My Kitchen Eclectic Kitchen, New York

Q. What's your go-to dish for a dinner party?A. I like to keep it simple for dinner parties. I’ll never forget the time I got too ambitious with my menu and ended up doing dishes in the bathtub the next day. It was a great party, but I think I used every bowl, pot, pan and utensil I owned. Lately, I have been really into cooking up a big pot of mussels with garlic, wine and lots of parsley, with a side of whatever vegetables are in season — peas and fava beans sauteed with shallots are a current favorite — and some sliced sourdough bread to soak up all of the delicious juices from the mussels. For dessert I love rustic fruit tarts, pies or crumbles with ice cream.

6. Store utensils in crocks. Not only do crocks keep wooden spoons, tongs and spatulas tidy, but they also keep tools close at hand so they're a cinch to grab when you need them.

10. Workstation. If you bake on a regular basis, go ahead: Set up a workstation right on top of the countertop. Just like in a real bakery, make the countertops your work areas. Solid-surface countertops like marble and granite are ideal for rolling out dough. Display your tools and equipment right where you use them.

Set up your kitchen for baking. It doesn’t take much equipment to bake at home, no matter what those glossy catalogs dropped in your mailbox may claim. People have been baking all sorts of goodies since time immemorial, without the aid of a standing mixer or food processor. That said, if you do own these items, by all means dust them off and put them to work! The essentials, though, include liquid and dry measuring cups, measuring spoons, wooden spoons, a cutting board, a bowl scraper, a pastry cutter and a few baking sheets and pans. Anything else is icing.

Workstation with supplies ready