BostonBean's Profile

A magnetic strip will also keep your knives sharper; they tend to get dull more quickly if they're tossed in a drawer, or even stored in a knife block. IKEA has the least expensive magnetic strips I've found.

Totally worth the (modest) investment: the custom made roll-out shelves that I purchased for my base cabinets (shelvesthatslide.com). My pots and pans are workhorses, not showpieces, so I wouldn't dream of hanging them in the open in my kitchen. :-) But having the roll out trays saves my back, not to mention my sanity, every single day. They were easy to install, sturdy enough for my cast iron pans, and I no longer have to move five pans out of the way to get to the one I need.

I'm not sure yet if they will be worth the cost, but I just ordered three 18" lazy susans for my corner wall cabinet to keep my oils & vinegars and spices & herbs on. Previously, I kept my spice jars in shoeboxes on another cabinet shelf with an alphabetized, computer-printed label on the outside so I could find what I needed quickly. I found that I often bought duplicates of ones I already had, though, so I'm going back to my old system of storing them alphabetically on a lazy susan.

My husband hates plastic storage containers, so most of our are now Pyrex with the plastic lids. They can go in the freezer, oven and microwave, and no worries about plasticizers leaching into the food, and because they are see-through, it's easier to identify leftovers and use them before they go bad.

The one plastic container I can't seem to do without is the quart container used for wonton soup from the local Chinese place; I probably have three dozen, most of them storing soup or stews in the freezer, and a few for homemade ice cream.

I have a large-ish deep kitchen drawer, and I only keep as many containers as will fit in it; any more and I either make some soup for the freezer or toss them out. :-)

Sillyputty, your list is almost identical to mine, give or take an inch in some of the pan/knife measurements. :-) There are a few other "must-haves" in my kitchen, though:

Colander - we boil pasta or potatoes at least twice a week;

Strainers - I have three in different sizes (one with a very fine mesh) and use them all on a regular basis;

Electronic kitchen scale - I use this several times a week to scale recipes up/down, to measure out 8 oz of pasta (I can never seem to eyeball it correctly, and for a ton of other things;

9x13 Silpat sheets - I have three, plus one more that fits my toaster oven. I almost never bake foods directly on a baking sheet anymore.

I was going to add a food chopper to my list, but I've gone through several (I guess I'm too rough on them or something, the threaded bits keep breaking off) and now I use my Cuisinart mini food processor for chopping nuts and such.