Saturday, July 31, 2010

A Well Stocked Pantry

I'm exhausted. I've been on vacation for 86 days and can't wait to get home.

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
I know this is a big list, and things on here aren't necessary for you if you have a tiny pantry, or if you never use them. I'm sure I left things out, and maybe even put something on twice (I don't know). I also gave up on alphabetical order pretty quick (after the AP flour) cos things were popping into my mind too fast.

A

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