Squiddy's Kitchen Creations: Things I Need For My Kitchen, Part 1

Welcome to my Kitchen! watch out for flying objects, keep your elbows tucked in, and BYOB, cos its crazy cooking time!

today i will be writing about things i need for my kitchen (as you may have noticed from the title. how smart you are! lets continue)

i live in what is technically a one bedroom apartment, so as you can imagine, our kitchen is rather small and humbly-equipped. we have a sink, a stove, and a bit of counter, and that is about it. the rest we make up for in creativity, ingenuity, and flair! pretty much all of my cooking equipment and utensils have been inherited from loving friends and family, and a few from those nice folks at the thrift store down the street. actually... now that i think of it, i cant really recall any object in our kitchen which was purchased new. so we really do... make do. that is not to say that it prevents us from making delicious food though. oh ho ho no. DEE-RICIOUS is how we roll down at Squiddy's Happy Critter Cottage. (or as the boyfriend calls it, the ZooQuarium)

so this is the beginning of what will be a sort of wish list for my kitchen, which undoubtedly will grow exponentially over time.

i just started the list this morning, and its already a page long, so this might be typed in installments, as i am at my desk in the cube farm currently.

here goes.


A Mortar and Pestlei cant tell you how many times a week i say to myself "damn, i wish i had a mortar and pestle to grind/mash/mix this crap" and yet i somehow always forget to buy one. i am a big fan of herbs and spices, and a bigger fan of fresh herbs and spices, preferably grown and picked from my garden seconds before use. (yes that's right, i have a garden in a tiny apartment. i rock.)
i want to get one soon, but i will be sticking to either porcelain or granite as they are more durable and tend not to absorb stains/odors/flavors as much as those horrid wooden ones. soapstone is out of the question. i am quite rough on my tools. rough but loving. like your moms prom date.
here are some online.



A Woki love cooking in woks! its wonderful! these round-bottomed pans are so versatile, they heat so nicely, and the surface area is way larger than a normal frying pan since you can use the sides too. great for any fried or sauteed thing you can come up with, and you can even use them to steam veggies or meat in combination with a steaming basket! i really need a wok.


A Cast Iron Skilletcast iron cookware is great for frying and high-heat/slow cooking for long periods of time. it is a pan that will grow with you as it ages, developing a better coating over time for great non-stick and seasoning properties. a good cast iron skillet is the pride of a kitchen. i have a very small one, at home, but it is one of those crappy cracker-barrel ones, and not much bigger than a chicken breast really, so it isn't very versatile. i need a big deep frying pan like the mama had.


A Rice Steameri know, you can cook rice in a regular pot. but it sucks. it burns. its always too mushy, or really dry. but with these, its almost always perfect. plus, you can use them to steam veggies, meat, or even as a slow cooker! rice steamers are awesome.



A Chef/Butcher/Chopping Blocki love to cook with fresh ingredients, so i usually do a good bit of chopping, slicing, dicing, and julienning by the time I'm ready to cook. at the moment i have a small (6x8) beveled glass cutting board, which does the job, but is quite loud. also, i am always waiting for that one fateful blow that will shatter it. it washes quite easily, and it has an embedded photograph taken by my beloved room-turtle, but that's about the best i can say about it. i have been eyeing up the chopping blocks online for some time now, and i hope to eventually acquire one of those fancy pants Chopping Block Kitchen Islands one day, once i have a stationary home and larger kitchen. (i can dream) but for now I've got my sights set on something like this.


More Counter Spaceas i said before, there isn't much to be had in my current setup. whats there is already partially taken up by a dish rack, coffee pot, and microwave. if our kitchen was bigger, i would get an island, but its barely big enough for 2 people as it is. i need more surface area!!!


A Double Sinkit would be easier not having a dishwasher if i had one of these.





and now it is time for me to get lunch. more kitchen wishes later.