I could have bought the Japanese bowls for a somewhat lower price at one of the Japanese markets in west Los Angeles that I go to, but we have not been going to these markets as often recently, partly because the aisles are so narrow, and the stores get crowded. At one point, there were lines to get in, and so we did not go in when there were lines.

I can't post photos of the Japanese bowls because they are not clean at the moment, but I plan to run this DW this afternoon.

I have many small bowls of various sizes but when I cook I have to admit that I use plastic deli containers! lol they are light, easy to nest and have tops if needed to put in fridge. I buy them at the restaurant supply store, Cash and Carry, in town and they are cheap and long lasting. I think you can find them at dollar stores and some big grocery stores. A sleeve of 50 is around $5. Best of all they are light and stack and can be kept in upper cabinet and not fall on my head. I stack them when they are filled with chopped stuff. I make lots of soup, stir fry and mixed veggies. I even use them when baking if I have time to pre-measure ingredients. Not as sexy as your beautiful bowls, but do the job. Of course they are food grade and can be used in the microwave oven if needed to zap anything. If they lose their shape, they are into the recycle bin. They are also great for sharing with family and friends. We have lots of family parties and everyone contributes and this way the containers do not have to be returned. I keep a supply of 8, 12, 16 and 32oz. The covers fit all sizes. My sister NEVER returns a dish or bowl! This solves my having to nag her to return my beautiful or matching dishes.

ramecans work well here ... unless i need a lot of something, like onions and shrooms, which shrink

Lars those are lovely.

Here's a link to the Italian glass bowls I use in L.A. I have a set of six, but it appears that they have been discontinued.

They have the name "Quattro Stagioni" in the bottom of the bowl. I like this size because I have many bowls that are larger, and I need the small size also. The handle is very useful and helps me pour the ingredients. The size is perfect for measuring yeast and salt, or anything in very small quantities, on my jeweler's scale.

I have the same 4oz Bormioli round ones. A good size. The big-to-small nesting set i've had for years, but my recent favorites are the Ikea square ones. I use them so much i gave them prime real estate in the cabinet just above my prep zone. They stack without crushing ingredients because of the lip. 3 lid choices. Always 4-6 in my fridge of various lunch salad choices or snacks like humus, HB eggs, half an avocado or quacamole. I have a couple trays where they can go to the table for a salad bar, taco bar, or build-your-own pizza ingredients. Or just chopped separates for miropoix, etc. Clear glass is nice so DH can see what is available for snacking. (avoids cutting an avocado when a half already exists).

I don't have the small bento ceramic square ones yet. I like that they can be used for baking like custards, creme caramel.

DH likes prepping/chopping/mincing. "how can i help" dealio...I just fill a 1/4 sheet pan with misc veg and he fills and stacks the ikea bowls, off to the side or in the fridge. No lids but ready to go.

+note. The Ikea bamboo lids have a silicone strip that is removeable and very easy to clean. Air-tight but not a 'shake it' seal. They have gone through the dishwasher for a few years now. Just noticing a hairline crack in one. Stupid being so easy to wash by hand and air-dry.

The silicone 'rest on top' lids are pretty great. I often stack three without lids and stick one of those just on the top container.

I also use the 1/2 pint, pint, and quart restaurant deli contains for odds and ends, freezer soups or off to friends and family. Or traveling road trips.

A lifsaver during lock-down. Big prep session, clean up. Then have lots of choices for a quick snack or lunches for a few days. Fruit salads, Left-over pizza toppings go into one together as another salad topping---olives, red onion, cherry toms, cheeses.

I have quite a few square (and some rectangular) glass bowls that have plastic lids, and I like these because I can put hot food in them, such as sausages that I remove from the BBQ, and then I can store them with a lid on.

What I use more often is small prep bowls, and if I want to store them in the fridge, I cover them with plastic wrap, which works fine, especially since I do not intend to store them for that long.

At this point, I have enough bowls, meaning that I have no more space to store additional bowls!