A comprehensive list of every food item in my kitchen that I will give away before I move
Watch this shadow cross the floor; we don't live here anymore.
A squirt of chocolate frosting inside a plastic pint container, frozen
I made this frosting last year to sandwich between two shortbread cookies in a homemade E.L. Fudge cookie situation for my then-boyfriend’s birthday. I had just too much left over to throw away but not enough to make something else with, evidently. Luckily that does not also apply to the love I have for that ex-boyfriend. Now that I think about it, though, I should probably throw the frosting away.
A quart-sized Ziploc bag of Parmesan cheese rinds, frozen
I save these every time I finish using a wedge of Parmesan cheese, which is not often, so the rate of accumulation is fairly slow. I put them in soups and stews or other hearty things that cook for a long time to give them more depth of flavor.
A gallon-sized Ziploc bag of toasted wheat germ, labeled “GERMEN DE TRIGO TOSTADO - 3 MAYO 2020” in green Sharpie, frozen
The early-pandemic flour shortage made me get experimental with my bread baking.
A half-full bag of Bob’s Red Mill wheat germ, untoasted, frozen
See Item 3.
A half-full bag of Bob’s Red Mill coconut four, frozen
I bought this a few years ago to make a coconut cake with lime frosting for a friend’s birthday. I brought the cake to a bar on Halsted called Skylark. I don’t think I got to try it, but I think people said it was good.
I also used this flour to make a cake to celebrate my friend J getting a job at UPS. It had caramelized white chocolate ganache and coconut frosting between each layer, and coconut frosting with toasted coconut on the outside. I think that’s the best cake I’ve ever made.
A bundle of leek tops, frozen
Leek tops are sometimes too tough to eat, even when cooked to death, so I save them to make vegetable stock or put them in soups while they cook and then fish them out when they’re done.
This particular bunch of leeks I got from my other friend J, who is one of the first people I met in Chicago and who has a beautiful garden full of things like leeks and flowers and white butterflies.
A half-full tub of Crisco vegetable shortening
I bought this tub of shortening to make the Momofuku Milk bar birthday cake for my boyfriend’s (the same one as in Item 1) birthday (a different one from the one in Item 1). I also made homemade sprinkles and Swiss meringue frosting for this cake.
An almost-full bottle of Karo light corn syrup
I bought this to make the Momofuku Milk Bar birthday cake frosting for my friend R’s birthday, for which she requested a cake that would taste like “grocery store cake but good.” I colored the frosting pink and put tiny flower sprinkles all over it.
A half-full bottle of Brer Rabbit blackstrap molasses
Last holiday season I made approximately 200 gingerbread cookies and sent bags of them to approximately 40 people. I bought a few more bottles of molasses than I needed just in case, and I am happy I did, because I ended up making another batch to give to the people at the UPS store who helped me ship more than thirty boxes of cookies.
A half-full bottle of La Tourangelle roasted pistachio oil
I bought this to make a cake for my friend J’s birthday. He requested a cake that would taste like “spumoni but not cold,” so I made a pistachio cake with pistachio paste and whipped cream mixed with mascarpone and amarena cherries between each layer, then covered that with chocolate frosting. The oil went in the cake and in the pistachio paste.
An almost-full bottle of Cortas orange-blossom water
For the cake described in Item 10.
A bottle of Brightland balsamic vinegar
This was a birthday gift from a dear group of friends, part of a set with olive oils and vinegars. I do not like balsamic vinegar.
A half-full bag of Enjoy Life vegan mini chocolate chips
These showed up in my house after I took a trip to New York City. M, the woman who took care of Mira while I was gone, must’ve bought them and forgotten them in my pantry. I never asked her; it didn’t seem important.
An almost-full jar of Huy Fong Foods, Inc. sambal oelek
This condiment was very trendy for a while and one time I saw it at the grocery store and went “hey, what the hell, I’ll try it.” I prefer chili crisp.
An almost-full jar of Grey Poupon Country Dijon mustard
I forget I have this in my fridge. If I didn’t forget, I’d use it all the time. I wonder what else that’s true about.
A half-full jar of Roland red curry paste
There are few foods more comforting than a pot of lentils cooked in this and coconut milk.
An almost-empty jar of Fabbri amarena cherries
Purchased for the cake described in Item 10. I’ve also eaten these on vanilla ice cream and straight from the jar.
Four envelopes of Fleischmann’s ActiveDry yeast
At some point I wanted to start making more breads with yeast instead of sourdough starter, but this desire more or less died once I bought the yeast envelopes.
A three-quarters-full bag of Bob’s Red Mill organic whole flaxseed
I soak these in water and put them in sourdough bread; it makes me feel like a very healthy bird.
An almost-full jar of Better than Bouillon organic roasted beef base
I bought this to make the Julia Child beef bourguignon recipe for my friend M after re-watching, yes, Julie and Julia. I followed the recipe to a T; I cooked the mushrooms in two separate batches so they’d get super golden; I browned the meat so thoroughly the flavor showed up in the sauce hours later. It might be the best dish I have ever made.
A jar labeled Better than Bouillon organic roasted chicken base that actually contains approximately two tablespoons of Hikari red miso
Miso is incredible. You can put it at the bottom of a pot of beans. You can put it in a dip with carrots and cashews. You can mix it with butter and tahini and put that on top of a cooked sweet potato. You can put it in coffee cake with blueberries. You can put it in peanut butter cookies you then coat with turbinado sugar so they become crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.
A bottle of Martini & Rossi Asti
To be opened in case of spontaneous celebration.