Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Let's see...

1.) Cheeses!-soo many kinds at once, but I don't care.
2.) Peanut Butter - both chunky and creamy, Jif only. And Strawberry Jam
3.) Oils - all kinds
4.) Spices, Salts, and Peppercorns at all times. My philosopy: you can never have too many spices. Shelves in my cupboard is proof.
5.) Golden/Red Delicious Apples or in season fruits
6.) Garlic - all kinds. Serious. God forbid I ever run out.
7.) Dried Italian Pasta
8.) Low Sodium Soy Sauce, Terriyaki Sauce, Stir Fry Sauces.
9.) Hellmann's Light Mayo, Spicy Deli mustard, Golden Mustard, Ketchup, Franks Hot Sauce
10.) Bubba Burgers- this is because of BF. I think he'd lose it if he ran out.

I love everyone's suggestions! Thank you...The more ideas the better. I am getting bored of the same old thing and was thinking outside the box.:)

@joannabar: that carrot/ginger soup sounds heavenly! Please post.

@annien: I will look into Alton Brown's recipe. Thanks!

Fruit soups are included in my quest for different foods...:) I am intrigued. Tell me more..:) Love fruit.

I will have to look into Gazpacho-I have heard of it but have no idea of ingredients.

@Brooke29: I hear ya! I have the same memory you do. It is a curse.

I've tried the nice route. It doesn't work in this country. I bought top shelf alcohol (as in Rum, Tequila, and Vodka) for someone I did not like since I knew they were coming over (other people were stopping by as well, hence the quantity-my house is the party house since I am known as quite a hostess). I figured maybe my hospitality would calm that person down. Not even a thank you or anything. Ugh, so disgusted. I went out of my way. Last time that will happen. If someone's jealous-there's nothing you can do...Kindness won't kill that.

@LunaPierCook: *GASP* No Gordon Ramsay??? Man, I'd be happy with JUST him in my kitchen..:) heheBut I do agree with you on the Fake Oreos. They should not be allowed. Hydrox. Bleh.

Here's my lovely list:

1.) Miracle Whip-if so many hate this, why is it still sold?? It's awful
2.) American "cheese" wrapped in plastic
3.) Asparagus
4.) Spam-never had, don't plan on it
5.) Scrapple - EWWWW
6.) Roasted Red Peppers
7.) Anything Coconut
8.) Fake Eggs
9.) Canned Pasta- "Chef" Whatever, never had it don't plan on it
10.a) Frozen Meatballs
10.b) 90 minute rice

I had 10, sort of...I just couldn't leave them out. 10 is just not enough. Great thread!!

I once saw a group of "kids" actually wheel a cooler into the theater for a late movie, (they thought they "snuck" in the side exit door.) I still have a hard time believing they didn't get caught.

I agree with Brittj858, Chef's don't have the human interaction skills other people possess. Their job is to tell people what to do.

I definitely sneak in food. I think the most odd ball was cheese, crackers & wine. There are wonderful little portable "juice box" wines called Bandits that work perfectly for hiding. Although, I wouldn't recommend a good purse for the cheese, my bag was never the same...stinky.

I sort of agree, but by choosing to be EC, you are putting yourself in a position where the food you make is not the only factor that you are judged on. Dale, failed in both the food departments and the leadership roles.

Yeah, but Dale did actively push to be the EC this challenge, even though any idiot could see that his team was going to lose. Obviously anyone with half a brain would have fired Lisa on the spot, but by pushing so hard to be EC, Dale in effect "hired" her. If he didn't want to hire her he should have let her take control and taken her place as the sous. It's much better to be a sous chef with an idiot EC because you just have to do your job well, no matter what you are asked to do. The outcome of this battle was a foregone conclusion as soon as the teams were picked. Dale should have realized that he was never going to be able to keep control of Lisa and should have put his ego aside and let her throw herself under the bus. It was pretty clear that the reason he demanded to be EC was because his ego couldn't deal with Lisa bossing him around.

The thing is that Dale didn't comport himself as an EC should. Choosing to focus mainly on his own dishes instead of supervising, freaking out when his stuff went bad, abusing waitstaff, offering no solution to Lisa's, admittedly self-made crises, and letting Spike disappear for most of the prep time into the front room (how did Stephanie manage to conceive of a linguine and clams dish/bake a gorgonzola cheesecake AND set up the front of the house while Spike could barely even braise short ribs??? which is difficult, but does not require a ton of active prep time).

Yes Lisa screwed up hardcore, but if Dale wanted the EC job so bad he should have expected to have to clean up her mess. As EC, you get the power but you also have to take the responsibility for everything that comes out of your kitchen. He shouldn't be expected to hold Lisa's hand the whole way through prep, but if that is what needs to get done to make the service go well, then he needs to deal with it. Dale just wanted the power so that Lisa couldn't boss him around, but none of the responsibility. When it became clear that Lisa's dishes were awful (although its not as though his butterscotch scallops were any great shakes) he didn't care and just let her fail choosing to deal with his own messes instead. When you are EC, its your responsibility to take care of situations like that, even if you think the other person is an inept idiot. When you send out a nasty dish, its not some line chef whose reputation is going to be on the line, its yours.

While I think that Dale should have outlasted Spike and Lisa based on cooking skills and qualities to be a chef, I have to say that based on his human interaction and leadership skills, he was not yet cut out to be Top Chef and was less qualified than Richard, Stephanie, or Antonia for that position. He would make a great sous chef (he is possibly the best cook of the bunch), but he has constantly sucked when put in a leadership position, always choosing to take care of his own stuff before reaching out to the rest of his kitchen. Look at the difference between him and Hung. Hung was a conceited jerk that was socially awkward, but whenever he was put in an EC position, he didn't just see his "dishes" as the ones he prepared, but was constantly in everyone's face all the time making sure that his dishes were up to his standards. He was slightly immature and annoying about it, but at least he took charge.

1. ingredients for sukiyaki, minus the beef and enoki, which I purchase the day I cook it - tofu, shirataki, shiitake, sake, shoyu, konnyaku, baby spinach, Chinese cabbage, turbinado (did I cheat here?)
2. gochujang
3. sriracha
4. tea: Tazo green tea with lemongrass and mint for iced tea (we use 2 boxes/week all year 'round), maccha, lychee black tea, earl grey, Thai iced tea mixes (too lazy to make it from scratch), mugicha, genmaicha, sencha, jasmine
5. shichimi (nanami) togarashi for ramen!
6. condensed milk for iced coffee and Thai iced tea
7. konbu for ramen, misoshiru, etc.
8. rayu, bought or we make it ourselves
9. Calpis (Calpico), plain - mmmm!
10. pure Kona coffee -- we're iced coffee fiends -- my family always sends it in their care boxes to me