Sunday, January 20, 2008

Staple items part ONE!

I have a lot of photos of my pantry items so I will do them in a couple of steps. I will post some today and some tomorrow and then back to cooking on Tuesday!


The fridge has the standards, butter, ketchup, a few mustards (I will show you some of these in the next series) and this delicious item. I adore mayo, to the point that I decided to find a healthy alternative since I like it so much and its really not good for you. In college some of my friends were Vegan and Vegetarian and they told me about this wonder product. It really does taste just like real mayo but it is a lot better for you.


I always have some kind of nuts in my fridge or freezer. I store them here because nuts can go rancid and the freezer keeps them good for a lot longer than storing them in your pantry.


I always have bananas, but actually I cannot stand bananas. There are only a couple of things that I really do not like and bananas are one of them. These are for the dogs :)


This is my produce basket.


Tomatoes


Yellow onion. I usually have one yellow and one red, but I had used the red that week.


Of course my shallots. I can't cook without these guys.


My true love, garlic.


White and red potatoes. I love the creamy texture of these guys.


Salt and Pepper grinders. I use sea salt in the grinder.


My salt pig full of Kosher Salt. This sits on my counter at all times.


Cheap but drinkable wine.


Olive oil. Vix asked what kind of olive oil to get? I always use extra virgin for everything and I just make sure it comes from Italy. I don't know enough about it to say more but that combo has never failed me!


A timer. This is the second one of these that I have had because the first one fell into a pan of boiling water as I was making soft boiled eggs. It did not survive. I thank my great sister for supplying me with a second one this past Christmas.


These are always on my stove top and I use these for 99% of my cooking. A good pair of tongs is very important. I use them for everything, especially for getting stuff off of high shelves.

This is just a small sampling of what is always on hand right around my stove top and counter. Tomorrow we will go into the pantry! If you have questions about anything please just ask!

9 comments:

  1. all bases covered!!! And I LOVE that Pampered Chef timer!!! I have one too!!

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  2. Wow--that kitchen looks a whole lot like mine! Salt, tomatoes, olive oil, and red wine -- how could you possibly go wrong?!?

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  3. I need to find that veggie mayo. I love mayo.

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  4. Awesome idea for those tongs seeing as my cookbooks are on the top shelf! Thanks!

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  5. I am so curious about that vegenaise -- I must try it because I am a mayonnaise fiend and always have a thing of Miracle Whip on hand. I just love that stuff so I should try the vegenaise too. Thanks for the tip about the olive oil and for the produce basket -- do you recommend keeping all produce there instead of in your fridge? I keep tomatoes in the fridge but am not sure if I should be doing so. What about green onions? So many questions! I also need to go get a salt grinder because I bought some kosher salt the other day and that stuff is coarse! Can't wait for the next installment!

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  6. My ma ape forgot to buy garlic this weekend and couldn't cook! My ma ape likes the Nayonnaise stuff. I like, um, food.

    wally.

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  7. oh you use all the main stuff I keep to hand here in Scotland! Although I did not know about keeping nuts in the fridge or freezer.

    Like me, you adore Mayo......I just cannot live without it, but I will see if I can source the one you talk about in this post. Your stuff is slightly different in the States from what we can get here, we obviously have more European stock.

    I love bananas......!

    I do not like tomatoes......! Unless they are sun dried in oil.

    But I cannot cook without a valued Timer. I am finding your blog so interesting, I am cooking your Scallop recipe tomorrow.

    love and light from Jeannie in Scotland xxxxx

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  8. I'll admit, that Veganaise stuff scares me!! I love mayo & just use the light kind.

    I keep my kosher salt in an antique sugar bowl next to my stove. Unfortunately Scott didn't realize it didn't contain sugar & put 3 T (yes, he uses that much sugar) in his coffee. Whoops!

    Jen

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  9. That Veganaise sounds really good. I love mayo too but my boyfriend can't eat it and I always feel guilty when I eat it cuz I know it's bad for me.

    I love the idea of using tongs to reach high shelves, and here I was waiting for my boyfriend to build a step all around the counters so I can reach the top shelves.

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