Ed Nuxters wrote:
> Well,.. I'm finally living all alone. I'm making some simple chicken
> for now, but eventually I want to make something better. What should
> I get to have in my cabinets? Spices and stuff like that. Just a
> general cooking ingredients type deal.


Off the top of my head:

beans, if you like them, like lentils or black beans
curry powder
flour
honey
hot sauce or something cayenne
Italian herb mix with basil, oregano, etc.
pepper
rice
salt
sugar
tea bags.


But honestly, that's not the way I would go about it. Instead, I'd get
Joy of Cooking or look up a recipe on the web that I wanted to try, then
buy the ingredients for that recipe. Continue in that manner. In time,
you'll find that you already have on hand many of the ingredients you
need because you bought them for the previous recipe. In more time,
you'll have a sense for what you like to make and like to eat and what
you run out of often and what's been sitting in your cupboard unused for
a year.


--Lia