LITTLETON, MA – June 04, 2026 – PRESSADVANTAGE –
Susan MacDowell, founder of kitchen tools brand Cestari, has a definitive list of five kitchen pieces that serious home cooks should own, emphasizing durability and daily functionality over accumulation.
The list represents MacDowell’s conviction that home cooks benefit from owning fewer, better tools that earn their place through constant use. Each selection addresses a specific cooking need while contributing to an organized, functional kitchen.
MacDowell’s first essential is a bamboo cutting board, which she identifies as the daily workhorse that withstands years of knife work without developing deep grooves that harbor bacteria. The second piece, the Cestari Ultimate Pasta Machine with its patented suction base, makes it easy to make pasta without having to clamp the machine to the edge of a table or counter.
“The bamboo board takes daily abuse without showing wear, making it the foundation of prep work,” said Susan MacDowell, Cestari founder. “The pasta machine’s suction base allows one to make fresh pasta with ease—the machine stays put when you crank hard, which means consistent thickness and no frustration.”
For pantry organization, MacDowell selects glass food storage jars as her third essential. Glass maintains transparency after years of storing turmeric, paprika, and other staining ingredients while allowing cooks to assess remaining quantities at a glance. The fourth piece, chalkboard pantry labels, creates an adaptable labeling system that survives pantry restocks without requiring new labels when jar contents change from quinoa to farro or bread flour to semolina.
MacDowell completes her list with a quality pasta or pizza cutter for hand-cut shapes. These tools are the exacto knives of the kitchen. While machines excel at long noodles, a sharp cutter enables cooks to produce pappardelle, maltagliati, and other wide or irregular shapes that add textural variety and sauce adherence to homemade pasta dishes.
“Each piece makes a measurable difference to the finished dish,” MacDowell noted. “The pizza cutter that produces clean-edged pappardelle becomes gift-worthy when someone discovers the texture difference between machine-rolled and hand-cut pasta. The glass food storage jars never cloud or retain odors, and the chalkboard labels mean the system adapts as cooking habits change through seasons.”
The founder’s selections reflect her approach to kitchen tools as long-term investments. The bamboo cutting board has served as the primary prep surface for decades; the pasta machine and cutter enable pasta production at home, and the combination of glass jars with reusable labels establishes a pantry system that maintains organization through cooking evolution.
MacDowell publishes a weekly cooking newsletter where she writes about tools and recipes as interconnected elements of home cooking practice. The newsletter reaches home cooks who prioritize quality and functionality in their kitchen equipment selections.
Cestari designs premium pantry organization tools for serious home cooks. The company serves cooks who view kitchen tools as investments in their cooking practice rather than disposable items.
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For more information about Cestari, contact the company here:
Cestari
Susan MacDowell
1-978-800-1013
support@cestarikitchen.com
Cestari Kitchen
451 King Street
Littleton MA 01460
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