Before I left, I completely emptied my fridge, freezer, and cupboard by bagging everything up and bringing it to my mom's house. I decided she would get better use of it in my absence. I wasn't sure how much use she'd get out of them since she's the world's worst cook, but I thought giving them to her would be better than letting things sit there. My mom is one of those people who throws everything she can find into a crock pot (I stare at her with a disgusted look the entire time she does this) and then calls a it "soup". The first few weeks she told me of the weird things she made with my delicious cupboard standards. She really did ruin the goodness of all the beautiful things I gave her. Silly mom!
Weeks have went by without me even thinking of my cupboard at home, until today. I'm not really sure why I started thinking of my cupboard today. Maybe it's because I'm dreaming of all the delicious things I'm going to make when I get there. I may walk straight in the door, kiss my kitchen floor, and hug my lovely cabinets; I miss it that much! Then it dawned on me...I have nothing there to cook with! That's when I started making mental notes of all the things I need to buy when I get home. It gave me the idea for this post.
What is a well stocked cupboard or pantry? I think everyone has their own essentials, but there are some things I think every serious cook should have in their kitchen at all (most) times. After writing my list I consulted ivillage, Martha Stewart, Eating Well, Gourmet, and a few others. Some of the things on their lists I didn't agree with, and some of them I added to my own list.
Here's the list:
- AP flour
- baking soda
- baking powder
- salt (regular & kosher)
- black peppercorns
- white pepercorns
- bay leaves
- applesauce
- boullion
- rice (white & brown, instant and regular)
- brown sugar
- cake mix
- granulated sugar
- butter
- vegetable shortening (like Crisco)
- carrot
- celery
- onion
- cinnamon
- cocoa powder
- dried herbs
- cornmeal
- cornstarch
- cream of tartar
- dried beans
- breadcrumbs
- dried fruit
- cake mix
- eggs
- gelatin
- ginger
- mustard (dijon, whole grain, yellow)
- honey
- jams or jelly
- lemons
- hot sauce
- mayo
- cheese (any you like)
- pasta
- peanut butter
- powdered sugar
- potatoes
- vinegars (red wine, white wine, rice wine, champagne)
- oils (olive, canola, vegetable, peanut, sesame)
- soy sauce
- tomato paste
- canned tomato
- vanilla
- yeast
- wine for cooking
- oatmeal
- barley
- couscous
- whole wheat flour
- bread flour
- stock or broth (chicken, beef, vegetable)
- dry lentils
- canned beans
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