The Perfect Pantry

Ginger (Recipe: Thai chicken curry)

Ginger Week, Day One.

Ten things I know about ginger (you'll be glad to know them, too):

1. The edible part of the ginger is often called ginger root, but it's actually the horizontal subterranean stem, or rhizome, of the Zingiber officinale plant. If you grow irises in your garden, you'll recognize this type of stem, which must be exposed to the surface or the plant won't flower. (Ask me how many gardening seasons it took to learn that.)
2. China leads the world in ginger production -- almost 25% -- followed by India, Nepal and Indonesia (Jamaica produces lots of ginger, too). According to Jill Norman's Herbs & Spices, it was a staple in the diet of Confucius, but he never mentioned it to me.
3. The word ginger comes from the Sanskrit for horn root, though I've seen more ginger rhizomes that look like Richard Nixon's nose than the animal antlers for which it was named.
4. The Chinese and Japanese consider ginger a yang (hot) food, which balances ying foods to create harmony. Some ying foods: asparagus, tofu, broccoli, eels, pineapple, strawberries, honey, mussels, grapes, oranges. (Eels???)
5. Choose rhizomes that have a firm, unwrinkled skin, with a slight sheen. More mature tubers, harvested later in the season, will have a stronger, sharper flavor. They should feel heavy for their size.
6. Size doesn't matter, really. The length of a "hand" of ginger depends on where, and how, it was grown, but it's not an indication of quality. I like to buy ones that are larger than my own hand, but just because it's fun to measure them against my hand in the market. And I have small hands.
7. Ginger isn't pink; it's a lovely tan on the outside, and the color of Bailey's Irish Cream on the inside. Grenadine gives pickled ginger its scary neon Bazooka bubble gum color.
8. Long considered one of the world's healthiest foods, ginger is a good source of potassium, magnesium, copper, manganese and vitamin B6. It also contains protease, an enzyme that tenderizes meats, and antioxidants that retard food spoilage. Medicinally, ginger helps combat nausea, gastrointestinal distress, morning sickness, motion sickness, and high cholesterol.
9. Store unpeeled ginger in the refrigerator, wrapped in paper towels and plastic, or in a brown paper bag, for two or three weeks. You can freeze ginger for up to six months. I admit that I never remember to freeze the excess, and some percentage of my ginger ends up in the compost pile.
10. The longer you cook ginger, the more mellow it becomes. Like we used to say in school, compare and contrast; use a single large hand of ginger to make pork and broccoli stir fry, ginger salmon tartare, meatballs with ginger and radish greens, tofu in coconut sauce with ginger and lemongrass, white chili, ginger-and-cardamom poached pears, and white chocolate and ginger ice cream.

SPICY THAI CHICKEN CURRY
Another great recipe adapted from Fine Cooking Annual, Volume 2. Cooks up quickly, and tastes great served with jasmine rice. Serves 4.

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1-1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-1/2 inch chunks
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots (approx. 2 medium)
1/4 cup peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger root
1-2 tsp Thai red curry paste
2 cups chicken broth
1 13.5-oz can unsweetened coconut milk
1 Tbsp fish sauce (I use Three Crabs brand)
1-1/2 cups sugar snap peas (fresh or frozen)
1 large lime, zest finely grated and fruit cut into wedges
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the oil in a 10-inch sauté pan over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and sear the meat in batches until lightly browned all over. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium. Add the shallots to the pan and cook until just tender and lightly browned, 2-3 minutes. Add the ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Stir in 1/4 of the broth, scraping up any browned bits that are stuck to the pan. Add 1/3 cup of the coconut milk, stirring to blend in the curry paste. Add remaining coconut milk, broth and fish sauce. Increase the heat to medium high, and return the chicken to the pan (along with any juices on the plate). Stir and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through, 7-8 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the peas and cover the pan. Let sit for 1-2 minutes, then stir in the lime zest. If necessary, return the pan to medium heat to cook the peas. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with lime wedges, over rice.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Ginger catfish
Ginger salad dressing
Green chicken curry with eggplant
Faux pho
Rhubarb-apricot chutney

Other People's Pantries #22

From Kristine (The Global Kitchen), in Cave Creek, Arizona:

I like to think my pantry reflects my sense of adventure with all the exotic Asian ingredients on the bottom shelf. I pretty much have all the staples to cook a variety of meals from various countries.

