MANILA, Philippines?From my experience in the kitchen (I?m 78 and I still do kitchen chores), I?ve tried to come up with a list of 10 must-have kitchen gadgets. But I came up with 11!

A mini prep processor. The one I have is from Cuisinart. It can grind nuts from coarse to fine, turn oatmeal into powder for the famous Neiman-Marcus chocolate cookies, chop tomatoes, onions and carrots, and puree stewed fruit for fillings.

The plastic container doesn?t retain smells. To clean, wash the blade first and let dry in a safe place away from curious fingers. Then wash the plastic container and lid and air-dry. DO NOT immerse the motor in water. Wipe spills with wet rag.

Knives. The sharper the knife, the safer. Using a dull knife can cause more accidents. Cutting beef, pork and chicken can be done by your butcher, manually or by electric machine at no extra cost.

To sharpen knives, try the rod-shaped sharpener used by meat dealers. To wash, NEVER soak knives in water with other utensils, to avoid cutting yourself. And if you lose your grip on a knife, don?t try to catch it. Let it fall safely away from your feet.

Rubber spatulas/wooden spoons. Spatulas are large enough to mix batter, heat-proof enough (some can withstand up to 450?F) so they don?t melt, are non-reactive and thus can be used for acidic foods, and soft enough not to scratch the surface of pots and pans.

All these are qualities of the new heatproof silicone spatulas that come in bright, cheery colors. But I still prefer using my old 100?F heatproof Rubbermaid spatula.

Measuring cups/spoons. Cups usually come in sets of four?1 cup, ? cup, 1/3 cup and ? cup. But when I saw a five-piece set including a ? cup, I got one set for myself. For dry ingredients, you may use aluminum, stainless steel or plastic measuring cups. There are measuring spoon sets, but for small condominium kitchens I recommend a nested set with measuring spoons in both ends. One tablespoon is paired with ? teaspoon, ? tablespoon with ? teaspoon, and one teaspoon with 1/8 teaspoon.

Today measuring cups and spoons come in odd sizes. I even have a set of three?for a smidgen, a pinch and a dash. I find them merely decorative and use my fingers instead. For measuring wet ingredients like milk, cooking oil, honey or water, a glass or clear plastic measuring cup is best.

Vegetable peelers. Use this for veggies like potatoes, carrots, radish and grating corn off the cob. For the corn, I use my Good Grip peeler exclusively. For other peeling chores, I prefer my old stainless steel Ekco rotating blade peeler?made, in the good old days, in the USA. Today even name brands are made in China .

Tongs. For frying tempura, etc. They now come in silicone, tipped with easy-to-manage and convenient locks. Even the handles are lined with silicone to protect the hands from heat.

Mitts/Pot holders. I find the new silicone pot holders too warm for comfort. I prefer cotton quilts or crocheted squares using double cotton threads.
Can openers. A Swiss-made manual version incorporates a bottle opener and corkscrew. I prefer electric-operated openers, even with the new pullout tabs in cans that do away with can openers.

Chopping board. These can be made of good old-fashioned wood or hard plastic.
Bottle openers. You don?t have to rely on doors to open bottles. There are types designed to open bottles with small lids such as those for food color, and those with big lids such as mayonnaise bottles.

Mortar and pestle. Very popular are Romblon marble mortar-and-pestle sets, but wooden ones are also available at the Saturday Salcedo Market.