While I do confess a weakness for costume jewelry and flashy shoes, I am, in my heart, a practical girl. Whenever I’m considering a significant purchase, I ponder “Do I really need this? Can I make do without it?”
The answers were “No” and “Yes” for all three of these kitchen purchases we’ve made. But I stand behind all three. They are unnecessary indulgences that make me happy every single time I use them.
1. Mandoline — John is taking ukelele lessons but no, this is not a musical instrument. It’s a slicer.

We already have knives. Good knives. Wustof knives that will very likely outlive us.
But when my kitchen hero Mark Bittman wrote an article a few years back about equipping your kitchen on the cheap, he suggested spending almost as much on a mandoline ($25) as he did on three saucepans ($30).
I went cheaper on mine but I still really like it. It’s sort of like the slicing side of your standard box grater but wider and with adjustable thicknesses. I can slice a whole onion in less than a minute and each slice can be paper thin and perfect — I love that for soups and salads. The thicker setting makes quick work of potatoes or cucumbers, provided you keep your knuckles out of the way. The slicing goes so fast that I think everyone with a mandoline probably is missing a chunk of at least one finger.
They include that food pusher handle for a reason.
2. Home seltzer maker — I found it annoying that John developed a seltzer water habit when New York City tap water is great. We’d pay money to lug home heavy bottles of something that was darned close to what we get for free, then have to recycle the bottle later.

So after he got me hooked (drat!) I was elated when I discovered SodaStream. It’s not quite as cool as the Three Stooges seltzer bottles but it’s the same idea: you infuse bubbles into tap water and voila! Seltzer water.
For about $100, you get the contraption, two bottles and a canister of C02 that says it’ll make up to 110 one-liter bottles of fizzy water. When that cartridge runs out, you exchange it for a refill for about 22 bucks. Let’s say you’re paying about $1.50 a liter for seltzer water at the store. Let’s say they overestimate the number of bottles you get by twice (just to be devil’s advocate.) For $122, you can make 110 bottles, making them $1.11 each after one refill cartridge. It gets cheaper the longer you own it because you’ve paid off the set up kit.
So it’s practical, I guess, compared to buying seltzer or soda, though still indulgent compared to turning on the tap.

3. Coffee maker with a timer — you know that cliche “wake up and smell the coffee?”
There’s a reason that’s a cliche. Because it rules.
Would it kill me to scoop coffee into the filter, pour in some water and push “on” in the morning? I don’t think so, but I like not having to find out.
When my alarm goes off, I can smell the already-brewed wake up juice waiting for me.
What kitchen indulgences do you love? Did you know you’d love your favorite luxury or did you start out thinking it was silly and wasteful?