One crazy thing I do is keep a spreadsheet of all my pantry items. It prevents me from buying duplicates.

On Saturdays, we peek into Other People's Pantries.

Come on -- show us your pantry.

Here's how.

Dijon mustard (Recipe: beet and onion salad)

When I was growing up, mustard came in three varieties: hot dog, corned beef sandwich, and Chinese food.

Hot dog mustard was French's, yellow, All-American ball park, mild.

Corned beef sandwiches got a slather of Gulden's, spicy brown, or similar "deli" mustards from Zabar's or Katz's.

And Chinese food mustard came with take-out, in little no-name plastic packets. It could take the hair off your head and clear out your sinuses. Sometimes, my parents mixed their own, with Colman's, English, incendiary.

We never had Dijon mustard, though the foods of my Eastern European culinary heritage cried out for the sharpness of mustard to balance the blandness of the boiled meats. These days, my own kitchen is never without Dijon, usually Grey Poupon, and often Maille, too.

According to The Oxford Companion to Food, by Alan Davidson, "mustard has always been important in Europe, because it grows locally and is therefore the cheapest of spices."

Davidson also writes that many royal courts in medieval times employed a mustardarius -- someone whose sole responsibility was to oversee the growing and preparation of mustard. (How's that for a job description?) To make prepared mustard, seeds (brown, black, white, yellow) are soaked in water, which activates the enzyme myrosinase. When the desired heat level is achieved, the activation is stopped with an acidic liquid, usually wine (for stronger mustards) or vinegar (milder). The level of enzyme action combined with the acid used gives a mustard its flavor. Obviously, the mustardarius had quite a bit of control over the taste and strength of the final product.

Dijon contains no turmeric, the ingredient that gives yellow mustard its yellow; in the photo, Dijon is on the left, and hot dog mustard is on the right. Dijon mustard also has no carbs, no fat, no trans fat, and only five calories per teaspoon. It can be stored for several months at room temperature, but I always refrigerate after opening.

Though I didn't grow up with Dijon, it's the secret ingredient (oops, now the secret's out) in my spaghetti sauce, and essential to help emulsify a vinaigrette for a Caesar salad. The acidity helps balance the richness of salmon, chicken, roasted veggies and bacon, too.

And, in a major break with family tradition, I use it on hot dogs and corned beef sandwiches all the time.
 

BEET AND ONION SALAD
Simple, and simply delicious. Serves 6.

6 medium-size fresh beets (approx. 2-3/4 lbs)
1-1/2 tsp olive oil
1 cup onion, sliced vertically
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper

Leave root and 1 inch of stem on beets; scrub well with a vegetable brush. Place in a heavy pot or Dutch oven, and add water to cover. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 35 minutes or until just tender. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again. When the beets are cool, trim off stems and roots, and rub off the skins. Slice beets and set aside. 

Add 1 tsp oil to a small frying pan and place over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add onion and sauté until tender. Combine beets and onion in a bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, mix remaining 1/2 tsp oil, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir well, pour over vegetables and toss.

Also in The Perfect Pantry:
Deviled eggs
Chicken fingers
Grilled chicken salad
Root-vegetables-with-beef stew

Discos (Recipe: goat cheese-olive empanadas)

I'm ready to sell our little log house, and move back to the city.

I'm ready to give up my herb garden, the one right outside the kitchen door.

I'm ready to say goodbye to my wonderful kitchen with -- finally -- enough counter space, and to the fire pit Ted built so we could cook paella and toast marshmallows for s'mores.

I'm ready to live without my beloved screened porch, the site of winter grilling and summer aioli-making, with a table that seats 12, or 14, or sometimes 16.

