56 MONEY.COM MARCH^2019
THE BEST KITCHEN
SPLURGE
At home we have a
Blendtec and at the studio
we have a Vitamix. They’re
several hundred dollars,
but I use them multiple
times a day. There’s actu-
ally a screen on the
Blendtec that shows you
how many times you’ve
used it. We’ve had ours for
maybe three years, and it’s
closing in on 2,000 uses.You can get a blender for
$20 or $30—you can even
find a nicer one for $50—
but if you like healthy
cooking and want to have
alternative ways to make
things like sauces or dress-
ings, a high-powered
blender is going to be
worth your money.
DON’T WASTE YOUR
MONEY ON ...
I try to stay away fromany tool that can only be
used for a single purpose.
For example, we have this
strawberry slicer. The
three times I used it, it
worked really well. But
that’s the only thing it’s
for. It’s literally shaped
like a strawberry. Or the
tools that will pull the
leaves off fresh herbs. I
usually don’t buy things
that have only one use,
but those are smaller,less expensive items. The
mental energy it takes to
remember you have it
and to go get it out when
you do that one specific
task—it isn’t worth keep-
ing it around to clutter
up your drawer.
AVOID MAKING ...
Sushi is just a get-it-
when-you-go-out item.
You can make it at home,
and I’ve done it before,but I did it with my
cousin who has all the
gear. You need the
rolling mats and ideally
a special knife. And it
requires a trip to a differ-
ent grocery store to get
sushi-grade fish. I’d
rather just go out for it,
because of the cost of
the equipment, and the
fish itself, and the incon-
venience of gathering
all that.I love to entertain with tacos, because they
require minimal ingredients, and it also allows
people to create something that works for them.
For something a little different, you can use
Korean-style beef as a protein and add kimchi,
cilantro, and spicy mayo. You can have these
beautiful tacos that people can customize for
relatively cheap per person.MY $2O DINNER PARTY
Best-Kept Secrets
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