Tools, Spices, and Miscellany

Good evening everybody, and welcome to the Redhead Kitchen! For our first post, we'd like to share with you guys a list of what you should have in your kitchen if you really, really want to cook. If you're a college kid in a dorm, we've also got a handful of tricks and tips for you to use as well in the event you've got naught but a microwave, a coffee maker, or a tea pot.

... How did that wind up rhyming?

Anyway, this list isn't to imply that you MUST HAVE EVERY ITEM. Some items are not super-necessary, others are practically requirements, and still more are just basics you probably have lying around in your kitchen, your parents' kitchen, or your friends' kitchens. This is hopefully going to be a blog that you can have parties with, who knows!

Note: The Redheads personally do not endorse cooking while drunk,. Leave that to the pros at My Drunk Kitchen, mmk? They also do not endorse cooking without heavy metal playing in the background. They do however endorse all-steel pots and pans due to versatility and oven use. They  dislike unitaskers.

Anyway, let's start with some basic hardware.

• Fire Extinguisher: You can usually buy single-use ones at Wal-Mart, or you can see about getting a proper one in your home. Just a recommendation: Make sure it's an ABC: Meaning it can handle a wide variety of combustibles. (Note: If you have a small grease fire in your pan, well, Caitlin has a story for you later.)
• French Knife: Also known as a chef's knife and is also the knife most commonly seen in slasher horror films, such as Halloween and Psycho. This knife is generally about eight inches long, an inch or two wide at the bolster (the point attached to the handle) and there are two knife styles: German and French. I'm not gonna go into the differences, but you need one of these. It's used for mincing, chopping, slicing, dicing, and turning certain ingredients into fine pastes.
• Paring Knife: The little knife, also comes in a huge variety of shapes, sizes, utilities, and so forth. My favorite one had a curved end (meaning, it was impossible to stab myself), but unfortunately the silicone handle peeled away. Anyway, this knife is usually two to three inches long, and the more common varieties are pointed at the end. This is used for fancy small cuts, peeling, and a fancy thing called a tournee. Tourney. It's a potato thing.
• Boning Knife: A few inches shorter than the French knife, the boning knife is a scary tool because it is super sharp for good reason: Its name. It is meant to easily rend raw meat from  bone, carve chicken breasts into tidbits, and slice ribs apart. It's also quite useful for other things as well. This knife has a variety of appearances, ranging from a simply smaller chef-knife look to an odd curvature leading into the knife blade. Something similar to this is called a 'tomato knife' but... that's just excessive.
• Small Pot: Stainless, ceramic, what have you: This pot usually holds about a box's worth of mac'n'cheese, for some size reference. 
• Medium Pot: Twice the size of aforementioned pot. This one's for soup, or other things, et cetera.
• Medium Pan: Basically, what you'd cook your omelets or scrambled eggs or pancakes in. For size reference, use your face (DO NOT DO THIS WHEN IT'S HOT). If it can cover your face, it's big enough.
• Cast-Iron Frying Pan: You can find one for pretty cheap at a hardware store. YOU NEVER WASH THESE. You rub them down with oil, heat them up, let them cool, then store them with paper towels between them, the shelf, and the next pan up. Washing these rusts them very quickly, so treat them with care.
• Mixing Bowls: Use some of those oversized chip bowls I know you've got hiding in your cupboards. You know the ones. 
• Rubber Spatula: Your basic rubber spatula, for mixing.
• Cooking Spatula: A heat-resistant spatula, a metal one, a plastic one, or a silicone one. 
• Cutting Board: Minimum of two or three; always have one delegated to only meats. Just to be safe.
• Saran Wrap/Plastic Wrap: Need I say more?
• Aluminum Foil
• Whisk: That funny many-armed contraption sitting in your drawer. That thing has a use other than frothing your cocoa.
• Oven Mitts: Please do invest in some good ones. The Ove' Glove is surprisingly good quality.
• Dish Towels: For drying up your messes and also to make your kitchen look lovely when not in use.
• Baking Sheets: Variety of sizes, shapes, and uses. We generally stick to the basic rectangular kind.
• Tupperware/Rubbermaid: Those containers that fall on your head every time you open your cabinet. Believe me, they're for more than cluttering up your shelves!
• Liquid Measuring Cup: Usually says 1/2 cup, 1 cup, something in milliliters. 
• Measuring Cup: Comes in 1 cup, 2/3 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/4 cup, and so forth.
• Measuring Spoons: Come in 1 tbsp, 1/2 tbsp, 1 tsp, 1/2 tsp, 1/3 tsp, just a pinch.
• Tongs: Get a lot of these and make sure they're not flimsy. They should be a little bit heavy, only just so.
• Paper Towels: For draining grease from bacon or other fried items, cleaning up messier spills the dish towels can't.
• Colander/Strainer: A Strainer is that flat dude you hold over the edge of your pot and strain through while keeping the noodles in the pot. A Colander is the Holey Bowl.
• Baking Pan: For cakes, brownies, and other delectables that must RIIIISE. Also for scalloped potatoes and a wide variety of other nonsense. In short, anything and everything. Also useful for heating up food in the oven if you don't own a microwave. Redhead Saryn is one such unfortunate.

Now, onto basic spices and seasonings! 

• Salt: Ranging from iodized table salt to kosher to Pink Himalayan Sea Salt, every salt is different and can be used for different things. Caitlin generally uses table salt, but will be transitioning to kosher soon. Saryn is a fancy pants and prefers sea salt or kosher salt.
• Pepper: Black, red, pink, but we mostly use just straight black ground pepper. Other kinds include white, yellow, green, and so forth. Not all peppercorns are the same!
• Garlic Powder: Please use in small amounts, can be extremely salty and potent.
• Onion Powder: Same as garlic powder.
• Cumin: What exactly is this stuff anyway? Caitlin apologizes for being dumb. Cumin is a spice derived from a flower that's used in a lot of meat dishes, particularly North African, South Asian, and Latin American cuisine. And it's in Tacos. 
• Cinnamon: The stuff that makes Pillsbury rolls taste so gooood. Also great in savory dishes and is good for your heart, allegedly.
• Taco Seasoning: Universally delicious!
• Vanilla: Delicious in icing, in cakes, in cookies, and in hot cocoa!
• Sage
• Basil
• Thyme
• Oregano: Warning, very spicy, use caution! Unless you like having a crematorium in your mouth, please follow the recipes' amounts for this very closely.
• And moooore~

And lastly, food staples. Again, not telling you to run out and grab this whole list right this second, but just see what you've got. Honestly, if you've got eggs, milk, and cheese with flour, baking soda, and baking powder, you can probably make good cheesy biscuits.

• Eggs
• Milk
• Bread
• Flour
• Sugar
• Brown Sugar: Comes in light and dark, we'll let you know if you need one or the other. If it isn't specified, probably light.
• Baking powder
• Baking soda: This is also useful for cleaning!
• Rice
• Noodles
• Shortening
• Butter
• Margarine
• Vinegar: Many varieties, there are, but most common is white vinegar. Any recipes that differ will have notations saying such.
• Tomato Sauce
• Honey
• Cheese
• Onions
• Garlic
• Potatoes
• Lemon Juice
• Vegetable Oil
• Olive Oil

Again, there is no need to rush to the store and buy every ingredient or tool all at once. That's expensive as hell, and our goal is to show you guys quick, simple, and more importantly cheap ways to make delicious food - be it only for a single meal or a powerhouse of a recipe that'll last you for several days!

This is Redhead Caitlin and Redhead Saryn, signing off!