We’re excited to launch our new kitchen equipment library for farm share members! You can peruse the library here.
We know it- cooking with real ingredients takes extra precious time! We feel that too. How can we all eat healthier if we’re getting frustrated or feel uninspired in the kitchen? That’s my main motivation for starting the kitchen equipment library. I want to share some of the tools I’ve found especially helpful in preparing food right from the farm or tools that make big special projects easier and more fun.
Photo of my kitchen by Silver Pebble Photography
In my home kitchen these are two my most used pieces:
- Slow cooker– I pull out my slow cooker several times a week to make broth, cook beans, make a pork shoulder roast for pulled pork, render lard (see our previous post) and more. I love that it takes a long time without burning so I can set it up overnight or during the work day and come home to a one-pot meal ready to eat. I know a lot people use Instapot. We’re working on getting one of these for the kitchen equipment library too.
- Immersion (stick) blender- I gave up on countertop blenders long ago and traded for a stick blender. It’s so mobile I can blend a soup right in the pot without a hot messy transfer to blend or run it through the food processor. It’s also great for smaller narrow containers for smoothies. My stick blender gets the most use during tomato season. I make whole-tomato sauce meaning it contains skins and seeds and all but the very tomato core. To make it work I depend on my stick blender to blend it all up in my stock pot after I’ve cooked the tomatoes down.
Also at the farm stand available to anyone is our ever-expanding cookbook library. We’ve acquired many cookbooks through our own collection and gifts from customers. We love cookbooks of all sorts but especially those that are seasonal and simple, and emphasize using whole foods. But we also love some of the more complex recipes in other cookbooks for special meal events. Some of my favorites there are:
- Six Seasons: A New Way With Vegetables by Joshua McFadden
- From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce by the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition
- The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook: Healthy Cooking and Good Living with Pasture-Raised Foods by Shannon Hayes
Come by the farm stand and ask us what more we love to use. What are your favorite ways to use your kitchen and what would help you use it more?