Yesterday's FoodDay had a feature on people describing their favorite kitchen tool.

The Microplane grater is a big favorite. I love mine too, but honestly, how often do you need citrus zest? We also use ours for parmesan cheese but still, I don't use it enough to call it my favorite. Several people mentioned items I have, but hardly ever use like a silicone mat which I am going to put into more regular rotation.

My favorite kitchen tool is my silicone spatula. I use it for everything. Scraping the last of the batter from the mixing bowl, stirring the vegetables in the saute pan, finishing off the yogurt in the big carton. I have the old school plastic spatulas too, in several sizes and depending on the job, those get used a lot too.

But I love the silicone one because you can use it for hot stuff without fear of it melting.

My other favorite kitchen tool is my chef's knife but it desperately needs a trip to the sharpener. I've been meaning to do this for about 2 years now and never seem to remember to bring it with me to work. Or I do remember it (carefully wrapped in a towel and stuffed in the bottom of my bag) and then I don't have time to get to the place. Then I have to take it back home because what if I need it?

I bought a Santuko last November when Mom and Erin were coming for Thanksgiving because I figured with that many cooks, we'd better have plenty of good knives. I like it a lot too but the chef's is my favorite.

Bob drives me crazy when I find him chopping carrots with a paring knife or maybe the boning knife that came with our woodblock set of knives that we got when we got married. When I explain how much better it would be to use the chef's knife, he thinks I'm being bossy and trying to make him do it my way.