2003-06-05
2003-06-05 - 11:45 a.m.
As I mentioned, I recently worked up a dinner party menu for a co-worker. When she asked for help, I asked some basic questions: what don�t you eat, what are you allergic to, what kind of people are you inviting? When I sat down to flesh out ideas, however, I realized that I�d neglected to ask the most important question of all: what kind of staples do you keep in the house? When planning for someone else, I never want to make them buy more than the necessities; far more fun to give them a shopping list that can be completed in one trip. With this in mind, I went to my own fridge and looked in, thinking that it would give me a starting point. Was I ever wrong! Turns out my fridge contents are as varied as the inhabitants of Market Street in San Francisco. There are bottles stacked precariously atop each other, odd colors and missing labels. There are fishy contents, pickled contents, mind-blowingly spicy contents. Peruse the list below � and remember, these are only the door�s inhabitants, this doesn�t even touch the cheese drawer � and tell me, do you think that my size 2, Lean Cuisine-eating co-worker and her stunningly athletic husband really have this stuff in their sparkling white Frigidaire? Also note that I'm one of those people watching what others buy in the grocery store. It never occurred to me before that my own basket would look so bizarre! Let me know - what's in YOUR fridge? Bottom Shelf
Leftover enchilada verde sauce, homemade
Pickled pepperocini
Ketchup
Sriracha hot sauce (the bright orange paste with the rooster!)
Hot Damn! sauce
Pistachio oil brought back from France
Tangerine-infused olive oil
Korean bbq sauce, homemade
Bubbie's half-sour pickles
2 1-liter bottles of water
Trader Joe�s egg-free light mayo
Strawberry margarita mix (left over from birthday party in April, ick)
Chinese oyster sauce
Orange-ginger-miso salad dressing, homemade
Maple syrup
White truffle oil Middle Shelf
Tahini paste
Mustards: yellow ballpark, Dijon, stone-ground Organic shiro miso
Picholine olives
Indian mustard seed oil
Trader Joe's Greek Salad Dressing
Strauss organic nonfat yogurt, one quart
Korean spicy bean paste
3 cans diet Pepsi
Mom�s pickled green beans
Marinated artichokes
Bag of peeled garlic cloves
Kimchi, both cabbage and cucumber, freshly made at the local market
Top Shelf
Chinese black bean and garlic sauce (for pork with green beans, mmm)
Toasted sesame oil
American Spoon Food's Smoky Catsup
Sugar-free blackberry jam, homemade
Tom Yum soup paste
Thai red curry paste
Turkish mahlab kernels for baking (kept cold for freshness)
Sugar-free rhubarb marmalade
Oil-packed anchovies (absolutely necessary for puttanesca, real Caesar)
Capers
Chipotles in adobo
Liquid echinacea
Little cubbies up top
2 packages mushroom-flavored udon
Half a package of Dean and Deluca pistachio marzipan
Unsalted butter
Pressed teriyaki tofu
Smoked pressed tofu from some lovely man I met last week at the farmer's market
Packets of yeast
Vegetarian rennet for cheesemaking
Deli rye flavoring for baking
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