The Well Stocked Baker's Kitchen

Apologies for the severe lack of original content here as of late.  Life has gotten busy, and there are  lots of changes on the horizon. 

Soon I will be moving on from the events job I've had at Harvard these past 3 years, and I've also recently started a new job at Sofra Bakery in Cambridge, which I'm digging.  But the having two jobs at once thing is cramping my style a bit right now.  Just three more weeks....I can do it!  But then I'm moving to a new apartment.  While I hate moving, I am looking forward to a more spacious kitchen, a GAS STOVE!!!, and a proper dining room.  So many luxuries await me!  And it's going  to be a stone's throw from the original Formaggio Kitchen.  Could I be any luckier?

With the extra work I have barely had time to cook, let alone blog about it.  (Or run, or read, or all of those other things that I like to do.)  But, I did see a good quick article on Food52 that I wanted to share.

If you're not familiar with it, Food52 is a fantastic website co-founded by Amanda Hesser, former New York Times food writer, and author and editor of several books.  (Her memoir Cooking for Mr. Latte is one of my all-time favorites.)  Food52 features awesome recipes submitted from home cooks, as well as columns written by some serious chefs and other food writers.  My favorites include Molly Wizenberg of Orangette (a gem of a blog--read it!), and husband Brandon, who submit weekly cocktail recipes, and star baker Alice Medrich, whose articles are full of helpful tips and delicious recipes.

This week Alice names 10 essential baking tools that you should not live without.  I read the list--just to make sure I had them all.  I do.  And the list is perfect, so I thought I'd share it. 

While the list is fairly baking-specific, I think I use each and every one of these items at least once a week, if not more.  If you scroll through some of the reader comments you'll notice some...excellent?... insights, such as: "What about a cutting board!" and, "I can't live without my scissors!"  Okay, yes.  If you don't have a cutting board, then hold off on the offset spatula.  But if you DO have a cutting board, and all of the other basics, AND you like to bake, you'll put all of these items to good use.