Those of you who follow me on instagram (ahhem, @sidonie_s) may have seen me post last week with great excitement at the arrival of my first Skandicrush subscription box.

For those that haven’t already heard, Skandicrush is a new subscription service that brings Scandinavian-designed (and/or Scandinavian-inspired) housewares to your door once a month. I had sworn off subscription boxes when I came across a review on Door Sixteen of the debut Skandicrush box last month. It was a no-brainer.

When the box arrived last week, I was both delighted and disappointed to find it was a perfect match for me–How perfect? Well, here’s are the contents of the beautifully-curated box:

contents

And here’s a quick snap of my kitchen counter before the box arrived:

IMG_1148

Notice anything (beyond the bananas that are well past their prime)? That’s right: those beautiful salt & pepper grinders, made by Menu. You can read more about the bottle grinders and the other items in this months box over at the Skandicrush blog. They hold a lot, so you’re not constantly having to re-fill the grinder, they feel great and are super practical–the little wooden “stopper” rotates to make a finer or coarser grind, and, of course, they look great. In the three months I’ve had them, I’ve gotten a lot of compliments from dinner guests.

(Before these, I had a tiny pepper mill that I bought in Turkey–it looked great, but was endlessly frustrating: I had to refill it several times a week, and the super-small opening to refill it meant more pepper would wind up bouncing all over the kitchen than in the grinder itself. There’s just nothing like the right tool for the job.)

I coveted those grinders for over a year before ultimately putting them on our wedding registry and receiving them from a wonderful family friend this August. So even though I was a little disappointed that the much-anticipated package wasn’t all new to me, I was thrilled that this new subscription box lines up so brilliantly with my taste.

AND THEN, as if I couldn’t speak already speak highly enough of Skandicrush, this arrived in the mail yesterday:

package

And inside:

diamond-box

A beautiful gift from the folks at Skandicrush, who perfectly understood my excitement and disappointment. Seriously, these guys have the world’s greatest customer service! I cannot say enough good things about the products or the people behind them.

grinders

And since I still don’t really need two sets of salt & pepper mills, I’m giving away these beautiful bottle grinders, brand new in the box, to one of you lovely people reading this right now. The set retails for $59.95, and the November Skandicrush box is sold out–so this is your chance to get this perfect example of beautiful, functional Danish design for free!

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post: let me know your favorite kitchen utensil/tool–or the one that frustrates you the most (I’m looking at you, tiny pepper grinder), your favorite Skandi brand, or, y’know, just say hello! For additional entries, share this post on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and leave an additional comment (one for each share) below to take credit for sharing.

Next Thursday, November 20, I’ll let the Random Number Generator at Random.org select a winner from the comment section below.

Please note I can only ship within the U.S., and I’ll follow up with the winner by email–so make sure your email is correct when you leave a comment! :)

Thursday, November 20, 2014 5:37 PM PST – Update: The drawing is now closed. Congratulations to the winner, commenter #24, Liz! Thanks so much to everyone who participated.

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November 11, 2014

Comments

You of all people know I have MANY favorite kitchen utensils. One of the top is a really thin bendy metal spatula – the kind it’s really hard to find new (because so many people have non-stick pans!) but are sometimes in thrift stores. Fun fact, I originally typed three things but that seemed a little ridiculous.

Yes!! I was just thinking the same thing the other day: our most-used utensil is a super-thin metal spatula, which was my grandma’s and is probably from the ’50s. Where would we be without it? Metal spatula + cast iron skillet = almost every weeknight dinner.

These are beautiful! Mallory, I also love super thin spatulas–I have a great one from IKEA :) I’m also partial to a super-sharp paring knife.

Kathryn, totally agree! We were reluctant to ask for new knives as wedding gifts, because I really like the knife set I already had–but my parents insisted on getting us a really great knife set, and I’m so glad they did. And the biggest thing I didn’t realize I was missing was an excellent paring knife. Now when I switch back to my old paring knife, I’m blown away by how mediocre it is. Super-sharp knives! Amazing.

Well I’m of Danish descent and love skandicrush (now that you’ve introduced me to it)! I’m a huge fan of the chefs knife my sister gave me for Christmas one year. I use it daily and all of that.
Let me know when you’re in Seattle next!

I have a machete in my kitchen for cutting the tops off coconuts, but it makes my guests slightly uncomfortable the first time they see it.

