My first tip is make sure you have a wooden spoon or several!
My Meme, grandmother, use to always say a wooden spoon is a must have in the kitchen!
And yes, just like the episode of Everyone Loves Raymond, we had the large wooden spoon and fork on the kitchen wall in my Meme & Papa’s house. But that was not the wooden spoon, she was speaking of.
Why Wood?
Wooden spoons don’t quickly heat to scalding temperatures, melt, or scratch pots and pans. A wooden spoon can be used to stir any dish in any type of pot/pan. It can muddle lime and mint for a Mojito, stop a pot of pasta from boiling over, and fold together the wet and dry ingredients of cookie batter.
While all of these facts already tip the scale in favor of wooden spoons, there is also an emotional reason to use them.
Wood retains memories in a way that metal and plastic cannot. It shows signs of use. It changes color and texture, wears and ages, even changes shape.
I can look at one of my wooden spoons and see a slight bent from cooking my first Christmas meal, or the dark spot from the sangria I made for my friends last summer. And when I use the wooden rolling pin that belonged first to my grandmother, then to my mother, and now to me, I cannot help but feel that I am cooking in the company of all past meals that the rolling pin helped roll and with the help of all the hands that have done the rolling before me.
Now I have taken her advice, and have several wooden kitchen utensils. They are my go to!
Whisk Away Kitchen 