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I don’t use a lot of butter at the table, but I do use it pretty frequently in cooking. With even just a very little bit, it adds a tremendous depth, body, and flavor to most kinds of cooking.

Yes, I’m firmly in the “butter is good” camp.

I keep a stick in the fridge in one of these, at the ready. It sounds stupid, but it’s very convenient to not dirty another knife or deal with loose shards of butter and oiled paper in the fridge. Especially when you forget and realize you need it immediately in the middle of a recipe while something else is cooking. It’s a small thing, but I like it. Butter is best stored in the freezer for any length of time, so it’s easy to pull out a stick, unwrap it while it’s still frozen, and pop it in. (Note: butter for cooking should always be unsalted, so you can adjust the salt yourself as you go.)

If you’re the spready type, this is also pretty good at shaving off thin slivers that melt quickly.

My only complaint is that the basic white model is kind of fragile plastic. I’ve broken two of them over the years - once when I dropped it, and once when trying to cut through frozen butter. But they’re cheap enough to replace. I’ve linked to the “Pro” model, which looks a bit more durable.

Buy the Buttermate from Amazon.

They call it a “Jelly Roll” pan, but it’s really just a standard half-sheet pan. These pans are incredibly versatile, and Chicago Metallic makes very heavy duty ones that will last a long time. They’re good for everything from baking cookies to roasting lots of asparagus. If you use it for long enough, you might actually even be tempted to make a jelly roll, although I’ve never heard of such a thing.

Combine it with a Silpat liner or parchment paper for non-stick cooking.

Buy Chicago Metallic Half Sheet Pan from Amazon.

After many many years of getting by on a Cuisinart Little Pro Plus, which I heartily recommend as an introductory model or if you have small food processing needs, it became time to upgrade to a full size model.

I looked at the current Cuisinart offerings, but was uninspired. Even the new front-loading models look like they still have the same deficiencies - hard to clean, not enough attachments, and, most importantly, no citrus juicer. The default for most food processors seems to be no juicer, and I can’t imagine why. I don’t use it very often, but who (in the class of people that’s already decided to spend money on a food processor) doesn’t want to make fresh orange juice or lemonade at least sometimes? I feel like not having a juicer on a food processor is overlooking a major use of the very powerful motor you’ve got on your counter. The Little Pro Plus comes with one - why not any of the “real” models? Not all of the Kitchenaid models do, but this one does.

Setting aside the juicer for a moment, this Kitchenaid model has a few other nifty features:

1. The 12-cup capacity seems perfect. It’s surprisingly powerful, and also quiet.
2. Two mini bowls that nest inside the main bowl, a 4 cup with a multi-blade for small chopping tasks, and a 10-cup for use with the slicing and shredding discs. This seems very useful for isolating small jobs that need to be done before the main mixing, without having a lot of extra stuff to store separately.
3. An egg whip attachment. I haven’t tried this out yet, so I don’t know if it’s any good, but it intrigued me. I suspect (and hope) that this may substantially cut down on the mixing time for making marshmallows, which normally take 20 minutes or so of beating in the stand mixer.
4. It has a lot of attachments, and all but the juicer fit in a case that they include.
5. The pieces fit together very smoothly, with very little catching.

I also have to take a moment to talk about Kitchenaid support. Their customer support is legendary. They have a history of fully standing behind their products. In contrast, Cuisinart support seems to have lagged in conjunction with being absorbed into a series of larger companies.

Still testing, so no final rating yet, but I’m very happy so far.

Buy the Kitchenaid 12-cup Food Processor from Amazon.

I must admit, I bought the Foodsaver after seeing a late-night infomercial for it. It turned out to be great - I use it frequently for sealing bulk meats for freezing, and for keeping grains and leftovers fresh. This model is more than powerful enough, and includes a storage space for a roll of bag material (for making custom-sized bags). The Foodsaver can seal with bags (Tilia makes special bags, in rolls and precut - either’s fine), canisters (make sure you get the plain brown ones - the “designer” line models do not seal well, in my experience), or in mason jars. This last is extremely convenient, as mason jars are dirt cheap, but note that this is not the same as sterlized jarring, and all sealed foods need to be kept in the same way as unsealed (refrigerated or frozen) - they just last a lot longer.

Buy the Foodsaver Professional II from Amazon.

Wusthof makes pretty good knives, although they’re not my personal choice. On the Friday sale, $50 is a very good price for a forged Santoku.

This knife should be a great general chef’s knife, for chopping, slicing, and other prep tasks. It has kullens in the side of the blade to reduce sticking. In my experience, this only makes a difference if you’re slicing very thin slices, but there’s no drawback, and it does make the knife somewhat lighter, which I prefer.