My immersion blender changed my life! Hello, acorn squash cauliflower soup. And patterned oven mitts keep me on Etsy longer than necessary …

Thanks for sharing the treasures Sidonie!

Hi! When I think about what I use most in the kitchen the answer has to be my island. I know its not quite as handy an item or utensil to discuss as a great grinder set (totally need one of those!), but I love counter space and having a floating island in the middle of the kitchen makes it really easy to adjust to a particular meal or cooking event and do it with ease. Oh, and hello, again.

Nice to hear from you, Maria! Agreed: counter space is the foundation for everything that happens in the kitchen, and a good layout makes such a huge difference. Hope all’s well with you these days!

I didn’t expect my fave kitchen implement to be a simple human-powered garlic chopper – roll it along the counter, which activates the chopper. clever. picked it up at Pacific Ocean Marketplace.

Hello Sidonie!
Beautiful blog. So glad I stumbled upon it.
My favorite utensil in the kitchen is a wooden spoon given to me by a friend over ten years ago now. I use it nearly every meal I cook and the way it feels in my hand is just right. The girth of the handle and the swirly grain makes it feel very nice to use and to also look at. Simple kitchens and simple tools.

Hello! I found your post while debating on splurging on Skandicrush… I’m so glad I did, especially after reading this. I’m eagerly awaiting their holiday box. Thanks for the chance to win these little guys!

Sorry about that! I definitely debated it because I love my international readers! But ultimately international shipping was too expensive this time around. I’ll keep you Canadians in mind for the future, though! And I know you are not alone in wanting Skandicrush abroad; those little boxes are so in demand, and rightfully so. Thanks for reading.

Hi, Sidonie–
The salt and pepper grinders are beautiful, and I love the above-and-beyond customer service of Skandicrush here. However, I’m responding more to talk about kitchen utensils that I love. While perhaps not the most-used items in my kitchen, I’m especially enamored of vintage kitchen utensils that have great design and are far better built than their modern day counterparts. For instance, I picked up a counter-mounting cheese grater at an estate sale in my neighborhood. It is so good at grating hard cheeses, and still works perfectly. A fun detail is that it is stamped Made in West Germany. Modern equivalents I’ve seen are made of plastic, do not mount to the counter, and definitely don’t have fun geopolitical connections.

Freeda, my partner Ben recently found two vintage counter-mounted utensils, too–a cheese grater and a sausage grinder–and they are fantastic! I agree it can be so hard to find really quality things new, especially amid all the cheap plastic. That’s a big part of why it’s so exciting to find things like these grinders that are so well designed. Your West German grater sounds like a great tool with great history.

Salt and pepper grinders actually *ARE* my favorite kitchen utensils. I love how simple and utilitarian grinders are, and some of these more modern designs really blow me away.

And I’m so glad to have found your blog! I was in dire need of fresh design ideas and Instagrams to favorite. Thanks!

Because I am exceedingly slow with chopping and own bad knifes, my favorite current tool is my set of kitchen shears — I use them to ‘chop’ things like green onions. I enjoy the blog and your projects – thanks!

Hi! Being the type of person who has caffeine running through his veins, my favorite kitchen appliance is the Moka Pot I got in Italy while spending a sunner in Rome during college. At the time, I had never seen one of these and was CONVINCED that I had an authentic Italian stovetop espresso maker.

Little did I know, you can get these pretty easily here in the USA. A few weeks after my return, I saw them sitting on the shevles at my local Target here in DC. Regardless….I paid for mine in Euros from a little booth in Campo di Fiori, so to me it’s Italian. Its (then) silvery shine and perfect octagonal shape are a staple on my stovetop.

I love my Moka Pot too. It’s a little one, and my partner thinks it’s absurd to make one cup of coffee at a time. And he’s not really wrong. But I still think it’s perfect.

Sidonie!

Man, you’ve got me wanting a Skandicrush box. I’m a huge cast iron skillet fan. I used to use all teflon/weird coated stuff, but have since switched to pretty much all cast iron. Super versatile, beautiful, easy to control temps, can go on the stove and in the oven. Love it.

My favorite kitchen utensil are my tongs, I use them every time I cook and could not imagine cooking without them. So far my Skandibrand crush is on Areaware, with Menu coming in at a close second. I used to work in a museum shop and carried both brands. Both feature really unique items with clean lines and design characteristic of Scandinavian designers. Huge fan. I find Areaware’s products more playful and fun whereas MENU is more practical. Thanks for the chance to win some great items!

