05 June 2014

Four Things I Think Every Kitchen Must Have

I'm not sure for most of you but I guess some will agree that cooking pasta is really easy. Shopping for its ingredients isn't complicated, too. Filipinos are used to having rice and a viand as a meal but in our household, we're okay without rice as long as there's pasta. So it's always present in my grocery list. By the way, I posted the above photo on my Instagram sharing with my followers the four things that I think you must have in your kitchen.


It's a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine but we, Filipinos, have long welcomed it in our kitchens. We love its versatility. It can be in red sweet sauce, which is a hit to most Pinoy kids. We can also make the sauce white with spaghetti to make it Carbonara. There's another Pinoy favorite dish that my kid loves, the Macaroni Soup or more commonly known as sopas, which of course has macaroni, a pasta variant. I have also tried vegeroni, fusilli, ziti, farfalle, linguine, fettuccine and lasagna. 

Cooking most of it is almost the same as cooking the usual and tried-and-tested spaghetti. However, it's good to know that the sauce works best if paired with the correct pasta shape. According to my first cookbook (aka borrowed from my mom and never returned), a Publications International, Ltd. copy, pasta shapes with ridged texture are best paired with thicker kind of sauces while those with smooth finish can work best with light and simple sauce. For a more detailed information about this new learning, you may want to download and read this Pasta and Sauce Pairing Suggestions by Barilla Food Service. 

Take note that most pasta do not have any nutritional value so make sure you pair it with healthy sauces that have meat and/or vegetables. 


OK. There has been a heated debate between moms who fed their children organic food versus those who don't about canned goods. I really won't expound that topic but I personally buy these because of its convenience. City dwellers do not have the privilege that province residents have ― an ample land space to plant for their fresh produce. And since wet markets can sometimes be too far or do not have enough stock, we, the city dwellers, settle for what's in the supermarket. I buy canned goods because of its long shelf life. They are my emergency food. It's not as if it's what I eat every day. No need to panic if my daughter is getting the nutrition she must get from the dishes I serve her. I'm sober and educated enough to know the diseases we might get from eating too much from the can.


Seriously, you don't have butter in your refrigerator? Hey, live your life and buy one! Nope, Dari Creme isn't butter. It's margarine. Yes, I know. Butter is expensive. Le sigh. I do not have butter in my ref, too. Boo. Just Dari Creme. But it feels like it so it's okay, I guess. LOL. Btw, in the baked macaroni and beef loaf I cooked, I put slivers of Dari Creme on top before I baked it to get that perfect brown effect. It gave that tasty oomph to it, too. So always say yes to butter. Or Dari Creme. (not a sponsored post!)

Just like what my food hero Julia Child once said, "With enough butter, anything is good." Word mademoiselle Julia, word.


No, this can't be bought anywhere but it's probably the best thing anyone can have in their kitchen. I'd put modesty aside on this one. Have I not used my creativity, do you think I'd be able to come up with baked macaroni and beef loaf with what I have in my kitchen? I'd probably fry the beef loaf with coats of egg and pair it with rice if I haven't, right? And the dry macaroni will be left in the cupboard for as long as I thought of cooking sopas again. Blah. 

Creativity, however, can be learned. See, you just learned that it can be learned by reading my blog. So, read more! Who knows, you can be as good as Nigella Lawson, Giada or Martha Stewart in no time. I'm doing my best to be as good as them! I hope you will, too. 

What are your kitchen must-haves, royalties? Share it with us in the comments section.


  1. correct! correct!! pero dpat marunong or may drive din on how to cook ano mommy denise.. kasi may ibang moms talaga na hindi skill ang magluto like me.. but i am willing to try and do cooking naman.. so far so good!

  2. Naku muther, napa-click agad ako sa link. That photo above makes me feel like drooling any time now. Hihihi! Kung may budget lang talaga, I'll buy 4 to 5 different kinds of pasta. Super duper limited lang ang knowledge ko sa pagluluto, but in fairness, I can cook spaghetti na talagang gusto ni hubby.

    And about that butter thing, expensive talaga! favorite kong puntahan yan pag nasa grocery. Hay, titigan ko na lang si butter with olive oil. Ang mahal eh. So Dari Creme na lang, with Less Fat. LOL!

  3. I agree with all 4 things that every kitchen should have, especially pasta and canned goods. Whenever I don't have the time to cook, or tinatamad ako, either bukas na lang ng delata or cook a simple pasta dish.

    As for butter, I try to buy at least one, yung queensland (kasi yun ung pinakamura), just in case I have the urge to bake something. Though margarine din is a staple para sa normal na palaman or like in your case, cooking. :)

  4. Hi Denise! Normal sa mga OFW like me ang maraming canned goods sa bahay. Sinisiksik ko ang mga yan sa maleta ko whenever I go back to SG from Manila. There are days when my husband and I are too tired to cook, so we just open a "de lata" from our cabinet.
    Another thing I think a kitchen must have is a good all-around cooking pan with lid. Yung pwedeng gamitin for frying, but can also be used if you're cooking something na may sauce. This helps a lot to save space in the kitchen.

  5. Melissa Villamater-AmparoMonday, 09 June, 2014

    I agree with you that pasta or noodles is also a staple in a home. When I was a kid and my mom was tinatamad to cook, she'd cook spaghetti ot pancit and that would be our meal. Some people equate having pasta with birthdays. With us it was a regular thing, lalo pag tinatamad magluto. :-)