On the fourth of November I moved in with my fiance, only to find that
he had no kitchen supplies or equipment whatsoever...also no food,
spices, or the other basic requirements of human life for a cook -
only a fridge and a microwave, which was all he needed to live off
bagels and lunchmeat and reheated takeout. It was a world away from
what I was used to in Australia...

Our first purchase was a $3 frypan and knife set from Walgreens, which
let me fry us up some eggs and ham for breakfast. Then we took a trip
to Target and got a 12-piece set of basic pots and pans by Bialetti.
They weren't the cheapest but far from the most expensive ones in the
store. So far I'm very happy with them. We also got a ten dollar
toaster that I'm not thrilled with, but it does the job. The first
meal I made us was a carbonara with ham, parmasen cheese and milk. It
wasn't anything fancy, but John thought it was! Then we went shopping
again and got a few more 'cooking' ingredients, and I made us a
tomato-based risotto with mushrooms, and the next day I improvised a
fried rice. Note to self - arborio rice does NOT make a good fried
rice, especially when you don't have a colander to drain it in! The
end result was very gluggy and more like 'dirty rice' than the Chinese
version. It was so gooey that I tried an experiment, and made a bit of
it into rice cakes that I fried in olive oil. That wasn't really a
success - they fell apart and absorbed too much oil. But the gluggy
rice tasted nice...

Last night I did some 'real' cooking - I cleaned out the oven and
made us a meatloaf dinner, with all my usual seasonings in it, only I
had to use hot sauce instead of worcestershire, because we haven't
bought any yet. Pork and veal meatloaf is my favourite but it's almost
impossible to get in Australia, so I was delighted to see trays of
'twinpacks' in the market. The smallest pack they had was almost two
pounds of meat, so I divided it into two and froze one cooked loaf,
while the other disappeared into our tummies, accompanied by roast
potatoes, roast sweet potato, and some incredibly tasteless carrots.

Now I want baking equipment to go with the $5 roasting dish and cake
pan, and a basic pantry setup. Then I'll really feel at home... I
can't wait to be able to bake a cake or cookies so I can get some real
treats!

Hi Karen

You might wanna try scouting out the second-hand shops for decent kitchen ware-
especially glasses and silverware (avoid anything electronic). One day I found
a 12 qt Revereware stock pot w/ lid for $9 in perfect condition and grabbed it.
Anothe rtime I found a ton of restaraunt style soup spoons (they are slightly
rounder and larger than reg teasoon) for 25 cents each so I bought 20 of 'em.
I also scout the silverware for unusual pieces like seafood forks, grapefruit
spoons and butter knives. You can also pick up interesting serveware
sometimes. I collect copper and tin molds and have found some really cool ones
in second-hand stores. Oh and my small iron wok came from a second-hand store.
It's much nicer (and was cheaper) than my aluminum one even though it is much
smaller.

Have fun and welcome to the states!

*cheers*

Barb Anne



>From: Karen AKA KajiKit
>Date: 11/24/2004 9:56 AM Pacific Standard Time
>Message-id: >
>
>On the fourth of November I moved in with my fiance, only to find that
>he had no kitchen supplies or equipment whatsoever...(snipped)

Hi Karen

You might wanna try scouting out the second-hand shops for decent kitchen ware-
especially glasses and silverware (avoid anything electronic). One day I found
a 12 qt Revereware stock pot w/ lid for $9 in perfect condition and grabbed it.
Anothe rtime I found a ton of restaraunt style soup spoons (they are slightly
rounder and larger than reg teasoon) for 25 cents each so I bought 20 of 'em.
I also scout the silverware for unusual pieces like seafood forks, grapefruit
spoons and butter knives. You can also pick up interesting serveware
sometimes. I collect copper and tin molds and have found some really cool ones
in second-hand stores. Oh and my small iron wok came from a second-hand store.
It's much nicer (and was cheaper) than my aluminum one even though it is much
smaller.

Have fun and welcome to the states!

*cheers*

Barb Anne



>From: Karen AKA KajiKit
>Date: 11/24/2004 9:56 AM Pacific Standard Time
>Message-id: >
>
>On the fourth of November I moved in with my fiance, only to find that
>he had no kitchen supplies or equipment whatsoever...(snipped)

Barbtail wrote:

> Anothe rtime I found a ton of restaraunt style soup spoons (they are slightly
> rounder and larger than reg teasoon) for 25 cents each so I bought 20 of 'em.

Those sound like dessert spoons to me
Goomba

Barbtail wrote:

> Anothe rtime I found a ton of restaraunt style soup spoons (they are slightly
> rounder and larger than reg teasoon) for 25 cents each so I bought 20 of 'em.

