If you like to cook, you probably have some favorite tools, pots, pans or electric gizmos. I’d love to hear about your favorites.

Don’t like to cook?! The right tools might turn a frustrating task into a more satisfying, relaxing  — even peaceful — experience.

Try cutting a loaf of crusty bread with a butter knife instead of a sharp, serrated bread knife.The bread gets all shmooshed and torn, and it’s frustrating. Or using a spatula without a tapered edge to scrape brownie batter out of a mixing bowl. Lots of chocolate goodness left behind. Who wants that?

Kitchen tools for me were quirky, fun gadgets, until I worked a few years writing about “kitchenware” for a magazine for owners of independent cookware shops. Kitchenware is everything from pots and pans to blenders and coffee makers, and salad spinners. Tea kettles. Coffee grinders. Coffee makers. Vegetable peelers. Cutlery. Cutting boards.

It was a fun job.

I learned that having the right tool for the job made cooking a much more pleasant experience. And I learned about the best of the best — and what made it high-quality.

But I don’t need one of everything. Just some key essentials for what I like to cook.

My stash of wooden spoons, sharp knives, spatulas and cast iron pans are among my essentials. My favorite, well-designed kitchen tools function beautifully and are too pretty to keep in a drawer.

And I have some new ones!

My essentials, kept on the counter and handy

• Sharp knives. An eight-inch Zwilling J.A. Henckels chef’s knife (great for all chopping); Wusthof long, serrated bread knife (great for slicing bread and tomatoes) and paring knife (apples, potatoes) plus two sharp, medium filet knives (everything else).

• Measuring spoons. Fishing around in a drawer for these is maddening! Mine stay within quick reach and visible in a Mason jar.

• Wooden spoons, rubber spatulas (flame-proof with a tapered edge), soup ladles, metal slotted spoon, and two whisks in the big green tool pitcher.

• Garlic rock and storage crock. The rock effectively smashes a single clove or head of garlic without using a knife and risking a cut. I learned this tip from Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift‘s book “The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper” cookbook. The small crock rounds up loose cloves (and it’s pretty.)

New additions

• Spurtles! 

If you geek out on kitchen tools like I do, you’ve probably already heard of these. The idea is that one tool can stir, smash, fold, and scrape.

And – if you’re ever in a bad mood, just say the word spurtle over and over again for awhile. How can you stay grumpy saying that word?

I saw one advertised last fall, and got very excited. My husband gave me a beautiful, bamboo set for Christmas. Mine are the American design. The original, Scottish version is dowel-shaped and used exclusively to stir porridge to prevent lumps while it cooks.

• A Danish dough whisk, a Christmas gift from my mom, who says it does an exceptional job of stirring the bread dough of the Czech “pascha” bread she makes at Easter and Christmas from my grandmother’s recipe. Seeking connection, I made that bread for Easter 2020 — so I’ll be making it again soon and will try my new whisk!

A few essentials, not pictured

• Cast iron skillets. Nothing beats cast iron. My go-to for just about everything. Natural non-stick and it goes right in the oven. Virtually indestructible.

• Pyrex measuring cups. Clear, easy to see and they can pop into the microwave or freezer.

• KitchenAid stand mixer. Exceptionally durable and well-designed.

• A red, Le Creuset enameled cast iron Dutch oven. Beautiful. Durable.

• A Sitram, stainless steel soup pot with an insulated core bottom. This pot had a close call a couple of weeks ago when I left it cooking a pot of ham and bean soup on a bad burner that overheated as I attended a Zoom meeting away from the kitchen. Big mistake. But after soaking in automatic dishwasher pods and scrubbing, looks like it will be OK.

So — plug in a favorite podcast, or some great music. Pour a refreshing beverage and settle in for some home cooking.

Take great care of you and each other by making cooking fun (& peaceful) whenever you can. The right gear helps!

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How about you? What is your favorite, can’t-function-in-your-kitchen-without-it kitchen gear?