Gift-giving, designing, gardening, and cooking...these are a few of my favorite things! When I'm not designing and delivering gift baskets, you can usually find me in the great outdoors or in my favorite room in the house...The Kitchen!

I have a running joke with my best friend, Vicki, owner of the Barking Lot in Leeds, UK. We've been friends for 30+ years, and although I don't see her too often since she moved to the UK, we are grateful for Facebook and email for staying in touch. Several years ago, we were discussing possible menu options for a dinner she was hosting. She mentioned lasagna, and my immediate response was, "Oh yeah, lasagna's easy". Well, I guess I floored her with that one as she was thinking not easy at all! She has been teasing me about that comment ever since!!

I later figured out that she was equating time consumption to difficulty, whereas I recognize lasagna is time consuming but I don’t find it difficult. There's a difference!

Anyway, whether you're prone to cooking quick and easy or have a penchant for complexity, you probably have a few essential kitchen tools. My very top fave, couldn’t-live-without essential is my set of Wusthof knives. Since our marriage merger, Ken and I have about 4 sets of kitchen knives. You know…the complete sets of 6 or 8 individual purposed knives in a nice wood block for storage. Well, even with our 4 sets, my go-to is always one of my 3 Wusthofs!

So I’m basically nothing without my Wusthof! And here are a few of my other must-haves!

My fire engine red 5 speed KitchenAid blender. I love to make soups and this blender is a must for getting those creamy soups like wild mushroom and sherry soup or my favorite autumn squash soup. 

Wooden spoons and silicon spatulas. I just bought a new set and these are a must for taking the best care of my other favorite kitchen essential – my Emeril All Clad cookware.

Soon we'll be embarking on a little kitchen rehab, so I've been thinking a lot about my ideal kitchen. While we haven't gotten too far along in the planning, we're thinking gray, yellow, and white color scheme. We’re planning to keep our existing white cabinets, while replacing our old butcher block counter tops with a new gray design and added tile back splash. These are a few of my inspirational photos.

And my ultimate would-love-to-have in my ideal kitchen is this design-your-own gas range from BlueStar. I love the grill top and the stainless steel would match beautifully with my new color scheme!

Ah yes, a girl can dream!

I'd love to hear your thoughts. What are your favorite kitchen must-haves and design ideas?