I loved the kitchen we had in our Charlottesville house. After living there for 11 years, we finally bit the bullet and redid the space, opening up walls, adding counter space, and thoroughly revamping the storage. I like to think we didn’t overdo it on the gadget/tool/stuff front, but maybe the sheer number of black plastic storage bins in the attic at the OPO labeled KITCHEN CRAP might loudly laugh at that delusion.

When we moved back aboard Calypso I wanted to be realistic. There’s just not that much space. But. But. I love to cook. I really didn’t want to be lamenting the lack of xxxxx (fill in the blank). How to balance it out? Besides the pretty obvious “most things need to serve double duty”, how do I decide what is essential?

The last couple of months in the Charlottesville house had me packing away most stuff but leaving out what I thought might be the key items, organized in a way that one drawer was the “yes I use this” and another one the “I think I want this” drawer. Other items were easily accessible in the garage. Anything in the “yes I use this” drawer made the cut. It’s pretty amazing how few pieces of gear I used on a regular basis, when it came down to it.

So what do I have?

Pots and pans

1 kettle for coffee, plus French press

3 skillets. A small, non-stick. A 10” anodized aluminum. A 12” deep skillet with a tight fitting lid.

2 saucepans. A 3 quart and a 1 quart, both with lids. I’d love a 1.5 quart one but haven’t bought It yet. There’s one in the house where we are this winter that I adore, and the amount of time I use it (and how often I longed for one just that size on board) makes it a reasonable addition. (Update: just ordered one. Boom.)

1 pressure cooker. 6 quart size, this Fagor is making me understand why people love their pressure cookers. It’s pretty idiot-proof. This serves as the pasta pot on board. And as the extra large bowl for mixing.

1 stove top waffle iron.

Baking stuff

2 jelly roll style baking sheets

1 large roasting pan (for the occasional turkey. Plus granola batches.)

1 9x13 pyrex pan (the only piece of gear thus far I have NOT used. Maybe it’s going back to the OPO!)

1 8x8 brownie pan

2 loaf pans

2 muffin tins

2 stainless steel bowls

2 cup liquid measuring cup, set of dry measuring cups, set of measuring spoons

2 cooling racks (1 of these fits inside the large roasting pan)

Utensils

Basic complement of knives: 12” chef’s knife, 10” chef’s knife, 2 paring knives, 1 bread knife, 1 filet/boning knife

Wooden spoon, wooden spatula

2 high-temperature scraping spatulas

1 turning spatula, made of firm silicone of some sort. 1 metal spatula

1 large metal spoon, 1 large metal fork, 1 soup ladle

1 whisk

2 pairs of tongs (the kind with a locking mechanism)

1 potato masher

1 microplane zester/grater

1 large hole microplane grater

1 garlic press

1 lemon juicer

There are a few other items, like a colander and a wine opener. A knife sharpener. 5 cutting boards. Appalling, I know. This is a huge reduction in force for me. A wooden salad bowl. Salad spinner. An immersion blender and a rolling pin. Almost forgot the coffee grinder!

A note about those cutting boards. Mostly wooden ones, there’s also 1 silicone/plastic thing that is mostly for cutting meat or fish. Then a larger board that fits a pizza, an every day board that’s a little smaller, a really small one for limes and such, and a circular one that was a gift from Bee to use for sundowner time. Have I mentioned I like cutting boards?

As far as dishware goes, it’s solid white ceramic basic stuff from Crate and Barrel. No plastic or Corell for me as we don’t enjoy eating off of it. There are mugs, wine glasses, Tervis tumblers for general drinking. Stainless steel flatware.

My galley kit makes me happy every day. There are a few items that do double duty (the pressure cooker as the big bowl when I’m making a batch of granola, for example), but there’s nothing lacking. There’s enough close by storage space that I’m not rummaging in the v-berth for some piece of kit or other.