Parchment paper. Nothing sticks to this stuff. Use it for lining cookie sheets . . . and you can just slide the paper onto a cooling rack and let the cookies cool completely before trying to lift them. Use it under rolls to keep butter/sticky from making the cookie sheet a pain to wash. I line brownie and cake pans with the stuff too.
A couple "half sheet pans" like bakers use. Go to a wholesale or restaurant supply shop and pick them up cheap. You won't believe how often you will use a sturdy, large sheet pan.
Tongs . . . several pairs. Use them like extensions of your own hands. I have two wooden and three metal pairs. The wooden ones are perfect for plucking toast from the toaster or tossing a salad.
Several pairs of take-out chopsticks. I use them to help me when flipping food in pans . . . or stirring pasta in the pot. To wash them, I rubber band several together and pop them in the utensil rack in the dishwasher.
Several small bowls . . . I have swiped several "sauce bowls" from restaurants over the years . . . and they are great for small quantities of ingredients and are less of a pain to wash than a china bowl.
Pyrex mixing bowls of many sizes . . . like the half sheet pans, you'll use them for everything.
At least two sets of measuring cups and spoons. Invariably, I'll need a teaspoon for wet and dry ingredients.
A radio . . . cooking and cleaning up just goes better with music.
Candles . . . perfect for getting the smell of frying or cooking out of the air. Nothing says "take out night" like walking into your home and smelling last night's dinner still lingering in the air . . . unless last night's dinner was bacon . . . in which case the linger may be the bit of grease you dabbed behind your ears this morning. ahhhhh bacon.
Box of fun shaped pasta, a large can of good crushed tomatoes, garlic, dry basil, and olive oil. You can whip up a nice quick tomato basil sauce in the time it takes to boil the pasta . . . and add some rolls and salad from a bag . . . and you have a 15 minute dinner even company will love. I like to keep mushroom tortellinis in the freezer for such meals.
A variety of plastic containers with lids . . . the cheap kind. From storing leftovers to freezing next month's quick meal to sharing with guests . . . you need several containers you can afford to never see again in the name of being a good host.
A stash of chocolate . . . preferably several kinds. You can always whip up a quick dessert of fancy hot chocolate of milk and melted chocolate . . . or just satisfy a light night craving.
Several beers in the frig. Nothing welcomes the drop in guest or washes away the compromises to your character you make on a daily basis like a cold one.
2 comments:
I like to use little pyrex custard cups, I guess they are, for small amounts of ingredients. They're also easy to wash and very handy.
We've been trying to get away from plastic as much as possible--starting to use pyrex containers for storing leftovers. It's still a plastic top for a good seal, but at least the food isn't sitting in plastic.
Dunno what the real net effect is, but there seems to be a mounting pile of concern about compounds leaching out of plastics. If stuff is leaching out of plastic, my food is not where I want it to end up.
I hear you . . . and I don't know enough to really definitively respond . . .plus, I live in the south . . . we live off a diet of deep fried or over sweetened stuff. The best stuff we eat is both deep fried and dunked in sugar coating.
But, you're right on the little custard cups . . . darn handy and easy to clean and a variety of uses. But, harder to throw away when you discover one that's been shoved to the back of the frig for 6 months and looks toxic.
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