If you find yourself throwing away a lot of stale moldy bread…
Freeze it.
When you need it, take it out the night before to thaw in a sealed bag. Or if you want toast, just throw the frozen slices straight into your toaster.
This also works for most cakes and other baked goods.
I have several silicon spatulas and absolutely love them. Still have some wooden spoons around though, to help break up things that the silicone is too soft for. An example is heating frozen chili on the stove top, using a wooden spoon to break up the frozen bits as they thaw. However, the silicone spatulas are far more versatile. Plus you can scrap every last drop of sauce out of a pan with them.
Longer tongs. I have a gas top stove and using shorter handled tongs can get uncomfortable if I’m cooking something for a long period of time.
Flat strainer. Essentially a spider, except the mesh is the same as a fine mesh strainer. This was a purchase that my wife made that I thought was totally useless and indeed, it sat in the drawer for months. Until I needed just one more strainer, as all the others were used already. Turned out that it is very useful and easier to use than a full strainer in a lot of circumstances. It also doubles as a spider and it is really great at cleaning up hot oil in between batches.
Spray bottle with 50/50 white vinegar and water. Great for cleaning and disinfecting the counter top, also spray it on my cutting boards after washing them to keep them from smelling like what I last cut on them.
Lastly, a really good set of thermometers. I love the Thermoworks thermometers and have the Dot, Thermopen IR, and the 4 probe Smoke for BBQ. Along with multiple types of probes for various applications. They were expensive, but have proven themselves time and time again.
Lastly my absolute favorite kitchen item and by far the most expensive is my Wolf DF304 stove. I found one on Craigslist several years ago that was being sold by a couple who were retiring and did not want to move it to their new condo. It’s a heavy SOB. So I bought it for a song and it really is a serious cooking tool. It is by far the most even cooking oven and the stove top is extremely flexible. It also is standing up to me cooking on it every single day. A lot of people buy Wolf/Sub Zero products as a status item, which is a crying shame. They are well built, they are designed to be used in a commercial kitchen, and they cook spectacularly well.
Veggie Pasta, serves 2:
6oz Fusilli or similar pasta 4oz Fresh Mozzarella cut into bite sized pieces, or buy the pearl sized version. 1.5 cups your favorite tomato sauce. I make a maranara for it, but you can use store bought if you want. 1 red onion diced 2 med carrots diced 1 celery stalk diced 4oz bacon chopped Parmesan Regianno for serving. (Not the crap in the green can, get the real stuff.)
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain in a colander.
Cook bacon in a skillet to desired doneness, save a tablespoon or so of the grease after cooking. Remove to paper towel lined plate. Sample bacon to make sure it’s OK.
In now empty skillet add the onion, carrots and celery. Cook till all veggies are softened. Sample bacon to make sure it’s OK.
Add sauce and reserved bacon to skillet to the veggies. Be sure to sample bacon before adding back to the skillet, to make sure it’s OK. Once the sauce is heated, add the pasta and fresh mozzarella to sauce and veggies. Once warmed through divide between two plates. Serve with the Parmesan at the table.
I make this dish for my wife and I several times a month. It’s about 30 minutes from getting everything out to cut, to putting it on the table depending on your knife skills.
Hobbyist cook here that owns one of the best duel fuel ranges (gas top, electric oven) on the US market. A Wolf DF304 and yes, I’m damn proud of it. It is by far the best cooking range I have ever used. Unlike its predecessor, a Dacor RSD30, it has stood up to very heavy use over the years.
I love to cook with gas. I have cooked on resistive electric and they are terrible.
With that said (induction supporters, it’s time for you to just wait a bit, I know you’re just cracking your knuckles to put me on blast).
My next range, or cooktop will be induction. A friend of mine has an induction cooktop that is comparable to Wolf. It actually is pretty nice… For the most part. My issue with induction really is not how it cooks, but rather the weird noises that will sometimes come from either the cookware, or the cooktop itself. It’s a high end induction as well (Viking I think). So I’m not talking about some cheap stove from a box store.
But as far as how well it cooks, I really do like induction. It does all the things that gas does well; instant temperature control, gets really low for simmering, gets really hot for searing or other high heat cooking. I also like the fact that induction doesn’t produce any carcinogenic combustion byproducts. I’ve always had a high flow vent above any gas range I have owned. My wife used to have the bad habit of not turning on the fan when she uses the stovetop. Yeah, that doesn’t happen now.
The bad news is… It’s a Wolf which is designed to last 20 years in a professional kitchen. While mine sees heavy use for a home kitchen, that’s peanuts in comparison. A Wolf will literally last a lifetime in a home. It would really pain me to junk this thing prematurely. If we stay where we are, the kitchen will need to be remodeled in the next 5 to 6 years. At that point my stove will be 15 years old, so we might just replace it.