Your kitchen is a place to go to get your creative juices flowing. This is a space where you create meals and baked goods that you can share or even just spoil yourself with. From simple smoothies to mouth-watering roasts and desserts — the kitchen is where it all happens.

If you love to cook, you know that new appliances are available every day. You are able to find all kinds of gadgets to make all aspects of preparation and cooking easier. There is a whole array of choices when it comes to kitchen appliances. We hear of new inventions all the time, but there are some staples every want-to-be gourmet cook needs.

You need to start your day right. A good way to do this is with a coffee maker. No kitchen should be without these little wonders. There are so many on the market today that have a variety of different functions. From simple and easy to use standard pour-over to professional espresso makers with coffee bean grinders and milk steamers. All tastes are catered for and prices suit every budget.

A slice of toast in the morning with honey or jam goes great with coffee. To make this golden-brown toast, you will need a toaster. Modern toasters are more reliable and consistent when toasting. Your granny’s toaster that used to burn your toast is a thing of the past. There are various settings to get the toast just right. The toaster oven is the perfect addition to your kitchen, regardless of whether it is large or small. What goes better with tomato soup than a cheese sandwich that is easy to make in a toaster oven. Homemade bagel pizza can be popped in your toaster oven to melt and crisp your cheese. Delicious!

You cannot have a complete kitchen without a blender. These handy little machines make life easier and better. Before you buy it, think about how you cook, what you eat and what you want to blend. Depending on your needs, you can choose between various handheld, single-serve, full-size and specialty blenders. Blender and food processor are not the same thing. The blender blades are not that sharp and the motor is not that powerful but that’s exactly what you need to create blended soups, smoothies or sauces.

If you are a baker, your kitchen needs a stand mixer. Mixing wet and dry ingredients without a mixer is a task that feels like to arm day at the gym. Using a handheld mixer can become quite a chore, a stand mixer can help automate the repetitive tasks of stirring, whisking or beating and frees up your hands to do other things. There are stand mixers that have dough-hook attachments to knead your dough.

A slow cooker or crock-pot is the perfect addition if you have a busy lifestyle. You will fall in love with the convenience of this small appliance. With time delay and different settings, you can load your food and set the timer before you go to work and when you come back it is done. There is nothing better for a busy lifestyle. No more coming home late and ordering takeaways, you can still have a home-cooked meal.

There may be many more appliances you would like to add, but these five will make cooking healthy and tasty meals easier and more convenient.