As a direct result of spending my formative years in a cultural desert (even that misleading website makes me want to hurl), I now read, think about, and watch shows about food quite a bit. And now that I live on my own and have shed a lot of the collegiate junk from my diet — though not all, by any means — I eat more fresh and less pre-prepared.

Grocery Guy recently linked to this New York Times piece (published four days before my graduation, serendipitously) on stocking your kitchen. Mark Bittman humbles boomer foodies eager to drop thousands on kitchen tools. In the article he also gives this glorious list of unnecessaries:

“YOU can live without these 10 kitchen items:

“BREAD MACHINE You can buy mediocre bread easily enough, or make the real thing without much practice.

“MICROWAVE If you do a lot of reheating or fast (and damaging) defrosting, you may want one. But essential? No. And think about that counter space!

“STAND MIXER Unless you’re a baking fanatic, it takes up too much room to justify it. A good whisk or a crummy handheld mixer will do fine.

“BONING/FILLETING KNIVES Really? You’re a butcher now? Or a fishmonger? If so, go ahead, by all means. But I haven’t used my boning knife in years. (It’s pretty, though.)

“WOK Counterproductive without a good wok station equipped with a high-B.T.U. burner. (There’s a nice setup at Bowery Restaurant Supply for $1,400 if you have the cash and the space.)

“STOCKPOT The pot you use for boiling pasta will suffice, until you start making gallons of stock at a time.

“PRESSURE COOKER It’s useful, but do you need one? No.

“ANYTHING MADE OF COPPER More trouble than it’s worth, unless you have a pine-paneled wall you want to decorate.

“RICE COOKER Yes, if you eat rice twice daily. Otherwise, no.

“COUNTERTOP CONVECTION OVEN, ROTISSERIE, OR ‘ROASTER’ Only if you’re a sucker for late-night cooking infomercials.”

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