Most Necessary Kitchen Equipment

I literally save 30 minutes to an hour in the kitchen every day because of mine. I recommend the Cuisinart Smart Stick - it has a fantastic chopper attachment, perfect for chopping onions (no crying!), a beater attachment to make meringues or whipped cream, and a blender attachment which is perfect for dressings and sauces - you can stick it right in your stovetop pan to make gravy or whatever sauce you are mixing up.

I recommend Pampered Chef's garlic press - it is extremely durable and long-lasting. A garlic press will save you time, but will also save your hands from smelling of garlic for the next week.

I could not live in a kitchen without a good whisk. And no, a fork will not do the same thing. Spend the extra money for a good one - cheap ones will rust quickly.

For safety and the perfectly-cooked chicken, poultry or pork, a meat thermometer is CRITICAL. There is really no other foolproof way to know if your dish is done.

I like to have a LOT of these available to me at all times, so I have about 20. I use them to assemble my ingredients so that when I am ready to actually cook the meal, I am not running around trying to measure things out or chop ingredients.