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1. A timeless cast iron pan that will honestly outlive you. Cook anything from meat to veggies to delicious bread and rolls in this pan that doubles as a lifelong friend.
2. An Imarku Pro Chef's Knife — a new knife is a life-changing investment, and makes cooking such a joy. With the right tool, every slice of tomato is a work of art, every diced sweet potato a symphony. Too much?
3. Nice, large sheet trays that you will basically use every day. If you refuse to spend all day baking only to find your cookie bottoms burned to a crisp, it's time for a new pan.
4. A set of three beautiful bamboo cutting boards so you always have a clean surface to work on. Cutting a tomato carefully on the countertop is not "the same thing" — your college roommate was lying to you.
5. A set of two Staub ceramic baking dishes for all of your tray bake, casserole, and roasting needs. Love a vessel that cooks cinnamon rolls and a whole chicken to equal perfection.
6. A set of glass mixing bowls that will make baking all the more delicious of a task. Having *just* the right bowls to separately combine your dry and wet ingredients in is a small pleasure worth seeking.
7. A nonstick pot for all of your generic pot needs. You understand pots. You don't need me to explain this to you.
8. A set of tongs to serve as another, unbelievably heat-resistant set of hands while you're sautéing your heart out or flipping a sizzling steak.
9. A mandolin so you can slice all your veggies nice and thin without having to get a doctorate in kitchen knife skills. These make ridiculously quick work of prep, and the julienne attachment will make you feel like a real pro!
10. A stock pot for concocting broths and soups whose aroma will draw hungry friends from miles around. Time to have an impromptu dinner party.
11. A basic pair of oven mitts with silicone grips so you can always remain unscathed removing things from the oven. And as someone who has made some egregious slipping errors, trust me — you want the silicone.
12. A bunch of cute and functional dish towels that will help you grab hot handles and clean with equal dexterity. Keep one of these on your shoulder and trust me, you'll be reaching for it every five seconds to help with any old task.
13. A bread knife so all the beautiful loaves you slice don't get mushed down by a straight edge. Your challah thanks you for choosing serrated.
14. A can opener, because even if you're a person who thinks they won't use one that much, when you need one, you REALLY need one.
15. Some basic wooden spoons so you always have a great tool for stirring, scooping, and tasting within reach. You can never EVER have too many, in my opinion.
16. Rubber spatulas for scraping, scooping, spreading — all the good kitchen "S" words.
17. A set of All-Clad nonstick pans so you don't have to wrestle with burnt-on egg for hours after breakfast. Let those puppies slip out, give the pan a rinse, and you're good to go.
18. A set of flexible spatulas for expertly flipping your eggs and pancakes without scratching your precious nonstick pans.
19. A colander so you don't have to struggle to get pasta out of boiling water and into your mouth as soon as humanly possible.
20. Measuring cups and spoons for the times you need to ~actually~ measure ingredients. I personally resist measurements at all times and often live to regret it. Learn from my mistakes.
21. An oven thermometer that, although simple, will take all the guesswork out of making sure your oven is all tuned up. Gone are the days of using "My oven runs hot!" as an excuse for dry baked goods.
22. A four-quart Crock-Pot, because the verdict is in: Slow cooked foods are the best foods, full stop. Anything that helps you do so without tending a flame all day is a friend of mine.
23. An enameled dutch oven for slow-cooking the old fashioned way. Spending an idle Sunday braising a delicious dinner is absolute heaven, and a dutch oven is the key.
24. A cast iron grill pan so you can bask in the glory of grill marks all year long, not just when weather allows.
25. A meat thermometer to ease all of your meat anxiety. Stop poking at hot steak wondering if it's ready and just get some good old fashioned quantitative data.
26. A cute little saucepan and lid, because sauce is the most important part of almost any meal and deserves a pan of its own. The pan is also great for single servings of rice, pasta, and soup, of course!
27. Or a eleven-piece cookware set if you want to overhaul your kitchen and get alllll new goodies in one fell swoop! Not to mention this copper set will look pretty dang handsome on your stovetop.
Enough is enough! Get these kitchen basics and avoid both my and Gordon's wrath.
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