I'm ready to give it all up, to live closer to a supermarket that carries Goya frozen foods.

Not even all Goya foods.

Just one.

Discos.

Wait... you haven't tried them?

Neither had I, until Ted discovered discos one day at Foodie's, the best little market in Boston.

Just what they seem to be, discos are rounds of flaky pastry, ready to be turned into any variety of empanadas or tiny fruit-filled galettes or apple turnovers or savory pizzettas at a moment's notice.

Discos come in packs of 10, in white or yellow dough, each 5-inch 120-calorie pastry round separated by a piece of plastic wrap. Store discos in the freezer, and defrost at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before using. Or, cut open one side of the package and put in the microwave on defrost for 10 seconds at a time, just until you can separate the circles; then, let the dough sit at room temperature for 10 minutes or so and they are ready to handle.

Life doesn't get any easier than this.

GOAT CHEESE AND OLIVE EMPANADAS
Almost anything can go into an empanada! This filling makes 10.

1 package discos
1/3 cup pitted black olives, finely chopped
6 oz fresh soft goat cheese
1 garlic clove, crushed in a garlic press or mashed to a paste with coarse salt
1/2 tsp olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water

Remove discos from the freezer and set on the countertop to soften. Meanwhile, mix olives, cheese, garlic, oil, salt and pepper to make the filling. In a small bowl, beat the egg and set aside.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a Silpat (silicone liner) or parchment paper. Place a small bowl of cold water on your work surface.

Set out one disco. Place a heaping Tbsp of filling in the center. Wet your finger and run it around the edge of the disco. Fold the dough over to make a half-moon shape. Press the edges to seal, then take a fork and press into the dough all around the folded edge. Place the empanada on the baking sheet. Make the remaining empanadas, then paint each with a bit of the egg wash.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 11 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Also in The Perfect Pantry:
Vegetable potstickers
Curried chicken wontons
Empanaditas
Asparagus gruyere tart
Double strawberry tartlets

Hibiscus (Recipe: apple-tea liqueur)

Guest post by Peter in Brazil

Hibiscus is in season in São Gonçalo do Rio das Pedras, and Cí­ntia's quintal (yard) is full of ruby-red-calyx-laden bushes. She sells them by the kilo (R$3,00 or about US$1.80 for 2.2 pounds), and so while her gardener, Maurí­cio, clips the pods from the plants, I wait and sip a glass of cool, pink, hibiscus ade in the shade of her orchidarium, thinking about exactly what I am going to do with three kilos.

I don't remember my first encounter with hibiscus, but I know it was in the 1970s. Perhaps it was Red Zinger, the popular Celestial Seasonings tea of that time, but more likely it was during my liqueur phase.

I had a cupboard in my Beacon Hill (Boston) apartment, the bottom shelf of which was packed full of jars and bottles of aging cordials -- Almond, Apple Tea, Artichoke, Banana, Bay Leaf, Cherry Leaf, Coconut, Coffee, Green Tomato, Hibiscus and Chamomile, Melissa, Mixed Mint, Dry Orange, Peach, Pineapple, Rhubarb, Tangerine and Lemon Verbena -- all from recipes in Emilio Cocconi's Liqueurs for All Seasons.

I bought dried hibiscus blossoms by mail order from a potpourri supply store in New York City, thinking they were the petals of the houseplant variety. I never bothered to do any more research and I went on creating liqueurs, sherbets, sauces for lamb chops, and so on.

Fast forward 25 years. Marcinha and I are on a shopping trip to Margarida'™s Mercadinho in Diamantina, both to introduce ourselves as the new owners of the Pousada do Capão and to pick up several mamões (Formosa papayas) and pineapples for the breakfast table. In a pinch, Margarida, who is an adorable, feisty, and very wise Brazilian of Japanese descent, will pack up and send fruit on the daily bus to São Gonçalo. If she knows you and likes you, that is.

