My First Kitchen

Ok, not technically my first kitchen, but my first kitchen that will not contain more than 30 shot glasses and various other glassware from various other fraternity formals. On July 1, I'll be moving into my first real, non-college town apartment and I'm thrilled. Unlike many my age, there is a corner of boxes in my parent's basement that are labeled, "Max's Kitchen" and include everything from old sets of dishes to a Cuisinart (yessss!) to a set of French onion soup crocks, which have never been used. And though I feel quite fortunate that I have such treasures waiting for me, I am missing some key essentials like pots, pans and utensils.

I have tried to utilize the Internet to narrow down a basic checklist (the only thing I love more than lists is being able to cross things off my lists!) of kitchen essentials. I found an excellent article in the New York Times about shopping at restaurant supply stores, but it seems that that's only a cheap route in NY where such places are abundant. I hear we have a couple good ones in Chicago, but at less of a bargain.

So you can imagine my delight when in my daily food blog browsing I found that Heidi at 101 Cookbooks posed a similar question to her readers and got a fantastic response. Whether it's your first kitchen or you just want to update your old one, these tips, tricks and recommendations are tried and true!