I love tiny utensils. I have a tiny whisk. I have tiny tongs. I have the smallest GIR spatula, which is maybe six inches long. I have a lot of quite small mise cups that are stainless steel—I really like metal because it's indestructible. I also can't resist cute little ceramic ramekins and pinch pots, which is honestly becoming a source of some marital distress. My poor husband will say, “Where do you imagine storing that?” And I'm like, “It's so tiny, we'll find a place for it.”

I’m usually cooking for two people, so I’m often not making huge quantities. I don't need a big whisk to whisk two eggs—you can't even really fit a full-sized whisk into my small mixing bowls. The mini whisk is also good for quickly re-emulsifying a vinaigrette or making a custom spice blend, where you want to make sure that everything is nicely mixed. And the spatula is good at getting the last of condiments out of the nooks and crannies of little jars where a larger spatula isn't nimble enough to do so.

When I'm teaching one of our virtual cooking classes, an array of little mise dishes are helpful to keep things organized. But I think it's good for all home cooks to embrace the art of mise en place [French for “put in place”], so that when you're cooking and firing things, it goes really smoothly.

For instance, let's say you’re using spices in a curry or a soup. After you sauté your aromatics in oil, you want to add spices in order to let them bloom before you add liquid. What can be tricky in that moment is if you're digging around in your spice drawer to get each individual bottle of, say, turmeric and cumin and cinnamon and black pepper, by the time the last one has gone in, the first one is almost certainly already burnt. But if you've mixed your spices together in a teensy cup with your adorable tiny whisk, then they're all ready to go and you stay in control of how much time they spend with intense heat.

Basically, I feel that little tools and dishes—things that are easy to clean, that don’t take up a lot of space in your dishwasher or on the drying rack—really make your cooking calmer and more controlled. And they’re just so cute.