Those sound like dessert spoons to me
Goomba

Goomba38 > wrote in
:

> Barbtail wrote:
>
>> Anothe rtime I found a ton of restaraunt style soup spoons (they are
>> slightly rounder and larger than reg teasoon) for 25 cents each so I
>> bought 20 of 'em.
>
> Those sound like dessert spoons to me
> Goomba

Nope, those are cream soup spoons.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

*If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.
*A mind is a terrible thing to lose.

Goomba38 > wrote in
:

> Barbtail wrote:
>
>> Anothe rtime I found a ton of restaraunt style soup spoons (they are
>> slightly rounder and larger than reg teasoon) for 25 cents each so I
>> bought 20 of 'em.
>
> Those sound like dessert spoons to me
> Goomba

Nope, those are cream soup spoons.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

*If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.
*A mind is a terrible thing to lose.

In article >,
says...
> Hi Karen
>
> You might wanna try scouting out the second-hand shops for decent kitchen ware-
> especially glasses and silverware (avoid anything electronic). One day I found
> a 12 qt Revereware stock pot w/ lid for $9 in perfect condition and grabbed it.
> Anothe rtime I found a ton of restaraunt style soup spoons (they are slightly
> rounder and larger than reg teasoon) for 25 cents each so I bought 20 of 'em.
> I also scout the silverware for unusual pieces like seafood forks, grapefruit
> spoons and butter knives. You can also pick up interesting serveware
> sometimes. I collect copper and tin molds and have found some really cool ones
> in second-hand stores. Oh and my small iron wok came from a second-hand store.
> It's much nicer (and was cheaper) than my aluminum one even though it is much
> smaller.
>
> Have fun and welcome to the states!
>
> *cheers*
>
> Barb Anne
>
>
>
> >From: Karen AKA KajiKit
> >Date: 11/24/2004 9:56 AM Pacific Standard Time
> >Message-id: >
> >
> >On the fourth of November I moved in with my fiance, only to find that
> >he had no kitchen supplies or equipment whatsoever...(snipped)

When I got my first apartment at age 19 my aunt gave me a set of
Farberware that I still have today at age 40. It has served me very
well.

I've added all sorts of things as I've learned to cook like roasting
pans, cookie sheets, etc.

In article >,
says...
> Hi Karen
>
> You might wanna try scouting out the second-hand shops for decent kitchen ware-
> especially glasses and silverware (avoid anything electronic). One day I found
> a 12 qt Revereware stock pot w/ lid for $9 in perfect condition and grabbed it.
> Anothe rtime I found a ton of restaraunt style soup spoons (they are slightly
> rounder and larger than reg teasoon) for 25 cents each so I bought 20 of 'em.
> I also scout the silverware for unusual pieces like seafood forks, grapefruit
> spoons and butter knives. You can also pick up interesting serveware
> sometimes. I collect copper and tin molds and have found some really cool ones
> in second-hand stores. Oh and my small iron wok came from a second-hand store.
> It's much nicer (and was cheaper) than my aluminum one even though it is much
> smaller.
>
> Have fun and welcome to the states!
>
> *cheers*
>
> Barb Anne
>
>
>
> >From: Karen AKA KajiKit
> >Date: 11/24/2004 9:56 AM Pacific Standard Time
> >Message-id: >
> >
> >On the fourth of November I moved in with my fiance, only to find that
> >he had no kitchen supplies or equipment whatsoever...(snipped)

When I got my first apartment at age 19 my aunt gave me a set of
Farberware that I still have today at age 40. It has served me very
well.

I've added all sorts of things as I've learned to cook like roasting
pans, cookie sheets, etc.

in article , Tony P. at
wrote on 11/24/04 9:46 PM:

> In article >,
> says...
>> Hi Karen
>>
>> You might wanna try scouting out the second-hand shops for decent kitchen
>> ware-
>> especially glasses and silverware (avoid anything electronic). One day I
>> found
>> a 12 qt Revereware stock pot w/ lid for $9 in perfect condition and grabbed
>> it.
>> Anothe rtime I found a ton of restaraunt style soup spoons (they are slightly
>> rounder and larger than reg teasoon) for 25 cents each so I bought 20 of
>> 'em.
>> I also scout the silverware for unusual pieces like seafood forks, grapefruit
>> spoons and butter knives. You can also pick up interesting serveware
>> sometimes. I collect copper and tin molds and have found some really cool
>> ones
>> in second-hand stores. Oh and my small iron wok came from a second-hand
>> store.
>> It's much nicer (and was cheaper) than my aluminum one even though it is much
>> smaller.
>>
>> Have fun and welcome to the states!
>>
>> *cheers*
>>
>> Barb Anne
>>
>>
>>
>>> From: Karen AKA KajiKit
>>> Date: 11/24/2004 9:56 AM Pacific Standard Time
>>> Message-id: >
>>>
>>> On the fourth of November I moved in with my fiance, only to find that
>>> he had no kitchen supplies or equipment whatsoever...(snipped)
>
> When I got my first apartment at age 19 my aunt gave me a set of
> Farberware that I still have today at age 40. It has served me very
> well.
>
> I've added all sorts of things as I've learned to cook like roasting
> pans, cookie sheets, etc.
>

My Farberware is more than 20 years old, too. And it's still great stuff.

