A new start

[Wahine]

I'm about to embark on an adventure at 38 years old that many of you went through at a much younger age. I will be living in my very own place!! Exciting and a bit intimidating at the same time. I was in a relationship for 17 years with a man who was 26 years my senior. So I never really went through the "establishing my own space" phase. I basically moved in with him, he had all the stuff you need and I never really had authority in the relationship to make decisions about house and home. That's not what this thread is about, I'm over it. What it is about is...

I would like to hear from you bright ladies of TE the things that you have in your life that you could not do without. That one item that is a functional pillar in your day to day life. I want to set my new place up minimally. The goal is to keep the clutter down. So I'm looking for advice on things like... would you get a toaster oven? My place has a stove, I don't use microwaves, so I was thinking I'd start searching garage sales for toaster ovens.

I have very little. A bed, a dresser and a bookshelf is the extent of the furniture. I have pots, pans, utensils, dishes, a little cookware, towels and a couple of floor lamps. That pretty much sums it up.

Thanks for your input!!

[Tri Girl]

The one thing that I can't live without is my single coffee cup brewer. I don't use it for coffee, but for hot tea and hot cocoa. It makes boiling water in about a minute or two. I use it almost every day. Of course, they DO make pots for boiling water, but that takes too long in the morning.

I do love my toaster oven. I use it more than the real oven.

That's so exciting for you!! I hope you enjoy having your own space and all the freedom that comes with it.

[Blueberry]

I wouldn't want to do without:

My Convection Oven Toaster Oven (used for everything from toasting bread to roasting a whole chicken)

My fuzzy logic rice cooker (soup, oatmeal, quinoa, and of course, rice)

My water boiler - I actually like it better than the one cups. It's fast, and has multiple temperature settings. Nice for tea, oatmeal, french press coffee, adding more water to soups, etc., etc.

Congratulations!!

[surgtech1956]

My coffee maker, my rice cooker, my microwave, my electric skillet, slow cooker, electric blanket and heated throw. Enjoy your new surroundings and freedom.

[Tuckervill]

I wouldn't buy a toaster oven. A toaster oven is clutter when you have a perfectly good oven that does everything at toaster oven does. Living simply, I think, means making do with what you have. You have an oven. Make do.

I'm guessing you have been using a toaster oven at your last place, and that's why it even came up at all? If you want one, get one, but I wouldn't rush it. You might find that you don't need it.

I think whatever you end up missing after a few weeks on your own will be the things you want to buy.

I'm kinda jealous. But, I'm in that "almost done with childrearing" stage, and I've never ever lived on my own (without kids).

Karen

[lunacycles]

a good quality toaster/convection oven preheats much faster and saves a LOT of energy over a conventional oven. But, one should emphasize "good quality." There are a lot of really crappy toaster ovens out there that don't do anything well. If you go with a toaster oven, get a good one. I have an Avanti Elite (I can't remember but probably cost me like $150), and I use it 100 times as much as my conventional oven (which I rarely use...maybe for a turkey??).

an electric kettle (again, good quality is a must) is also essential, imo.

[Zen]

Dogs, a desk, a good chair and lamp for reading.

I don't much care for kitchen gadgets except for a toaster.
On the rare occasion I make coffee at home it's ground coffee in a filter in a tea strainer then. hot water poured over

[Biciclista]

i've had a toaster oven for years, since you asked. The oven uses a lot of energy, the toaster oven doesn't. if you want to bake 1 potato, it seems silly to heat up the whole oven.

[Becky]

Definitely the toaster oven! It's great during the summer when I need to bake or broil something, but don't want to heat up the whole house. Also, a good coffee pot, and a cast iron grill pan/griddle.

[withm]

When you live alone, you are cooking small quantities - a toaster oven is a must have in my opinion. I have never owned a toaster. But as Alton Brown counsels, an appliance should have multiple uses.

I use my toaster oven almost every day for something or other. Roasted vegies. Nuke a potato, then 10 min in the toaster oven to dry it up a bit. Heat up leftovers. Microwave is good, but some things go better in the toaster oven. Bake 4 cookies (if you have cookie dough in the freezer, already formed into balls). Make a toasted sandwich. And of course it's good for plain old toast, including bagels. A toaster can only make toast and may not be able to handle bagels. A big oven takes a long time to heat up, and uses tons more elecltricity to do so. For me it's a no brainer.