She offered me a welcoming gift of a jar of what she called ume jam, because of its similarity in flavor to that Japanese plum, but what in reality is hibiscus (or vinagreira) jam. Deliciously tart, subtle and smoky, it's made from hibiscus sabdariffa, which is actually a close relative of okra and perhaps a distant cousin of the houseplant variety (houseplant to me, since I am a New Englander), or even Rose of Sharon. An ancient plant, hibiscus sabdariffa grows all over São Gonçalo.

When fresh, they are crisp and sour and refreshing, maybe the closest I will get to cranberries or rhubarb here in Brazil. After the blossoms have gone by, the calyxes can be dried and stored in the pantry for later use.

And so I begin imagining substitutions: hibiscus martinis, strawberry hibiscus pie, hibiscus relish with frango caipira (free range chicken)...

Last year, I was timid and only bought one kilo of pods from Cí­ntia. I made Apple Tea and Hibiscus Ginger liqueurs with recipes either adapted from Cocconi or concocted on the fly. Cachaça replaced the Everclear. Both were huge successes with the guests at our inn.

This year, with my three kilos, I made liqueurs again but cooked and puréed the rest to stash in my freezer pantry. The purée is an outrageous color -- a sort of raspberry, red currant, Burma ruby, American Beauty red -- I'll bet we could dye the curtains with it! The creamy but somewhat gelatinous texture will be perfect for hibiscus Bavarian cream, or hibiscus and Brazil nut linzer torte, or as the base for some new sauce for roast duck.

Now I'm thinking I should have sprung for six kilos.

APPLE-TEA LIQUEUR
A wonderful liqueur using dried hibiscus, adapted from Emilio Cocconi. Buy dried hibiscus flowers here or here. It's fun to experiment with the subtleties of different teas and apple varieties. And though five months seems like forever, this liqueur is worth the wait. Makes one quart.

16 oz water
1 tsp tea leaves (your choice)
1 tsp dried chamomile blossoms
12 oz sugar
1 tsp dried hibiscus
1 whole apple, quartered
1/2 lemon, quartered
14 oz 100-proof vodka

Boil the water. Steep the tea, chamomile, and hibiscus in half of the water, covered, until cool. Dissolve the sugar in the other half and let cool. Combine the tea infusion, sugar syrup, fruit, and vodka in an airtight glass jar. Let macerate for 15 days, shaking the jar from time to time. Filter through several thicknesses of cheesecloth into a dark glass bottle. Cork and seal with wax and leave to mature in a cool, dark place for at least 5 months before serving.

Also in The Perfect Pantry:
Thai iced tea with star anise

Other People's Pantries #21

From Meredith (Eat.Drink.Better.), in Toronto:

On Saturdays, we peek into Other People's Pantries.

Come on -- show us your pantry.

Here's how.

Spike seasoning (Recipe: grilled chicken salad)

Helmut Eugen Benjamin Gellert Hauser must have had the world's most perfect pantry.

How else could he have concocted the latest addition to my own pantry -- his famous Spike seasoning -- which combines 39 ingredients (Really. 39. Can you count them in the photograph?):

Salt and sea salt crystals, special high potency non-active nutritional yeast grown on beet molasses, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (the box says NO ADDED MSG, but we'll come back to this), mellow toasted onion, onion powder, orange powder, soy flour, celery leaf powder, celery root powder, garlic powder, dill, kelp, Indian curry, horseradish, ripe white pepper, orange and lemon peel, summer savory, mustard flower, sweet green and red peppers, parsley flakes, tarragon, rosehips, saffron, mushroom powder, parsley powder, spinach powder, tomato powder, sweet Hungarian paprika, celery powder, cayenne pepper, Greek oregano, French sweet basil, French marjoram, French rosemary, and Spanish thyme.

Gayelord Hauser, as he was known, was a German-born naturopath, nutritionist to the stars, and, it's rumored, more-than-a-friend of Greta Garbo.

As a teenager, he moved to the United States, and shortly afterwards contracted tuberculosis. Sent to Sweden to be treated by a monk who used herbal and dietary cures, Hauser made a full recovery, and upon his return to the US, embarked on the study of "food science." He's best known as the author of Look Younger; Live Longer, published in 1950 way ahead of the eat-to-live curve. Though he died in 1984, Hauser's seasonings have been manufactured in Wisconsin by Modern Products Inc. for more than 50 years.

