how do you shop?

[Alexis]

do you normally keep your pantry and fridge stocked? so you can make a wide variety of things at any given point? (kinda like my mum's house) and just buy what you need to top up on once weekly?

or

do you go out and buy the things you'll need for the next few days or week and make do with what you got yourself? obviously this option would limit your choices....or you'd constantly run to the store when inspiration struck.

recently i've been looking at recipe magazines and cooking at home a lot more and i'm slowly shifting from option 2 to option 1 as i get things that i don't use for awhile. and it's kinda frustrating seeing something i want to make and not having 1 thing that goes in it.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

what drives me nuts and makes me abandon cooking efforts is when a recipe calls for something that you'd have to serach high and low to find.

add one edelweiss petal, picked at the spring solstice from a northern slope in the swiss alps.

[bouche]

we have mostly all of the kitchen essentials in our pantry for sure. All of those indian spices, mexican and italian dried herbs are great to have, but it is nice to get some fresh herbs when you know your making something italian or greek. Chicken broth is always on hand.

A couple of different oils (veg and olive) and vinegars (red wine, balsamic, white, apple cider) are very important as well!

We don't freeze meat and buy it fresh along with our veggies. That's usually what inspires the dinner...pick a protein and run from there. Other times it'll start with a theme like indian.

OUr pantry is definately inspired by Chef Michael Smith's pantry.

[M.O.B.E]

and it's kinda frustrating seeing something i want to make and not having 1 thing that goes in it.

Improvise!! you don't always need that 1 thing. Sometimes you might need it, but most herbs (not the case when it comes to spices) can be substituted. Savoury for a Savoury etc. Common sense is the biggest factor in cooking. If it doesnt feel right don't do it! Know your ingrediants. I reccomend trying things on their own before mixing up herbs and spices, so you know the flavour before it is altered. A good idea to is to use your hands for everything and taste your food everytime you add something new to the pan.

When it comes to spices thats a little different but trip to the Bulk Barn is always fun. You can get just about anything you might need and its cheap. I spend about $50 on different things there. I always make sure though that I have Garam Marsala and Coriander. If I want to make anything Indian or West Indian thats the main starting point.

Bouche do you cook with your vinergars?? I prefer vinergar to wine or booze in a dish. I use balsamic(recipe to follow) on everything I grill.

We try to keep stocked with dry goods and munchies and we shop everyday for meat and veggies. I never know what I am going to cook each night till I get to the market and see what is the freshest. It's also a good idea to get to know the butcher/poissonier** where ever you shop, they will let you know what is fresh and what the right cut of meat is for what you want to do.

** Dont buy fresh fish in Ontario unless you know it arrived at the store that day, we are to far inland to have fresh caught fish/seafood. It had usaully been out of the water for 1-3 days before it reaches you. The only exception to this rule is if the fish is freshwater and came from a farm but I still wouldn't be chancing it.

[Birdy]

The only exception to this rule is if the fish is freshwater and came from a farm but I still wouldn't be chancing it.

oooh.. you're missing out then! there's nothing like fresh lake erie yellow perch! next best thing to catching it yourself is finding it in the grocery store. we've had friday night fish fries since before i can remember... no wonky experiences to date.

[M.O.B.E]

I love the perch too...Whitefish from Lake Simcoe is always a welcome treat too. I just won't buy it unless it looks like it was just fileted. Day olds just won't do.

[badams]

I dial 542-4444 and it goes something like this...

[color:red]"Gino's"

"I'd like to order a medium special with extra sauce and an order of shrimp in a basket"

[color:red]"Will that be all sir?"

"Oh, and 3 cans of coke please"

[color:red]

"OOOOOOOOK, Is that everything?"

"Yes, thats great"

[color:red]

"OOOOOOOOK, So where will that be going to?"

This conversation has been repeated hundreds of times.

[ollie]

** Dont buy fresh fish in Ontario unless you know it arrived at the store that day, we are to far inland to have fresh caught fish/seafood. It had usaully been out of the water for 1-3 days before it reaches you. The only exception to this rule is if the fish is freshwater and came from a farm but I still wouldn't be chancing it.

Then should we only buy frozen when in doubt? If so, any tips on buying frozen fish? Thanks.

[M.O.B.E]

nothing really Ollie. Only thing is to check the packing for freezer burn etc. Most frozen food of anykind will tell you the "packaged on" date.

Try the Mahi Mahi (durado)

Also freezing fresh fish is a great way to kill bacteria, if the fish may be in question. After it is cooked there isnt really much to worry about.

When you go to buy fresh tuna it has been frozen. They do this for people who eat sashimi. Since the fish won't be cooked they freeze it for 7 days at -4C to kill off anything that may make you sick.

[Tooly]

returning to the queston at hand here, i usually go shopping every week or every 2 at the most, i get stuff thats on sale, if ill eat it, i try and plan dinners and buy according to that.

[ollie]

Thanks MOBE. I tend to think of something frozen as inferior but I think I'll spend more time in the frozen fish section from now on.

[Alexis]

I dial 542-4444 and it goes something like this...

[color:red]"Gino's"

"I'd like to order a medium special with extra sauce and an order of shrimp in a basket"

[color:red]"Will that be all sir?"

"Oh, and 3 cans of coke please"

[color:red]

"OOOOOOOOK, Is that everything?"

"Yes, thats great"

[color:red]

"OOOOOOOOK, So where will that be going to?"

This conversation has been repeated hundreds of times.

i prefer pizza pizza.

"hi welcome to pi-"

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"thank you, your order is confirmed. pizza pizza time is....."