We all have those items in our kitchen that we use daily and could not live without. What about new cooks, what would I recommend for them to have in their kitchen? I have created a list of my top twenty must haves for a kitchen and an additional ten that are great to have but not necessary for every day. 20 Must Haves 1. Mixer (hand mixer or stand mixer) I love a stand mixer. My favorite is the KitchenAid. I have had one for many years and it is versatile. There are so many great attachments you can purchase to go with it making it a true power house in the…

Have you ever watched a cooking show and heard the chef mention “mise en place”? I’m sure the first time you heard it you thought what in the world is that – I know I did. In french the phrase means “putting in place” or “everything in its place.” In cooking the best way to describe this is to prep everything before starting to cook. For example, the photo above shows my prep work to make Italian Meat Loaf from the Cooking Light Complete cookbook. (One of my favorite cookbooks –click here for the review)! I took the list of all the ingredients and measured everything out. This included dicing onions, and soaking and chopping…