Available in supermarkets and online (the 7-ounce box sells for $4.99), Spike comes in salt-free and flavored blends -- garlic, lemon pepper, hot and spicy -- and adds awesome flavor and instant umami to cottage cheese and egg breakfast muffins, turkey meatloaf, poutine, garlic shrimp stir fry and spicy chickpeas, beef and cilantro.

Though the package says NO ADDED MSG, Spike does contain hydrolyzed vegetable protein, which is a form of glutamic acid, or monosodium glutamate. (To learn more, read this article and this one and this one.)

I am one of those people who turns beet red in Chinese restaurants that cook with MSG, but I love Spike, and I haven't had an MSG reaction when I've used it. Doesn't mean the MSG isn't there, just that the amount of it used at any one time is miniscule and doesn't seem to affect me.

What does affect me is flavor, and the flavor is great. I'll be using this all-purpose seasoning on grilled foods, eggs, veggies, and in salad dressings all summer. Thanks, Kalyn, for introducing Spike to my pantry.

GRILLED CHICKEN SALAD
When friends drop in unexpectedly, toss this chicken salad with some Dreamfields rotini and grilled asparagus to make a complete meal. Serves 4.

1-1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp Spike seasoning
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp fresh thyme leaf
1/4 cup chopped celery

Trim the fat from the chicken breasts, and place on a platter. Sprinkle on both sides with Spike and ground pepper. Drizzle on the olive oil, and turn to coat. Set aside.

Heat a grill to high heat. Cook the chicken breasts for 4 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Remove from grill and set aside.

While the chicken is cooling, combine mayonnaise, mustard and thyme leaf in a large mixing bowl. Add the chopped celery. Chop the chicken breasts, and add to the bowl. Toss to combine. Serve warm or chilled, in a sandwich or salad, with or without pasta.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Curried orzo chicken salad
Brick-grilled chicken breasts
Curried shrimp and pasta salad
Roasted pepper chicken

Chicken broth (Recipe: chilled asparagus soup)

When is store-bought chicken broth better than homemade chicken stock?

I know. The answer is supposed to be never.

Or is it?

If you find a brand you like, and get to know its good points, and live miles and miles from a store, and don't want to raise your own chickens so you can turn one into chicken stock on a moment's notice, and if you tend to be a last-minute meal planner, and have a pantry large enough to keep a box or two of chicken broth in it at all times... well, under those circumstances, store-bought chicken broth is great.

What's the difference between chicken stock and chicken broth? Stock is made from bones (carcass, neck, wings), long-simmered to release the flavorful gelatin into the liquid; broth is made from meat, which gives a less rich taste. You can bump up the flavor of store-bought broth by adding carrots, onions, leeks, celery, fennel, bay leaf or herbs (thyme, parsley, chives) from your garden.

Taste several different brands to find one that works for you. (My absolute favorite remains Swanson 99% Fat Free. Great flavor, with not a hint of dish water aftertaste.) Remember that even the low-sodium store-bought broths are higher in sodium than homemade stock. When using store-bought broth, hold back on added salt in your recipe. You probably won't need it.

With chicken broth in your pantry, you can throw together orzo with parmesan and basil, chicken with roasted lemons, chicken pot pie, spicy tortilla soup, Thai cashew chicken or French onion soup in less time than it takes to make chicken stock from scratch.

CHILLED (OR HOT) ASPARAGUS SOUP
Thick and creamy, but made without cream, this is one of my favorite summer soups. Because I like to serve it cold, the saltiness of store-bought chicken broth enhances the flavor of the soup. If you make this with homemade stock, add salt as needed. Remember: when you serve something cold, it needs to be highly seasoned. Makes 6-8 cups.

