What "uncommon" item do you stock that others don't?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not uncommon, but might be regional: Old Bay and hot sauce — usually Crystal.
I will carry tiny containers in my purse if I suspect that the food on offer might be “seasoned “ solely with salt and pepper.

They make an Old Bay hot sauce now, and that’s what I came here to post 😜

Crystal does? Or just somebody does? Going to look for that today!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good quality pretzel bites in the freezer in case we have unexpected guests. Makes me feel so much classier than just pulling out chips and salsa!

Where were you on the "unexpected guest" thread? Is there a brand you use? What dips do you have on hand?

[Anonymous]

Is fresh ginger unusual to keep on hand? I always have some in the fridge.

We also keep a mason jar of simple syrup in the fridge. It's great for a quick glass of lemonade, cocktails / mocktails, or sweetening iced tea to taste. When the jar is empty, we wash it and immediately make a new batch.

I do buy meat in bulk (quarter cow, half pig, whole lamb, etc) so our freezer is always stocked with a wide assortment of cuts of meat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is fresh ginger unusual to keep on hand? I always have some in the fridge.

We also keep a mason jar of simple syrup in the fridge. It's great for a quick glass of lemonade, cocktails / mocktails, or sweetening iced tea to taste. When the jar is empty, we wash it and immediately make a new batch.

I do buy meat in bulk (quarter cow, half pig, whole lamb, etc) so our freezer is always stocked with a wide assortment of cuts of meat.

Probably a lot of people have simple syrup in their bar but not homemade. That's efficient!

[Anonymous]

I have lots of kinds of vinegar—apple cider, rice, balsamic, white balsamic and some flavored. White balsamic is getting harder to find.

I also keep farro and barley as a shelf staple.

I used to always have sun dried tomatos to add to things but my kids don’t like them so not so much anymore.

I find I always have a lot of the East Asian type staples because I buy them for a recipe and then don’t use them up — mirin, fish sauce, etc. one of my kids hates the taste of soy sauce so it really limits the East Asian dishes I can make as so many have soy sauce as one ingredient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not uncommon, but might be regional: Old Bay and hot sauce — usually Crystal.
I will carry tiny containers in my purse if I suspect that the food on offer might be “seasoned “ solely with salt and pepper.

They make an Old Bay hot sauce now, and that’s what I came here to post 😜

Crystal does? Or just somebody does? Going to look for that today!!

McCormick makes it - they also make Old Bay. My husband loves it, and Crystal is his favorite brand of normal hot sauce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not uncommon, but might be regional: Old Bay and hot sauce — usually Crystal.
I will carry tiny containers in my purse if I suspect that the food on offer might be “seasoned “ solely with salt and pepper.

They make an Old Bay hot sauce now, and that’s what I came here to post 😜

Crystal does? Or just somebody does? Going to look for that today!!

Skip it. Tastes awful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a full pantry for cooking Sichuan food. I’m not Chinese.

Us as well! We are also always fully stocked on shallots, various hot sauces, and about 10 types of vinegar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a full pantry for cooking Sichuan food. I’m not Chinese.

Us as well! We are also always fully stocked on shallots, various hot sauces, and about 10 types of vinegar

Which ones after
White, white wine, red wine, rice, apple cider, balsamic?

[Anonymous]

Wow, I have probably 75% of these items in my pantry at all times. Didn't realize it was that unusual. Except shallots, we just use yellow onions usually.

I'll add furikake. Family in Japan brings it home for us, and I put it on everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is fresh ginger unusual to keep on hand? I always have some in the fridge.

We also keep a mason jar of simple syrup in the fridge. It's great for a quick glass of lemonade, cocktails / mocktails, or sweetening iced tea to taste. When the jar is empty, we wash it and immediately make a new batch.

I do buy meat in bulk (quarter cow, half pig, whole lamb, etc) so our freezer is always stocked with a wide assortment of cuts of meat.

Probably a lot of people have simple syrup in their bar but not homemade. That's efficient!

Not PP but I also have some homemade simple syrup in here too. It's so easy to make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a full pantry for cooking Sichuan food. I’m not Chinese.

Us as well! We are also always fully stocked on shallots, various hot sauces, and about 10 types of vinegar

Which ones after
White, white wine, red wine, rice, apple cider, balsamic?

Sherry vinegar is a must for us, especially in summer when we’re making gazpacho by the gallon. And malt vinegar for fries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, I have probably 75% of these items in my pantry at all times. Didn't realize it was that unusual. Except shallots, we just use yellow onions usually.

I'll add furikake. Family in Japan brings it home for us, and I put it on everything.

Also keep furikake

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do always have shallots, but I’d say buttermilk.

I always have shallots and also have buttermilk powder for baking.

Buttermilk powder say what???

Go read about it. It isn't a good substitute for buttermilk itself. It doesn't impart any of the qualities that straight up buttermilk does.

https://www.foodandwine.com/lifestyle/fw-picks/how-to-substitute-buttermilk-powder-for-baking

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good quality pretzel bites in the freezer in case we have unexpected guests. Makes me feel so much classier than just pulling out chips and salsa!

Where were you on the "unexpected guest" thread? Is there a brand you use? What dips do you have on hand?

Can you link that thread, please? I've got a "weird" pantry and always struggle when we host unexpectedly. Would love to have some freezer/pantry staples to have at the ready!