My microplanes. Even though I cook a lot and bake, I just never thought I needed one. When I needed to zest a lime, or grate a little nutmeg, or anything like that I would make due with the other graters or utensils I do have. I got a set of 3 microplanes for Christmas and I love them.

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Resisting: The electric rice steamer. I mean, what's wrong with making it in a pot on the stove?
But I only use my masher for guacamole or mashing bananas to make bread. The Kitchen Aid mixer makes the best mashed potatoes.

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The thing I resisted using for years was a pressure cooker. Once I started using it, I couldn't believe that I'd avoided it. My (ex) husband's grandmother gave one to each of her grandchildren when they married. I avoided it for about 5 years, then started using it. Now I have two. They're absolutely wonderful for long-cooked taste and texture in much less time.

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We don't have a masher, either, and prefer to use our potato ricer instead. But we've found that the ricer is also perfect for making spaetzle (those tiny German noodles)!

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I also use my Kitchen-aid for mashed potatoes. I use my potato masher to help break up ground meat or bulk sausage while I'm browning it. The masher works a lot faster than a spoon, and it breaks the meat up into smaller pieces.

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I use my potato masher for mashing potatoes (good tip to mash bananas with it, btw) but I have a pastry cutter that I use to cut up eggs for egg-and-cress sandwiches. Also for pastry, though!

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A grapefruit spoon works wonderfully for de-seeding tomatoes and capping strawberries. I use my potato masher for reaching things on the top shelf in my kitchen, just hook and drag. A tea ball can be used to sift small amounts of powdered sugar over cakes, muffins and cookies. It also can hold spices in soups and stews instead of cheesecloth.

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I use a potato masher of the style pictured to smash up frozen juice in the bottom of the juice jug

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I couldn't live without my melon baller. I don't actually use it for melon; rather, I use it to scoop the core out of halved apples or pears, and I also use it for truffles.

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I couldn't imagine making guacamole any other way. How else would you mash it?

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I love and use Michael Chiarello's suggestion to use a bundt pan to catch corn kernels when cutting them off the cob. Brilliant!

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I use my old pie crust maker (what is the name of that again? Don't know 'cause I haven't made a pie in years) to make/mash my guacamole.

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Erica's melon baller also can be used to scoop ice cream and sorbet. Lots of little scoops look so pretty served in a champagne glass.

Like this:
http://kittbo.blogspot.com/2007/09/strawberry-balsamic-frozen-yoghurt.html

I also use a big rubber mallet from the hardware store for crushing ice, pecans and other stuff.

Kitt
http://www.kittalog.com

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Actually the masher, in Mexico is also commonly known as the "bean masher". yup, traditional refried beans need no blender, we just mash the beans!

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