Chew on This has a wheel to help figure out what herbs can be used for what dish.  It covers 40 commonly used herbs – how to identify & preserve them, and recipe suggestions for inspiration.

Installment #1: for the clueless

None of us were born knowing what to do in the kitchen. And since Eating In is the New Eating Out, a lot of us are now faced with the frontier of food prep at home. Which is daunting but invigorating, once the tools and facilities are demystified. This is the first in a series of the demystification process that will hopefully speed up the arrival at the invigorating end of the spectrum.

At left, aerial view of the compass rose at Alamo Community College in Texas.

That Was Then

I admit it: when I was in my 20′s, I was still eating directly out of the pot I made the macaroni and cheese in. Why do more dishes than you have to? The kitchen was a place to fend off the hungries – get in, get out, nothing to see here.  Friends would come over and look at the dust on the stovetop and say, “Don’t cook much, do ya Becky?” Uh no. No, I didn’t.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m a chef now, in my 40′s, but I do take a bit more civilized approach to eating at home. We’re not talking 12 piece place setting and doily civilized. We’re talking fresh, unprocessed food, sometimes creatively prepared, and eaten off a breakable plate civilized. (I have my limits.)

Live & Learn: Get it because you use it

Somewhere between the post-college life and now, I bumbled my way through what the heck you need in a kitchen. I made the mistakes of buying all the gadgets, even if I didn’t use them, because I thought that’s what I was supposed to have at the ready. And with everything that’s out there, it’s easy to think you might need it one day. Bad for the wallet, though. And the storage.

Thankfully CraigsList was invented and I offloaded what I rarely used. Then I rebuilt my arsenal of food prep tools by adding slowly depending on how frequently I needed it. The current collection is for meals we consume on a regular basis:

• veggie steamer: for the squash, broccoli and cauliflower we picked up at the farmer’s market that afternoon. We have a Sanyo EC503.
• blender: for fruit smoothies & soups (cream of sweet potato, mmm). We have a KitchenAid for the bigger volumes and a Braun handheld for the single serves.
• meat thermometer: to make sure the living things too small to see are no longer living
• spring loaded vertical chopper: for salsa ingredients like tomatoes and tear-free onion chopping. We have one from Pampered Chef.
• fine & coarse graters: we have Microplanes for cheeses & spices
• slow cooker: we use a Rival 4 quart for chili, pot roasts, stews – it’s fall, ’tis the season

The Basic Toolbox

Most of the above kitchen tool staples can be picked up at a local Bed Bath & Beyond, or online at Amazon. Other than that, a few knives and the usual appliances – dishwasher, oven, microwave, cooktop, fridge, freezer, and we’re good to go. For the once-a-year stuff, borrow it. Some places even rent kitchen wares used less often, like cake pans, for example.

It’s a jungle out there. You don’t have to spend a fortune, or go with super top of the line. Many of the tools we have are less than $100, and we’ve used them for years. Rule of thumb: if it’s got a motor and/or blades, best to buyer the higher end model. Equip yourself smartly. It can be done!

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