In the Kitchen 101

A dear friend asked me a couple weeks ago to write about the basic tools for a functional kitchen. He is interested in cooking more of his food and wanted some insight into what is needed for "cheffing". A couple months ago I was faced with the same question in my life, except it was with bike tools rather than kitchen tools. Now, the "Must Haves" list (to which I will probably add):

1. Paring knife: the smallest knife in the kitchen that can be used for just about anything
2. Two mixing bowls, one large, one medium: many recipes call for mixing the wet and dry ingredients separately
3. Big skillet: gotta have it for just about everything
4. A baking dish: if I had only one, it would probably be a 9x13 inch glass piece
5. Measuring utensils: The basic cup/half cup/third cup/quarter cup AND tablespoon, teaspoon, half teaspoon, quarter teaspoon
6. Basic utensils
a. Wooden mixing spoon
b. Flipping spatula
c. Scraping spatula

With these basics a huge selection of breakfasts and dinners can be made. Plus, forks can double as wisks, cutters, etc. A strong elbow can be an electric mixer. A plate can pose as a strainer for pasta. Versatility is only limited by your creativity.

Perhaps, and only perhaps, I will add some of my favorite recipes to the blog, however there are many better recipes out there with only a few keystrokes.

Banana Pancakes

Delicious.

I haven't mentioned it yet, but baking is one of my hobbies. It often comes and goes, meaning one week I'll pump something out once a day then I'll go a month before making something else. Two days ago it was dark chocolate brownies with chocolate chips and this morning it was banana pancakes. Interestingly, I was sitting in bed reading blogs/news/whatev and thought, "WTF? Why haven't I ever thought of banana pancakes before. Gotta a recipe online." A short Google search later and a couple minutes in the kitchen and I had some tasty pancakes. They were good, but the real test of their yummy factor will be next time when I'm not huuuuungy.