"Amber" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:I have a dilemna and wanted your help. I have had a house fire and
lost everything but the shell of my house. They are going to rebuild
it but I have lost everything inside. So.. I have to refurnish my
kitchen, I mean dishes, cookware, utensils everything. Can anyone give
me any tips or hints or any ideas about what I need or don't need. I
don't want to go out and buy a lot of stuff I won't ever use and I
know that a lot of the things in my kitchen were, well OLD. I know
there are new things out there that everyone but me has and uses and I
just wondered if any one might help. On one hand I am so excited that
I get all new stuff but on the other hand I don't want to fill my
kitchen with a lot of useless stuff I will never use. Can someone
suggest a starter list of what every kitchen needs.
Well, I suppose it would help to know what kind of diet you eat. And what
kinds of foods you cook. For years, I said I would never use a food
processor. Then I finally bought one because everyone I knew had one and
said they used it all the time. The one I bought was a piece of junk. It
was too small to do dough and poorly made. I tried using it twice and both
times I had to take it all apart, I mean down to the screws and springs
inside to get it to work. I took it back.
A couple of years ago, I bought a Big Mouth food processor when I decided to
try a raw vegan diet. It is very helpful to me when I need to slice or chop
a lot of vegetables and for making certain raw recipes. It also works well
for me if I want to make a soup and need some veggies chopped in a hurry.
But other than that it doesn't get much use.
I was given a Magic Bullet. Was told it made a great salsa. It didn't.
Not for me anyway. Just made a soupy mess. What it *is* good for is
grinding flax seeds for making a raw onion bread. Which brings me to my
dehydrator. This is something I really use a lot for making raw foods. But
otherwise wouldn't use much at all.
I also have some sprouters that I use a lot for the raw diet, but otherwise
wouldn't use at all.
A lot of raw foodists use their blenders for smoothies. I hate smoothies
and never use my blender at all. I will make the occasional smoothie for my
daughter with the Magic Bullet.
Daughter bought me an ice cream maker. I hate ice cream. Always have. The
ice cream maker got very little use. The only recipe I found that my
daughter or husband found edible was made from bananas. Found out she is
allergic not only to bananas, but dairy. So no more ice cream for her.
I bought a special, expensive mixer that was purported to be the best for
gluten free bread dough. I rarely use it any more but I rarely bake any
more. Also bought a bread maker. Never use it any more. I do use my
immersion blender from time to time.
I have bought countless lemon zesters. I do like lemon zest on occasion.
The very first one I had worked. But it got lost in one of our many moves.
Since then, none of them have worked. But if I could find one that did, I
would want it. Now I make do with my hand held grater. Or my peeler.
I use vegetable peelers quite a lot. Used to use graters a lot when I ate
cheese. Now that I know I am allergic, I rarely use the grater. I do make
grated vegetables on occasion but find I can do them easily in the food
processor. If I do use a grater now, it is just a small hand held one. No
need for the box grater or the Mouli.
For utensils, I use a variety of cheap plastic large spoons and flippers. I
also have some large slotted spoons and pasta fork thingies. I have some
tongs that I use once in a while. Also use flexible scrapers.
Two things that get a lot of use in my kitchen are my Rachel Ray oval pasta
pot. I can use it not only for making pasta, but also soup, chili, stew
etc. I could do a pot roast in there if I wanted to. I also have a huge,
deep lidded skillet that I use for most of my cooking. My other pans are
the copper bottomed Revereware. They're not made as well as they used to
be, but they still last many years.
I know some people like cast iron. I don't do enough frying to warrant it.
And my big skillet works well for me.
I bought a beverage chiller which sounded like a good idea when I bought it.
It has never been used. Not even once. Other things I have bought or been
given over the years that I found totally useless were the mayonnaise
scraper (to get to the bottom of the jar), holders for slicing onions and
tomatoes, boiled egg timer, nut chopped, plastic graters, Tupperware (any
and all) and an olive grabber. Also had an electric can opener that was
more trouble than it was worth.
I do keep a few Rubbermaid or cheaper plastic containers around. I kept
trying to get rid of them all since I rarely use them but I kept getting
them back again, either as gifts or a prize for something or other. I just
finally decided there is some unknown reason out there in the universe that
I am meant to have these. So if I keep one of each size, new ones will stop
coming to me. It has worked. Mostly I store leftovers or prepped food in a
plastic bag or one of my mixing bowls with plastic wrap over it.
My mixing bowls are glass or pottery. I was given the pottery set. Used to
have metal ones but found I don't need them. They do have their uses
though. I seem to recall whipping something in a metal bowl over another
bowl of ice. I'm sure whatever that was, I am allergic to it so I no longer
make it.
I used to make a lot of chocolates and decorated cakes. I still do the
chocolates now that I know of my daughter's food allergy. Don't use the
bags and tips much any more though and really do very little baking.
Because of our food allergies, it is tough and expensive to come up with a
good finished product, so I generally buy this stuff already made when I do
need it. I do like my Airbake pans for cookies and other baking though.
Occasionally use a bundt pan and Springform pan. Also have a 9 x 13 baking
pan, a smaller biscuit pan, a couple of square and a couple of round pans.
Have a couple of pie pans but really don't use them much. Not for pies
anyway.
I have some casseroles. Some are the original cheapo Pyrex from when I got
my first apartment. They are still fine. Bought a set of Corningware when
a Woolworth's dimestore went out of business near me and marked everything
75% off. They don't get a lot of use, but they are nicer looking to take to
potlucks and the like.
Other things I use from time to time are measuring cups, both dry and wet,
measuring spoons, canning accessories and a canner, 3 sizes of crockpots and
a couple of colanders. I think that's about it.
