"Christine Dabney" > ha scritto nel messaggio
...
> Heya folks,
>
> I am unpacking my kitchen stuff and gradually getting my tiny little
> kitchen here in this apartment together. Yesterday, I had to go out
> to get some of my basics. However, I am trying to keep my
> fridge/pantry contents to a basic/bare minimum.
>
> I got onions, carrots, celery, garlic, Italian parsley, and some
> ginger. I didn't see any lemons I would want to buy (at least for the
> price they were!!). I also got some apples, some bread, milk, and
> cream and some sugar (brown and granulated). And a can or two of
> tomatoes.
>

>
> I was just going over all this in my mind, and I was wondering what
> you all think of as your essential pantry: those ingredients that you
> use a lot and want to always have on hand. I am not thinking of
> exhaustive lists...in some cases less is more. I find myself coming
> around to this more and more.
>
> Christine

What I must have and what delights me are different. I must have flour,
salt, sugar, oils, yeast in the pantry and obviously other things that are
fresh outside the pantry. I had reason to pull out the spare dried pasta
yesterday and it weighs about 30 pounds, so I've obviously either made some
great buys or big mistakes. I certainly didn't set out to become a
collectionist, but my favorite from Gragnano is getting hard to find and I
got desperate.

I would not care to live without my spices nor in winter without canned
tomatoes. The whole grains like farro, barley, hominy, etc. are important
as are the dried chick peas and beans of various types.

I currently feel lucky to have a variety of dried peppers brought by a Texan
friend as well as some really good dried fruit. I can get on without them,
but it makes life tastier with them.
--
http://www.judithgreenwood.com