Since you only get to register once, do you fill up your kitchen with small electric appliances? As I'm sure is true of many of you, I have limited cabinet space. What are the most important gadgets for a foodie to own? Jon and I already have the toaster, food processor, KitchenAid stand mixer, blender, deep fryer, waffle maker and panini press (yes, it was a successful Christmas-and-engagement party), but I'm still considering adding to my list.

For example, Jon loves fresh juice and ice cream, which makes me think I think I need a juicer and ice cream maker. But is it better to consolidate pieces and register for juicer and ice cream-making attachments for my stand mixer? This brings into question the slow cooker, rice maker, coffee and espresso makers we already have. After four years together, we have yet to really need any of them. Though co-workers of mine swear by the slow cooker and I can absolutely see the positives. I suppose the size of them scares me -- along with Jon's face expressing, "we are going to have to start putting these in a closet because we're running out of room fast."

Again, I would love your advice, especially in terms of certain products like the KitchenAid attachments. Do you love them or hate them?

Thank you always,
Your Hungry Bride

When I was growing up, once a year my parents would take my sister and me on vacation just after school let out for the summer. We'd rent a little house in Gearhart, OR that was a block from the beach and settle in for four or five days of laziness, walking along the shore and several hours of skee-ball in the neighboring town of Seaside.

This house was tiny, mostly just graying shingle, a sprawling deck and a kitchen where everything was at least fifty years old (it has since been sold and remodeled into a charmless monstrosity, built to impress instead of to comfort). The thing my dad liked best about that kitchen was that it came with an old waffle iron. You know the kind I'm talking about, big and square, with rounded corners and covered in chrome. The waffle plates lift out and are reversable, making it possible to lay the whole thing flat and make pancakes on it. We had a waffle iron like it at home, purchased at a thrift store when my parents were first married.

We always gave the first waffle to the dog, as it was always a little too greasy and a bit flaccid. The next waffle would be perfect, crisp and brown on the outside, but steamy and tender on the inside. My sister and I would scoot in one side of the built-in breakfast nook (covered in sparkly turquoise vinyl that was cracked in places) with our plates (heavy old mismatched stoneware) and dig in. My dad would stand at the counter, making waffles until the batter was all gone, a plate of his own breakfast at his elbow. He often commented that he'd like to take that waffle iron home with us, as it was superior to ours. He never followed through on that threat though, mostly because he wanted to ensure that it would be there for the following year.

These days, I buy every old waffle iron I come across at thrift stores and rummage sales. They have to have cast iron grill/waffle plates and be covered in chrome. I have one or two in reserve at any given time, in case my primary iron craps out. The rest I pass along to special friends and close family, so that they too can know the magic of the waffle.

Let's hear your memories of kitchen tools and appliances.

Back in December, my friend Roz bought her first house. The day she moved in, her mother came over with food in a slow cooker and a pot of peeled potatoes that were destined to be turned into mashed potatoes to celebrate the new home. However, when it came time to mash potatoes, Roz's mom discovered that there wasn't a potato masher anywhere to be found in Roz's fairly extensive collection of kitchen paraphernalia.

Because of this utensil encounter, Roz was not at all surprised when, for Christmas, she received her very own potato masher. The thing is, she's just not much of a mashed potato girl, so this new item didn't fill her with excitement. However, just last night, she turned to me and said, "I'm loving my masher, although I still don't use it for potatoes. Guess what I'm making with it!"

Turns out, it has become her new favorite tool for whipping up batches of guacamole (a trick I plan on trying out this weekend). Now I have a question for the rest of you. Do you have a kitchen utensil or appliance that you resisted for a long time but now you adore? Or, do you have something that you use all the time, but not for its intended purpose?

With quite a few food blogging events coming up that focus on cold things (sweets in particular), an ice cream maker is a great thing to have in the kitchen. (Unless, of course, you want to do a rainbow jell-o mold). However, if you've got more than one person in your household, or heck, your tastebuds have a double-personality, you might need to do more than just one flavor. Enter, the double ice cream maker.

The Koolatron Double Ice Cream Maker makes two flavors at once in your freezer. It's available from Targat, and you'd think that a double ice cream maker would cost twice as much, but this one is only $16.99. Target also has a model made by a different manufacturer, the DuoTreat Ice Cream Maker, which is a few dollars more at $19.99.

Two great tastes that taste great together!

Personally, I love the look of a sleek and modern kitchen that's outfitted with chrome and silver appliances, but if you'd like to add some color to your kitchen, Vincon has some cool panels that attach to the front of refrigerators, dishwashers, and washer/dryers.

The panels are graphic designs, photography, or illustrations that are transferred to flexible plastic via high quality digital printing. The panels are easy to cut with scissors, so you cut the shape you need for your particular appliance. They attach magnetically, which means when you get tired of lemons, you can put up strawberries. Vincon also has other fruits, coffee beans, and eggs.

The panels are available for 199 euros.

Hey, we here at Slashfood know you can cook if all you have is fire and knives, but we still like to drool over cool new futuristic kitchen toys. MSN has listed a few fairly new things to equip your kitchen of the future, from cabinet finishes to major appliances.

• Refrigerators - go modular with columnar pieces that can be placed anywhere, they have French-style doors, and they now have luxurious water features like filling up water and rotating faucets in the door.
• Water - filtered water on tap, and a water faucet installed over the range to fill your pot on the stove-top instead of at the sink.
• Microwave ovens - in an under-the-counter drawer to save valuable counter-top space.
• Decor - countertops go retro with classic Boomerang laminate diner-style tops. Protect walls with a decorative tile backsplash
• Cabinetry - make maximum use of cabinet space with swing out doors that really swing out. Instead of wood or glass, it's steel-tone cabinetry, or maybe recessed panel cabinetry to create more space
• Sinks - have better designs to accommodate large pots and pans with either a low profile if the sink is divided, or heck, just take the divider out completely and make it own big bowl.
• For cooking - you need a restaurant-style griddle, an induction cooking top, and a convection oven.
• Other stuff - since the kitchen is the hub of all activity, you can answer the door while you're cooking with a door entry system.