So pretty! I would love to have those for my new house! My most favorite kitchen appliance tool is my Le Crueset dutch oven. It is a beatuiful red and is perfect for cooking literally EVERYTHING. I got it as a gift and thought that it was an unnecessary extravagance but I now am obsessed with it! It not only looks beautiful but it helps me cook everything. I am generally a pretty lazy cook, meaning I just throw things into a pan and hope it turns out. This utensil is AMAZING!

This probably doesn’t count as a “utensil” per-se, but I have to give a shout out to my Aeropress. That thing is unbelievable and is easily one of the best gifts I’ve ever received. It’s compact, easy to use (though hard to perfect!), easy to clean, and I’ve been using it practically every day this month.

Honorable mention goes to the mini-whisk. It’s a whisk…but it’s mini!

i would love to win this. Ever since I saw you reveal the box, I haven’t stopped thinking about these. Would make my year! These would be my favorite kitchen item ever.

Also found your blog through Skandicrush (which I just – literally – subscribed to.). I buy a lot of kitchen gadgets/utensils and my favorites definitely rotate, but my favorite at the moment is a stainless steel mesh skimmer made by MIU France. It’s really sturdy and well made and works great to take veggies out of boiling water, fried items out of hot oil, and to skim whatever bits and pieces float to the top of stocks, etc. AND it’s cheap to boot!

My favorite kitchen tool–that’s a bit of a tough one. I think my cast-iron skillet wins, though. I love that it’s healthier than a teflon pan. We use it all of the time.

We get the cheap grinders from the grocery store, and they are terrible. I’d love to up our style with these. I LOVE Scandinavian simplicity and elegance!

This is very kind of you to give away as opposed to trading for some other item on sub box site.
My favorite kitchen item, that is totally design free but completely handy, cheap and infinitely versatile are those square red “shop towels” you get at hardware store.
They ate perfect for cleaning you don’t have ant to use a nicer towel for and they weave is loose enough to make theme excellent scrubbets

Hiiiii Sido!

It’s not so much a utensil as it is a major appliance, but still – I just love having an oven around! I didn’t have one for several years (apartments with kitchenettes, traveling, etc.), and I’d have to mix up dough at my place and then walk/bike/bus to a friend’s place to bake, usually bribing them with some of the finished product. Hanging out with friends while delicious smells wafted out was great, but still, it’s nice to be able to bake whenever I want now, especially since I’ve gotten into bread. Never take your oven for granted!

Our favorite kitchen tool wasn’t originally intended for kitchen use. It’s called a Spout-o and was made for oil cans, this little gem alows the user to add a spout to any can! It’s so perfect for coconut milk and other canned liquids. I highly recommend finding on on ebay (as they are no longer in production).

Love the posts. Keep it up.

You have a beautiful site, I am so excited I found you on Skandicrush. And those salt and pepper grinders are beautiful in their simplicity!

Oh my goodness these are the most beautiful, perfect things ever!!! My favourite kitchen item is this really simple grater – I forget the brand name but it’s a long, thing piece of metal and it grates everything from zest to parmesan, I use this little thing all the time, it’s the best.

Great question on the favorite kitchen utensil! Mine is a beautiful handmade wooden spatula. I can’t correctly identify the wood because of the patina from years of use but it is thinner than any wood spatula that I have ever seen for sale! This reminds me that I need to beg my woodworker friend to make more!!!

My favorite kitchen utensil is a spring coil whisk given to me by my grandmother.

Ok, so since I got married 9 1/2 years ago, my pepper grinder is aging and is seriously giving a sub par performance right now. These would be a gorgeous replacement to solve my issue!

Love those beauties! Ok, you hooked me in.
So many favorites to choose from. Maybe it’s from working on fishing boats, but my fav kitchen tool is a victornox (Vicky) knife. It cuts practically everything up from meat to fruit, it’s small and better than a pairing knife. I’m in love. And it’s practical.

Of all the nice, useful, well crafted utensils I have in my kitchen, my grinders are cheap and get clogged constantly. I’ve been looking for new grinders for years now (ok, not extensively but I look every time I’m in a kitchen store!) and I’m going to look into these.

A hefty chef’s knife and a trusty wooden cutting board are pretty great–definitely close to the top of my list.

But the BEST tool? Bare hands. What other implement can determine the ripeness of produce AND ALSO knead doughs AND ALSO arrange a meal beautifully in a dish AND ALSO give a celebratory high five after successfully cleaning up?

Beautiful blog; keep it up!

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