In The Kitchen

So, I have decided to do a week of "themed" posts! Not a different theme every week, but just every now and then, starting this week of course! Each post this week will be on one particular theme and will definitely be the type of posts that needs comments and participation!

This weeks theme is "In The Kitchen"! There might be some new recipes posted, some questions asked, and some stories told, but they will revolve around - THE KITCHEN! Ever since I got married, I have realized that a wife spends more time in her kitchen (or anywhere revolving around food: i.e. the grocery store, restaurants, take out, the list goes on) than anywhere else in her home. We cook there, feed our families there, clean up in there, make delicious cups of coffee and tea there, and even read in there. This is the simple reason I decided to talk about our kitchens!

Today, I thought we should actually take a brief moment to actually discuss the food in our kitchen. I, although not wanting to toot my own horn, consider myself to be a pretty decent cook. Very few times have I actually cooked something that my hubs did not like; however, I also feel that I don't know how to cook a lot of different things. I mean lets get serious, how hard is it to cook pasta and throw something in it? I swear I can make Italian 4 times a week and not even realize it.

Therefore, I began reading cookbooks to learn about new things and how to cook different veggies and meats. Almost as soon as I started reading cookbooks, I realized that there are many ingredients that I see over, and over again. Thus, I have begun the understanding of "staples".

No I never understood "staples" until I got married and my sister explained what a staple actually was, but I have found myself going back to these few things VERY often in a variety of dishes. So far, my staple lists is as follows:

• Cream of Chicken soup
• Cream of Mushroom soup
• Lipton's onion soup mix
• a generic red wine, or cooking red wine
• a generic white wine, or cooking white wine
• onion
• diced, or stewed, tomatoes

I could use one of these everyday, yet cook completely different meals.

So today, I pose this question:
What are your staples? What are the few items that your kitchen is never without, that you buy even when you don't have a recipe calling for them because you know that sooner or later, you WILL use them????

And thanks in advance for your thoughts! The newly married people appreciate it!!!


Oh, and just for your enjoyment, Sister, Kate and Ethan came to have lunch with me today...here are some pictures! I had a picture of Ethan, but it was really blurry (Sorry E!)

and look at my sister being fashionable and trendy sportin' her hot pink scarf! LOVE IT SIS!!! (Can you tell we read "Bring the Rain"?)