It's a very good place to start when building a cookware collection.

And it's inexpensive enough (under $100 for 5-6 pots and pans of various
sizes and shapes, plus lids) that you can get a set and then add on to your
collection as your needs arise.

Unlike many people here in RFC, I ~do~ believe in starting with a basic set,
especially if you are starting from scratch. Not because everything has to
match....of course not. But because you need to start with something, and
you get the most bang for the buck with a set, and Farberware is, as you
said, good, basic cookware. And their basic sets have pieces you will use
every single day. The only one I don't use that often is the 1 quart sauce
pan.....but when you need a small pan, like for making gravy, rum cake
glaze, or to melt a small amount of butter for whatever, it's there for ya.

in article , Tony P. at
wrote on 11/24/04 9:46 PM:

> In article >,
> says...
>> Hi Karen
>>
>> You might wanna try scouting out the second-hand shops for decent kitchen
>> ware-
>> especially glasses and silverware (avoid anything electronic). One day I
>> found
>> a 12 qt Revereware stock pot w/ lid for $9 in perfect condition and grabbed
>> it.
>> Anothe rtime I found a ton of restaraunt style soup spoons (they are slightly
>> rounder and larger than reg teasoon) for 25 cents each so I bought 20 of
>> 'em.
>> I also scout the silverware for unusual pieces like seafood forks, grapefruit
>> spoons and butter knives. You can also pick up interesting serveware
>> sometimes. I collect copper and tin molds and have found some really cool
>> ones
>> in second-hand stores. Oh and my small iron wok came from a second-hand
>> store.
>> It's much nicer (and was cheaper) than my aluminum one even though it is much
>> smaller.
>>
>> Have fun and welcome to the states!
>>
>> *cheers*
>>
>> Barb Anne
>>
>>
>>
>>> From: Karen AKA KajiKit
>>> Date: 11/24/2004 9:56 AM Pacific Standard Time
>>> Message-id: >
>>>
>>> On the fourth of November I moved in with my fiance, only to find that
>>> he had no kitchen supplies or equipment whatsoever...(snipped)
>
> When I got my first apartment at age 19 my aunt gave me a set of
> Farberware that I still have today at age 40. It has served me very
> well.
>
> I've added all sorts of things as I've learned to cook like roasting
> pans, cookie sheets, etc.
>

My Farberware is more than 20 years old, too. And it's still great stuff.

It's a very good place to start when building a cookware collection.

And it's inexpensive enough (under $100 for 5-6 pots and pans of various
sizes and shapes, plus lids) that you can get a set and then add on to your
collection as your needs arise.

Unlike many people here in RFC, I ~do~ believe in starting with a basic set,
especially if you are starting from scratch. Not because everything has to
match....of course not. But because you need to start with something, and
you get the most bang for the buck with a set, and Farberware is, as you
said, good, basic cookware. And their basic sets have pieces you will use
every single day. The only one I don't use that often is the 1 quart sauce
pan.....but when you need a small pan, like for making gravy, rum cake
glaze, or to melt a small amount of butter for whatever, it's there for ya.

On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 21:46:02 -0500, Tony P.
> wrote:

>When I got my first apartment at age 19 my aunt gave me a set of
>Farberware that I still have today at age 40. It has served me very
>well.
>
>I've added all sorts of things as I've learned to cook like roasting
>pans, cookie sheets, etc.

My mother's Farberware is passing 40 years. And is still preforming
perfectly. I bough a set about 15 years ago...pans still good but
have had to replace two handles and one knob. Guess they don't make
those parts the same as the vintage stuff!

On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 21:46:02 -0500, Tony P.
> wrote:

>When I got my first apartment at age 19 my aunt gave me a set of
>Farberware that I still have today at age 40. It has served me very
>well.
>
>I've added all sorts of things as I've learned to cook like roasting
>pans, cookie sheets, etc.

My mother's Farberware is passing 40 years. And is still preforming
perfectly. I bough a set about 15 years ago...pans still good but
have had to replace two handles and one knob. Guess they don't make
those parts the same as the vintage stuff!