The Pantry
Honest note: no ads, no Amazon affiliate. Affiliate and referral links are always marked. Full disclosure.
The things I use up: the chiles, the spices, the flour, the proteins I order straight from the source because the quality is worth it and, honestly, because where it comes from matters to me. Some of this is splurge, some is just plain better than the grocery store, all of it earns its place. Wherever I can, I buy direct from the people who grow or make it.
(A lot of this arrives in gallon jugs and gets decanted into the little glass bottles you’ll see in every mise en place. Those bottles live over in the Everyday Kitchen.)
Hatch green chile — The Hatch Chile Store
The twenty-five pounds that land on my porch every August and become a whole year of cooking. This is a real Hatch Valley family farm (immigrant-founded, five generations in), not the mislabeled stuff that gets stuffed in a “Hatch” bag. I wrote a whole Labor Day essay about the hands that pick these, so I’ll say it here too: buying direct at least keeps it a real farm, and the chile is genuinely the best I’ve found.
Where to buy: The Hatch Chile Store (direct from the Hatch Valley)
Spices — Penzeys
My spice cabinet is mostly Penzeys and I’m not remotely quiet about it. The quality is a real step up from grocery-store jars (fresher, more potent, so you use less), and the company wears its values on its sleeve in a way that happens to line right up with mine. Buy the ones you actually reach for; fresh spice is the whole point.
Where to buy: Penzeys (direct)
Beef & pork — Snake River Farms
A splurge, full stop, and worth it. American Wagyu beef and Kurobuta pork, family-owned, shipped to your door. I don’t buy it every week, but for a holiday roast, a special steak, or when I want to make the Kamado show off, it’s the one I reach for. It also makes a genuinely great gift: every Christmas we send my former father-in-law a box (two steaks, two pork roasts, and a box of bone-in chops), and it has never once missed.
Where to buy: Snake River Farms (direct; ships nationwide, and yes, it’ll wrap up a holiday)
Flour & baking — King Arthur Baking
The one baking brand I trust without a second thought, and here’s the kicker: it’s 100% employee-owned and a certified B Corp, which is about as values-aligned as a bag of flour gets. Rock-solid consistency, and their recipes and baker’s hotline are the gold standard of the whole industry. Their flour is what lives in my bin.
Where to buy: King Arthur Baking (direct) · also widely in grocery stores
Crawfish & Cajun — Louisiana Crawfish Company
When I want a proper crawfish boil in landlocked Georgia, this is how I get it: live Louisiana crawfish (or the tail meat, the andouille, the boil fixings) shipped straight to the door. It’s the taste of a place I love, delivered in a cooler.
Where to buy: Louisiana Crawfish Company (direct; order at shop.lacrawfish.com)
Cottage cheese — Good Culture
Cottage cheese had a whole moment lately and I was already standing here waiting for it. Good Culture is the one: organic, pasture-raised milk, live and active cultures, and none of the gums and fillers most tubs sneak in. (I’m on a mission to find their cultured sour cream too; if you spot it in the wild, tell me where.) Clean, real, and a genuine staple in my fridge.
Where to buy: Good Culture · widely in grocery stores (their store locator finds it)
Buttermilk — Southern Swiss Dairy
I name Southern Swiss every single time buttermilk shows up on this blog, and here’s why: it’s a family-owned Georgia dairy that pasteurizes but doesn’t homogenize, uses no artificial growth hormones, and makes the real, thick, tangy buttermilk that makes biscuits and dressings taste the way they’re supposed to. Look for the glass bottles.
Where to buy: Southern Swiss Dairy (Georgia-local; glass bottles at regional groceries)
Where I Shop (in person)
Not everything comes with a link, and some of the best things don’t. These are the places I actually go:
Super H Mart (Johns Creek): my Asian-grocery home base. The thin-sliced bulgogi beef, the gochugaru, the produce, the everything. hmart.com for the chain; the Johns Creek store is mine. (As seen in: Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry, and honestly half the blog.)
Costco: the Kirkland tilapia (ASC-certified), the olive oil, the bulk staples. You already know Costco.
Buford Highway Farmers Market: the sprawling international market that raised my cooking. No working website or social, so I can’t link it, but if you’re anywhere near Atlanta, just go.
Alpharetta Farmers Market: Saturday mornings, roughly April through November, on the Town Green. Warm-season produce and the plain joy of buying tomatoes from the person who grew them. alpharettafarmersmarket.com
Delivery (when it earns its keep)
Misfits Market: ugly-but-perfect produce and pantry goods delivered, built around cutting food waste, which I am entirely here for. I suspend my subscription during farmers-market season and lean on it hard all winter. misfitsmarket.com
Food Service Direct: restaurant-scale bulk for when I’ve lost my mind a little. The infamous gallon of mustard came from here, as did the case of sweet chili sauce. foodservicedirect.com
As Seen In: A Gallon of Mustard