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[5 ingredients | 10 minutes] www.thestonesoup.com page 89 Part two of how to setup a minimalist kitchen details the items that aren't exactly critical but make life in the kitchen a lot easier. how to setup a minimalist kitchen - the nice to haves 1. knife sharpener While you could outsource your sharpening, I highly recommend investing in a set of Furi fingers – the most effective sharpening system I've ever used. 2. an electric kettle You can always boil water in a saucepan but a kettle is brilliant for cups of tea and boiling water for pasta etc when you're in a hurry. 3. a food processor You can live without one but they can make life a lot easier – and make purees possible. Also excellent for slicing or grating large amounts of vegetables. 4. a stock pot I love having a big pot of stock simmering while I do other things on a lazy Sunday afternoon. If you're not a stock maker, you can easily live with a normal large saucepan. 5. measuring cups, spoons & kitchen scales If you're not into following recipes then you probably won't need these but they make life easier especially for the bakers amongst us. 6. utensils Tongs can be useful especially for the BBQ when you don't want to puncture your meat. A vegetable peeler can make peeling a heap quicker and can take the place of a mandoline for cutting fine ribbons for vegetables. I'm a big fan of lemon zest. While you can use a microplane to do the job, I prefer the clean little strips you get from a lemon zester. Serving spoons are a civilized option for when you have guests, although not critical as you could always get people to use their own cutlery or even better their fingers. 7. serving platters I'm a fan of serving things in the middle of the table so everyone can help themselves but you could always serve straight from the frying pan or pot. 8. water filter Unless you are lucky enough to have your own rain water tank, a water filter is an economical and environmentally friendly alternative to buying bottled water. 9. salad spinner Years ago I would have included a salad spinner in the essentials, but these days there are so many prewashed leaves available you could get by without one. 10. storage canisters For years I just stored everything in its original packaging with a rubber band or a peg to seal but there was always the odd moth infestation that kinda grossed me out so I invested in glass canisters. 11. containers for leftovers You could pop foil over your plate or leave leftovers in the saucepan but this could be a pain when you want to cook something the next day. I have a few Pyrex dishes with plastic lids which I love for many reasons. They look good, they seal properly so you can be sure your lunch will make it to work, they are glass so you don't have to worry about plastic leeching into your food AND they are oven proof so you can pop them straight into the oven to reheat things. 12. cake tins etc I included the loaf pan in the critical list, but I do use my 24cm (9in) round cake tin with a removable base and my 28cm (11in) tart tin with removable base frequently. 13. a BBQ As a Australian, I'm really tempted to include a barbie in the essentials but I have managed to live without one from time to time.