We are heading into a frenzy of cooking and baking, which I love because I have invested in high quality kitchen tools. I’ve found that it’s worthwhile to pay a few dollars more for a kitchen tool that is comfortable and easy to use and that is going to last decades. I’m done buying super cheap junk that doesn’t really work, isn’t comfortable, and quickly falls apart.

Here are three simple kitchen tools that I use almost every day. I’d hate to try and cook without them.

Because I use these kitchen tools several times a day, I have found what I believe to be the best designs and I’m sharing them with you.

1. Vegetable peeler. I am in love with my vegetable peeler. It is the Chef’n PalmPeeler. Why am I so in love with this peeler? Because it is designed to be used to peel. Seriously. Most peelers don’t work well. This one does. First of all, it fits your hand perfectly. One finger goes through the hole and the rest of your hand holds the peeler. This gives you great control. The peeler itself is sharp and contacts all sorts of weird shapes easily. I peel a lot of different veggies and it words on all nooks and crannies.
2. Grater. I do not have a fancy grater, although there are hundreds of them available. I just use a basic everyday grater. I have used this same grater almost every day for the last 35 years and it is still in as good a shape at the day I bought it.
3. Garlic Press. I’ve used a lot of garlic presses in my day, but this one is my favorite. It fits my hand well. It presses the garlic easily and it cleans up easily. Yes, I know that you can just crush the garlic with the back of a butter knife, but this is a kitchen item that I use daily. OXO Good Grips Garlic Press

Very important – do NOT put these items in the dishwasher. Just wash them and air dry immediately after use. This is essential to extending the life of these kitchen tools for years and years to come.

Here is one of my recipes where I use two of these items:

Homemade garlic bread. I love garlic bread, but I hate long list of chemicals that is in most store bought garlic bread spreads. After many years of trying I finally found the garlic bread recipe that makes me happy.

The big secret ingredient that I never could figure out was using a sourdough bread instead of a regular Italian bread. I then just put salted butter on the bread. Then I take a large glove of garlic and use the garlic press right over the slice of bread. I spread that around on the bread. Then I just grate my favorite cheese on top. Pop the slice into the toaster oven on broil for about 8 minutes (be careful not to burn the edges.) Ta-da! Excellent garlic bread.

By the way, these are great gifts for the cook on your holiday list. Check out these additional gifts for cooks from Julia.

What are your can’t-cook-without essential kitchen tools?