Saturday, May 31, 2008

What's In Your Kitchen?

There was very little that the Brave Astronaut family had to do when we moved into our house, which is a good thing, for as Mrs. BA will tell you - I'm not handy (in my defense, I will say that recently I reinstalled some towel racks and those suckers are in there good.)

Our kitchen came equipped with drawers instead in cabinets under the counters. It was a interesting thing to have to get used to, but I'm getting there. I'm actually in the market for a carpenter to look at the state of the shelving that is in the kitchen, so if you know one, send him my way. And lets give it up for C in DC's new kitchen, which is looking quite nice.

As one who craves order, I set out to set up the kitchen almost immediately. I identified the spaces available to me, what would go where, and began to stow things away. At around the same time, Mrs. BA's sister's family built a new house and excessed some of their kitchenware (their new house is bigger - but go figure) and we got the castoffs. Some of it I integrated into our stuff, the rest is going off to a yearly yard sale held by some friends.

I stumbled across this blog post not so long ago about what everyone should have in their kitchen. The author of the blog is Adam Roberts, who now has his own show (now canceled)on the Food Network, which I have written about before (I've used some of his recipes). In the post, he recounts what every well stocked kitchen should have. I like to cook and am certainly taking this list to heart. Who knows, I might even create a wish list. Maybe Adam will buy me something.
  1. A really good skillet/saute pan - he suggests All-Clad, well sure, wouldn't we all. He also suggests that there be two, one non-stick and one metal. Sensible. We have one large skillet that we use a lot (I think we bought it at IKEA) though we do have an All-Clad frying pan.
  2. A big pot and a small pot. His point here is that brand doesn't matter because most likely you are using it to boil liquids and the one that he bought from Target in the 1990s works just fine.
  3. He suggests that instead of settling on a full knife set, get yourself three really good knives: one large chef's knife (approximately $100), one really sharp, high-quality paring knife and one serrated knife. He recommends Wusthof or Misono (of course he does). We bought a Cutco knife set shortly after we got married, but that's another story. But they are good knives. To go along with those knives, he recommends a rubber cutting board, but I'm not there yet, I like substance to cut on.
  4. A roasting pan. Again, he says you don't have to spend a fortune and we didn't. We have a good Corning one and one or two metal non-stick ones. We could probably excess items here.
  5. A Dutch Oven. He likes Le Creuset and who wouldn't really. We have one of those and it makes great chili and stews. As he says, you will and we do use it a lot.
  6. Finally, "two cake pans (9-inch) [check], one springform pan (also 9-inch) [check], one loaf pan [check], a cupcake/muffin pan that makes 12 muffins [check], two cookie sheets (preferably without sides for flatter, more evenly cooked cookies) [check], one with sides for roasting vegetables [check], a hand mixer if you're just starting out baking [check], a flat rolling pin (no handles, which forces you to put pressure on the middle) [check], measuring cups [check], measuring spoons [check], a nice wooden spoon [check], a nice whisk [check], a sifter [no, who sifts flour anymore?], mixing bowls [check], a strainer [check x 2], a cheap juicer [check], a microplane (for zesting citrus) [check], a grater (for cheese) [check], a thermometer (for testing meat) [check] and a pastry brush [check]."
If you are interested in the "higher end items," you can read the whole post, but basically he suggests a KitchenAid mixer [check], a food processor [check], a salad spinner [check], a pasta maker [really? who makes their own pasta anymore?], a coffee grinder [check, but I love my current coffee maker], and a hand blender [check].

Now if I could just find room for everything. Remember why we moved? We needed more room? So we moved to a bigger place and now I need to find room for more stuff. I hate that.

6 comments:

Lana Gramlich said...

We have everything we need (most of the list,) which doesn't include a coffee or pasta maker & many other baking pans. If I want a coffee, which isn't often, I go instant. Considering Bailey's is probably going in there, that's usually good enough. Our kitchen is so HUGE we had storage space for our spare microwave & MANY other things. We have a brand new dishwasher that we haven't used since we moved here 2 years ago (hand washing is more environmentally friendly.) We have an island, which I like. Our countertops need to be redone, but not so urgently that we've made any plans to do so. I've painted over a couple of burn marks, so they're hardly noticeable (art is so versatile, sometimes!) In reality, our kitchen is twice as large as we need it to be. Like you, I immediately started organizing what had to go where when we moved in. When I explained my reasoning to Charles, he understood where I was coming from. For one, the bottom shelves (that I can reach,) hold things I need to access. The top shelves (which I can't,) hold his things. We still have more cupboard space than we can hope to use in this lifetime. Better too much, though, than not enough!

Unknown said...

I have almost everything too. I even have TWO sifters, one of which was my grandmother's. If I decide to deaccession the other one, I'll send it your way first. I've offered those folks in the Boro the duplicate salad spinner.

Anonymous said...

I sift, and use my grandmother's sifter to do it. Alternatively, you can use a fine mesh strainer to sift.

I have made my own pasta in the past, but no longer have a maker. Actually, they're not necessarily that expensive, maybe I should pick one up.

As for the rest of the list, I have most of it (not the dutch oven, but one of these days), and will probably be de accessioning a few things at the yard sale myself.

Anonymous said...

C in DC, thanks very much for remembering our interest in the salad spinner. With the CSA in full swing, our need now is greater than ever. Looking forward to our spinning!

Mary Witzl said...

I feel like weeping, just looking at that list. I've got half of the stuff there, but none of it is in the right place. I am a stickler for order, but my family is not. And since I don't want to spend every waking moment in the kitchen, I have to put up with their nonsense. Nothing gets put away in the right spot and if I complain they just tell me I can cook AND put everything away if it matters that much.

Maybe I'll just stop cooking.

Brave Astronaut said...

Lana - when are you coming to visit again? Bring your brushes . . .

C - I must admit that Mrs. BA does like the sifting option, it's just we don't have one.

NJM - My parents went through a pasta maker phase. It's long gone.

J - Now settle down. Don't make me turn the hose on you . . .

Mary - Have you not noticed the name of this blog? I would like to think that I have everything in its right place, but as they say, of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.