With the holidays upon us, many people use this season to reflect on the year that will soon be over and are in a more charitable mood.
The season is also a time of gathering with friends and family to share a meal.
Modern conveniences have certainly made life so much easier, but thereās something about homemade dishes that canāt be denied.
But with so many holiday parties, pitch ins and dinners, sometimes itās difficult to get in the kitchen and make things from scratch. Except when you have the right tools or gadgets.
Following are a list of items that will make cooking a breeze and get your food item on the table much faster.
Pressure cooker
Eating foods that are pressure cooked offers a more nutritional boost than those cooked for longer periods using traditional cookware. Foods cooked in a pressure cooker are also ready faster, using less liquid.
Todayās pressure cookers arenāt like those of the past. Modern ones do not emit that high-pitched screeching sound, and they have safety features, which prevent excess pressure build up, and locking lid handles, which will not open until the pressure is released.
Mandolin
Instead of standing around for excessive amounts of time slicing veggies, fruits and other items, use a mandolin. And rather than trying to steady a piece of food on a cutting board and tying to make uniform cuts of the same size so that the food looks good and cooks evenly, a mandolin does the job in a snap.
Food processor
Just like the mandolin made slicing easy, the food processor makes chopping easy. It also comes with a variety of slicing and grating discs, as well as mixing and dough blades, making quick work of food prep. You can use your food processor to: shred or slice cheese and vegetables, make pastry, purƩe soups and sauces, blend smoothies, pulse ingredients into a chunky dip or salsa, whip cream cheese and more.
Microplane
The microplane is such a handy tool. It does the job of a regular grater faster and better. Use it for grating garlic, ginger, horseradish and more. Itās also perfect for zesting citrus or grating spices like cinnamon or nutmeg.
Immersion blender
Making healthy, family-friendly veggie soups and fruit smoothies or whipping cream is fast and fuss-free with a hand blender. You puree or blend right in the pot, glass, or bowl, eliminating the need for a countertop blender.
Prep bowls
Thereās a reason chefs and TV show cooks have lots of little bowls full of the different ingredients that go into a recipe. It helps bring a meal together faster. Once youāve prepped everything ahead of time and put them in bowls, youāll find cooking will go much quicker. (Plus you wonāt burn the garlic while youāre still chopping the onion.)
Sources: Goodhousekeeping.com; eartheasy.com; huffingtonpost.com; chefmom.com; living.msn.com.