Celebrate the culture of agriculture & share skills (Growing! Cooking! Eating!)

Kitchen Staples Checklist 101

What’s the one thing in your kitchen you can’t live without? That’s the question HOMEGROWN.org asked attendees at this year’s Maker Faire Bay Area. The nearly 400 responses ranged from “arugula” to “my zester,” with a good dose of humor thrown in (“air,” “husband”). Folks posed with their signs in the HOMEGROWN photo booth before taking home a checklist of kitchen staples that doubles as a refrigerator magnet. Pretty cool, huh?

Now it’s your turn: What’s the one thing in YOUR kitchen you can’t live without? There are only so many words that can fit on a 3"-by-5" rectangle, after all, and we're sure we missed some folks’ beloved standbys. Post your go-to food item or kitchen gadget in the comments box below, and together we’ll come up with the ultimate HOMEGROWN kitchen staples checklist.

In the meantime, you can create your own handy fridge art by downloading and printing this PDF onto a sticky label then adhering it to magnetic backing. Here's a preview of what it looks like:

We can’t wait to hear what you’ve got in your fridge … or pantry … or root cellar … or spice rack … or—well, you get the picture. And speaking of pictures, don’t miss the photo booth slideshows below, followed by more shots of the HOMEGROWN Village from Maker Faire Bay Area 2014. Heck, you might even take your own pic and post it in the comments!

Looking for the 101s starred above? Find ’em here!

• Butter Making 101 (see also: Cultured Butter 101)

• Homemade Greek-Style Yogurt 101

• Parmesan: Cheese Pressing (Hard Cheeses) 101

• Homemade Bone Broth 101

• Homemade Extracts 101

• Homemade Ketchup 101

• Jam: Canning Basics 101, Small-Batch Canning 101, Making Pectin 101

• Pickling 101

• Homemade Peanut Butter 101 (also: pecan butter, almond butter, any kind of nut butter)

• Maple syrup: Maple Tapping and Sugaring 101

• Honey: Beekeeping 101 (see also: Honey Sticks 101)