What’s in your pantry?

I tend to get infatuated with certain chefs/cookbook authors.  Right now we all know I’m in my Ina Garten phase.  Prior to this it was Susan Branch.  And before Susan it was Joanne Weir.  I’m fickle, what can I say?

Or maybe not.  Bizarrely, whenever I am randomly searching online for recipes, nine times out of ten the recipe that catches my eye is by Pam Anderson, food columnist for USA Weekend.

What I want to ask these women is what staples do they always have on hand?  What ten things do they rely on. 

When I am grocery shopping I can throw the following things in my cart and they will get used in the course of a week.  Lemons.  Shallots.  Thyme (dried or fresh).  Milk (only in recipes or tea – never to drink on it’s own.  Gross.).  White wine (only to drink.  Never to use in recipes or tea.  Gross.  Okay, maybe in recipes).  Basmati rice.  Basil (fresh).  Mozzarella.  Tomatoes (fresh or canned).   And I’ll throw in chicken just so I can actually make a meal out of my list.  You could substitute shrimp or salmon just as easily.  Chicken is probably better though.

I tend to be a shop as I cook type of person.  I used to work for a woman, quite a good cook, actually; she would sit down every Sunday evening and plan out her meals for the upcoming week, make her grocery list and go shopping on Monday.   As much as I aspire to that level of organization I just can’t do it.  I think the good folks at my local market would send out a search party if I didn’t show up every other day. 

Tell me.  Why would a person need three opened containers of sour cream in their refrigerator?   I’m an equal opportunity sour cream buyer – you can see that I am not brand loyal (I am loyal to my wallet – I probably picked out which ever was on sale when I was in the store).

Can you tell which shelves I use and which ones Rick does?

I’m thinking it might be time to clean out the refrigerator. 

So what are YOUR pantry staples?