What Pantry Item Are You Never Out Of?

[John]

Hot Dogs

[Verjuice]

-Loose black tea, to start the day.

-Chimay, to end it.

I can handle any manner of whatever or the lack thereof in between.

I mean, I like 2% for the tea, and occasionally something to eat alongside the cold Chimay, but I run out of those sorts of things all the time.

[stevea]

Gin

Vodka

Vermouth

Olives (I'm sure you know where I'm going here)

And for later in the evening...

Pasta

EVOO

Dried rice noodles

Coconut milk

Green, Red, or Yellow curry paste

Lemongrass (which is easy, because it's growing in a big pot in the back yard)

Bay leaves (ditto)

Chicken stock

Canned or frozen tomatoes

And for breakfast...

Coffee and half-and-half for the SO

V8 for me

[Jaymes]

We have friends with three teenagers who can scarcely last two days without a major marketing trip--their tales of the kids and associated friends moving through the kitchen like locusts are stuff of legends!

Yes -- I remember the days when I had three teenagers, and two of them were boys. A loaf of bread a day. A gallon of milk a day. A gallon of ice cream a day. Adozen eggs a day. Entire bags of chips, and dozens of cookies. Nothing was safe. Sometimes I felt as if I were really rearing a herd of goats.

But I had a friend that had five kids. She (literally) kept "favorite foods" -- chips, bread, peanut butter, jam, sodas, cookies, etc. -- in a locked footlocker in her kitchen.

At least I didn't have to go that far.

[therdogg]

capers, butter, lemons, half-and-half, whole wheat pasta, millet, lentils, cake flour. Frozen blueberries and raspberries.

we always run out of jam, meat, and cheese (except parm)

I'm like a maniac with the butter. Whenever it's on sale I buy tons since I'm paranoid I'll run out. I have loads in the freezer but I still keep my eyes peeled for a good price. I'll probably never use up what I have, and have to toss it all when we move.

[tanabutler]

• Shallots -- always as of about three years ago (I learned!)
  
• Olive oil
  
• Eggs
  
• Garlic
  
• Peppercorns
  
• Jasmine rice (by the 25-pound bag)
  
• Butter (salted and unsalted)
  
• Earl Grey tea
  
• Onions
  
• Pasta
  
• Meyer lemons (got a tree, got an ice cube tray in the freezer)
  
• Mayonnaise
  
• Flour
  

And I had already written something at the bottom of my big long page...and I asked my husband, "What am I NEVER out of?"

He answered instantly. "Condiments."

Oh me. At the bottom of my page, in tidy yet emphatic capital letters (so that I could bust myself)...AN EMBARRASSMENT OF CONDIMENTS.

Man, if I see something called "Maple Chipotle Spongebob Marinade," I am all over that stuff. I have yet to secrete them from stores in body cavities, but I'm a condiment slut. I just like to taste them for ideas, and to see if I can replicate them myself.

Speaking of which, Trader Joe's has discontinued The Best Salad Dressing On Earth. Who wants to raid your local TJs and e-mail me the cases of leftovers? I'm stricken. They've disrupted the best salad I ever made.

I have one unopened bottle.

I am probably going to preserve it like a fine bottle of wine, only to be opened on a very special occasion....at least until next year's crop of Vidalia's comes in.

Oh, and I'm never out of coffee. People send it all the time but it's only here for the guests.

[Sam Iam]

Duck fat

Shallots

Coffee beans

Cognac

[Suzanne F]

I'm like a maniac with the butter. Whenever it's on sale I buy tons since I'm paranoid I'll run out. I have loads in the freezer but I still keep my eyes peeled for a good price. I'll probably never use up what I have, and have to toss it all when we move.

I'm with you there. Not that I'm afraid of running out; just that when it's on sale, it's ON SALE.

May I give you a couple of hints?

1. Make sure the butter in the freezer is wrapped airtight; it can easily pick up off-flavors otherwise. (but you already know that)

2. If you saute in butter but don't already use it, turn a few pounds into clarified butter. Keeps forever in the fridge.

[elyse]

And don't toss it when you move, give it away.

[fendel]

You people scare me. I can honestly report that there is not a single edible thing in my home that I have not run out of at least once in the last 25 years.

I don't run out of my true staples because I tend to buy in multiples. If I have the slightest suspicion that I'm running out of these things, I buy more because I know I'll use it.

These are the items I always have around because they steadily rotate through my pantry or fridge -

canned tomatoes

flour

various sweeteners

chicken broth

beef base

butter, lots of unsalted Land O Lakes butter in those great foil wrappers

whole milk

half-and-half

cream

neutral cooking oil (vegetable, canola, or peanut)

decent "lite" bread in the freezer

cheese

fresh lemons

I used to try to cook at my friends' house, but eventually gave up in despair when I realized they were out of butter, their cooking oil was rancid, and they didn't know where the salt was.

[Suzanne F]

Fendel -- no eggs?

[fendel]

(D'oh!)

Oh yeah... and eggs!

[sparrowgrass]

Diet Coke or Pepsi (whatever is on sale)

Dog Food

Laying Mash

Eggs (side effect of the laying mash)

[howard88]

Kosher salt

Kosher turkey in the freezer (must have one on hand at all times)

Hellmans Mayo

eggs

sugar

[suzilightning]

i lied-

johnnybird ran out of toast dope while out of town for business this past week

poor man - he had to eat french toast for breakfast this morning

[PopsicleToze]

Condiments (can hardly fit any real food in the fridge for all of the condiments)

Pasta

Rice

Onions

Garlic

Canned Beans

Canned Tomatoes

[mdt]

flour

garlic

onions

EVOO

[tastykimmie]

We can run out of just about anything else and survive, but if there's no beer or no garlic, we're fucked.

i'm with you dude!!

No beer? WTF

oh, and bread, gotta have bread!!

[itch22]

RICE! Basmanti, arborio, genmai, mochi, Japanese short grain, long grain, jasmine, Spanish, wild, etc... If it is rice then I have it and lots to boot! I eat rice nearly every day!

[clothier]

Shame on all of you! How did you miss this?

The things we never, ever run out of at our house is the ingrediants for tollhouse cookies.

Have you ever had to explain to a 6 and 3 year old why they can't make cookies?

[merstar]

Garlic, onions, pasta, rice, canned San Marzano tomatoes, EVOO, Parmigiano Reggiano, dark chocolate, wine, butter, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and too many more to list.

[Susan in FL]

i lied-

johnnybird ran out of toast dope while out of town for business this past week    

poor man - he had to eat french toast for breakfast this morning

TRAGEDY!!

[jmcgrath]

Cigarettes

Living in the burbs, I guess I'm spoiled. The nearest supermarket is five minutes away. Trader Joes is a 15 minute drive, so is Super Stop & Shop. I buy perishables is small quantities and replenish when needed. Idlewild Farms is at most a 20 minute drive and I can't think of anything I couldn't find there. I guess that it is unlikely that I would run out of butter, salt, sugar and pepper. Running out of something is not a problem and I don't worry about it.

Jim

[foodie3]

coffee and milk for my lattes, always have some extra in the freezer just in case!

[Rushina]

Garlic

Olive Oil

Chillies fresh dry and lakes

Sundried Tomatoes

Mushrooms

lately perfected recipe for thai curry which I end up making twice a week so coconut milk and lemongrass

Rushina