1 medium onion, cut into chunks
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium russet potato, peeled, cut into chunks
2 lbs asparagus, trimmed, cut into thirds
6 cups chicken stock
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

In a stock pot, sauté the onion in olive oil for 2 minutes. Add the potato chunks and asparagus, and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are quite soft. Remove from heat. With an immersion blender set to "liquify" (or in batches in a blender), process the soup until it is smooth. If necessary (and it usually is not), thin to desired consistency with additional chicken stock or water. Season to taste with lots of black pepper. Serve hot or chilled.

Also in The Perfect Pantry:
Turkey-escarole soup
Chicken soup that feeds a cold
Cioppino
Risotto ai funghi
Mole colorado
Hominy and cactus soup

Happy Blogsday! We are two. And we have brownies.

On June 14, Elvis Presley graduated from high school (1953), Turkey appointed its first female head of state (1993), and the first Henley Regatta was held (1839).

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress approved the design of an American national flag, and in 1916 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14 Flag Day.

On June 14, 1846, California declared independence from Mexico.

On June 14, Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811), Margaret Bourke-White (1906), Pierre Salinger (1925) and Burl Ives (1909) would have celebrated their birthdays. Boy George (1961) and Donald Trump (1946) were born on June 14, too. Can you imagine all of them together at a birthday party?

On June 14, 2008, The Perfect Pantry turned two!

And in so many ways, my second blog year was perfect.

Two guest bloggers joined The Perfect Pantry: Arlo, who writes from the very urban, multi-cultural Ottawa, Canada; and Peter, who writes from the mountain region of Minas Gerais, in the interior of Brazil. Their voices, their stories, and their own perfect pantries have been a joy to share. Thank you for welcoming both Arlo and Peter.

Also, I became a mother of two -- two blogs, that is. Through the Adopt-a-Blogger program, I adopted Rebecca, whose From Argentina with Love has just been named best new blog of the year by FN Dish. And then I adopted Sandie, whose even newer blog, Inn Cuisine, took shape before my eyes. Both blogs feature travelers' tales and wonderful recipes. If you've been blogging for a while and would like to share what you've learned, there are many bloggers looking for mentors; it's fun, easy, and rewarding to adopt a blogger.

A two-year blogiversary celebration calls for something sweet. Something made with chocolate, just like last year. Something made from items I have on hand.

Something ooey and gooey, made for you, because you are the most important ingredient in The Perfect Pantry.

It's been a perfectly wonderful blog year, because you've been here to share it.

Thank you, times two.

CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE-CHIP BROWNIES
From Martha Stewart's Quick Cook, this recipe makes 16 two-inch brownies. To freeze, wrap the brownies in plastic wrap, and thaw them in the wrapping.

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter + *1 tsp
2 1-oz squares unsweetened chocolate
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch-square glass pan (use the *1 tsp butter for this), or spray it with baking spray.

Melt the stick of butter and unsweetened chocolate in the top of a double boiler (or in a microwave); remove from heat and stir well. In a mixing bowl, combine the butter-chocolate with the sugar, flour nuts, baking powder and vanilla. Stir well with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs and mix thoroughly. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not overcook. The brownies should be moist and chewy. Cool thoroughly before cutting into 2-inch squares.

Also in The Perfect Pantry:
Outrageous brownies
White chocolate brownies
Chocolate truffles
Chocolate-banana ravioli
Chocolate refrigerator cake

Other People's Pantries #20

From Stevi (Good to Be Home), in Naples, Florida:

When we renovated and remodeled our early '70s ranch this past Fall, we included a butler's pantry off the small galley kitchen. It is a wonderful storage area where I can keep my coffee maker and cups, etc. on the counter. There is a lot of storage above in 9 "cubby" cubes that hold cook books, the covered toaster, the bill basket, etc. On the opposite wall is a large floor-to-ceiling cabinet for dry goods and canned goods. I found the stand-alone "tower" shown in the corner at a local outlet store and it provides even more storage for paper goods. We have so much less clutter now in the kitchen! (Read more here.)

On Saturdays, we peek into Other People's Pantries.

Come on -- show us your pantry.

Here's how.