A new start

[owlice]

Sign up for one or more of your local Freecycle groups; people get rid of alllll kinds of things, and some of them you might find useful. Some of the things given away are brand new; I have an Ikea something I'll put together this evening that I got from a fellow Freecycler, still in its unopened package.

College students get rid of a LOT of stuff at the end of a school year...

I use my toaster oven and my microwave a lot; wouldn't want to be without them.

When I first moved into my own place (by myself), I bought a bed, sofa, bookcases, rugs, and lamps. Oh, some kitchen things, too; I still have one of my first mugs, 34 years later!

I think a place to read that isn't the bed is essential, whether sofa or chair.

Something to put flowers in, whether vase or glass pitcher or something else.

[owlice]

Tonight I'm making a Hot Fudge Spoon Cake in the crock pot, and that recipe alone is reason enough to buy both crock and cookbook.

Please post the recipe for this; thanks!!!

[KnottedYet]

BRUNO!!!! DARLING!!!! IT'S BEEN SO LONG!!!!!!

(I'm a little surprised how many of us don't have TVs. I thought TV had a larger hold on our culture. Hooray! It's not TV, it's bikes and toaster ovens!)

[ny biker]

I have a TV. It's high on my must-have list along with my DVR and DVD player. I didn't bother to say anything because I think I'm too many standard deviations away from the mean on this topic. I use my microwave all the time, I like Eggo waffles, I've never used my coffee maker and I wouldn't know what to do with a crock pot if I had one.

[Tuckervill]

I bought myself a rice cooker for xmas. I gave it to my DIL after one use. Doesn't seem that critical.

I hardly ever use a paring knife, unless I'm eating an apple. But I do have an ulu knife that I use a lot, and a couple of Fury Santuko knives.

I've been playing ukulele for about 6 years now. Middle son is right now restringing one of my baritones for me. My original elcheapo soprano was autographed by Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies. I don't play it anymore. I think everyone needs a ukulele. Like Kate Micucci NSFW!

Cast iron. Yes. Definitely. Get the old stuff.

I still don't get the appeal of the toaster oven. I'm going to to with the counter space counterargument. I get the appeal of the convection part, though.

ulu and uke are similar, strange words.

That is all.

Karen

[OakLeaf]

I don't often use a paring knife for paring, but it's just much easier to manipulate than a larger knife for jobs like de-ribbing large greens, trimming the eyes from potatoes and sweet potatoes, etc. For actual paring, you want a ceramic peeler. Oh yeah, you need a ceramic peeler. While we're on ceramic, make sure the burr of your pepper grinder is ceramic, too.

As for pot and pans - besides the pressure cooker, I'd go with one cast iron skillet and one enameled cast iron pot ("oven"). I'd say you want the big pot to be at least 3 quarts and probably larger. I'm all about one-pot meals and making enough for a few days. (I like leftovers for lunch more than I do for subsequent dinners.) You want to be able to simmer pasta sauces, soups, stews, etc., that would just turn into a few quarts of rust if you did it in bare cast iron.

But you can always use the "pot" part of a stainless steel pressure cooker as a regular pot - lots of them come with a non-locking lid for that purpose.

And silicone. As a substance, that's totally indispensable in the kitchen. A couple of silicone potholders (make sure they're easy to manipulate, I have a few that I don't use because they're just too stiff and large). A couple of silicone scraper/stirrers - the large ones that are sort of half shaped like a spoon are my favorites. If you bake at all, a cookie sheet for support, plus baking pans in silicone in whatever sizes you use, and/or a Sil-Pat mat or two.

[Tuckervill]

I would like to have some silicone items, but it's not worth getting rid of the very fine other things I have collected which do the same things. So, I remain silicone free (in more ways than one!).

I shall check out the ceramic peeler.

Karen