[OakLeaf]

+1 on the toaster oven, if you have room for one. You don't want to heat up the whole oven for one bulb of garlic. I don't have a toaster oven here and consequently I hardly ever roast garlic.

Rice cooker... it's really, really nice to have, but honestly, I could do without it if I had to. I cooked rice on the stovetop and/or pressure cooker for decades... A cooker means you don't have to worry about your grain while you're cooking the rest of the meal. Or you could put porridge in overnight and have it done in the morning. But it uses space on either the counter or under-counter cabinet, it's expensive, and it's just one more thing.

Absolutely necessary: One good 6" or 8" chef's knife (your preference) and one good paring knife, and a steel. Sharpening gear and other knives are optional, although I highly recommend a jig if you plan to try to sharpen them at home.

I love my electric kettles, but I'm still searching for the one I really want. The only ones that incorporate a "thermos" all seem to boil the water first, then let it cool down to your desired temperature. Which takes forever, for one thing, and also, boiling the water at all defeats half the purpose. Right now I'm making do with a basic electric kettle plus separate thermal dispenser.

If you're a wine drinker, you won't regret a nice heavy self-centering corkscrew.

What about laundry accessories? Now that I'm flush with wool, I need another flat drying rack, but I haven't been able to find one... been looking for over a year! Expandable rail-racks are everywhere, flat racks I just can't find.

Pressure cooker, and one of Lorna Sass's great pressure cooker cookbooks.

[Cataboo]

I have a toaster oven, but not a toaster.

Yes, it's kinda redundant when I have an oven, but... I use it for things that I don't want to heat up an entire oven for. Put pieces of bread in, bake a potato, bake a butternut squash, heat up stuff... I think it uses less energy/electricity because I'm heating up a smaller area, but I could be wrong.

I don't have a coffee maker, I do have a cappucino/expresso machine - because I can make single portions and I like cappucino better than coffee anyways. I do have one of those electric kettles to boil water for tea, or half the time just use it to boil water for couscous or whatever. Rice is a dietary staple, so I have a rice maker & that steams vegetables too.

I guess I could do all that on a stove... but...

[MartianDestiny]

As far as household stuff there are two things that make me happy every time I use them:
1) a GOOD set of knifes (even just 2, a chef's and a paring). Something nice that can be resharpened, hold an edge, and get really sharp. Personally I have Wustoff (and get a new one every Christmas from my wonderful step-mom )

2) Salt and Pepper grinders. I can't believe how much better things taste with fresh salt and pepper, and if you can get them in bulk it's no more expensive than the pre-ground stuff.

If you aren't a microwave person, yes, a toaster oven would be a good investment for heating up leftovers (you'll have a lot of them as a single person if you cook. I cook 2-3 times a week and eat leftovers pretty much the rest of the time).

Other than that (and slightly, but not totally, irrelevant) my dog! Seriously, can't live without her, for many reasons. Not the least of which is that she makes me less edgy when I'm alone (I jump at every little noise at night when I'm alone, but not so much with her around).

[Wahine]

This is exactly the kind of feed back I was hoping for.

I don't use a microwave and that's why I was thinking toaster oven. I have plenty of counter space for it. My new kitchen is one of the only things about my new place that can be labeled as spacious. I have lots of cupboards too. I haven't had a toaster oven since I was a kid. But I remember it being pretty handy. I'm definitely going to look for a convection toaster oven. Great idea.

Good idea on the cast iron! I think I may even be able to get some cast iron cookware from a friend that is high quality but he doesn't use it anymore.

Good knives are essential and I hadn't thought of that.

Salt and pepper grinders - yes definitely.

Lise - I actually have that cookbook and the crock was one of the only things I took with me when I left. I couldn't live without mine. As for the sofa, that gets to be the decision of the new BF if and when he moves in. The living room is his turf. The kitchen is mine. I have a feeling that he'll get exactly the kind of sofa you're talking about though.

Good suggestions on kettles and coffee solutions. I don't usually make coffee for myself at home but I do often have guests and I should have a way to make it.

Rice cooker - I'll have to think about that one. It may not be essential for me.

Dog - I wish. The dog issue was actually one of the things that made me realize I had to leave my previous relationship. I can't have a dog right now, I don't have enough time for one... but I will one day.

[Becky]

2) Salt and Pepper grinders. I can't believe how much better things taste with fresh salt and pepper, and if you can get them in bulk it's no more expensive than the pre-ground stuff.

Oh, most definitely! This one is my favorite!