People want to know: what do I need in my kitchen!?

I just gave a mini-presentation at BarcampLA. a Q&A on cooking and culinary stuff. I found it surprising that most of the questions were about cooking implements!

• what kind of knives are the best knives? if you cook a lot, spend money on good knives, like wustof or henckles... if you don't, buy stainless steel ones from the asian markets, and consider them disposable.
• which is better, cast iron or non-stick? If you're making crêpes or omelets, use nonstick, just keep it at a low temperature. I will always endorse cast iron!
• what's the minimum set of cooking equipment that I should have?one 8" nonstick, one 12" stainless (or anodized) one 3qt saucepan, one 5 qt pasta/stock pot. nonstick is kind of a plus. and a silicone spatula and a flattened-tip slotted spoon. (I've gotta figure out what those are officially called!
• Where do you buy the best veggies when you're not going to a farmer's market golden farms, or ethnic markets, like Jons or 99 Ranch.

if you ever have a chance to go to a barcamp, go for it. you learn a lot and you meet a lot of interesting people.

Last thing I ate or drank: wow... Can't remember the last time I ate an oreo - note to self, check teeth before talking to other people...

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