Pantry Staple: S&P

S&P = Salt and Pepper, of course. Everyone has it, yet some may need to give their S&P a makeover.

Great for the kitch: If you think you suck at cooking, chances are you don’t use enough salt. Using salt is one of the easiest things you can do to make your food taste better. Next time you’re at the store, pick up some kosher salt. It’s preferred by many chefs because of the size, texture, and dissolvability. You will never buy regular table salt again – I promise! Sea salt is another great option because of the high mineral content – the minerals give the salt a more complex flavor.

As for pepper, please do yourself a favor and throw away your Tone’s Ground Black Pepper. The oils in pepper are what give off its great flavor and aroma. When it’s ground, it immediately begins to lose that. When it’s ground and sits on a shelf for months, it pretty much doesn’t even taste like pepper anymore. Get yourself a grinder and some peppercorns.

For the bod: There’s a lot of controversy about salt and blood pressure. If you don’t have high blood pressure and it’s not a huge problem in your family, you probably don’t have to worry a whole lot about your salt intake. If you’re worried about blood pressure, this is something that is better discussed with your doctor. And if you’ve been told to cut back on salt, the best thing you can do is stop buying frozen and canned foods loaded with sodium and measure out your own salt into your fresh foods so that consumption is better controlled.

Store it: Next to the stove for easy access.

Fun stuff: Salt is the only rock eaten by humans. It’s found mostly in the ocean but also some lakes. The government is going to start regulating the amount of salt in foods by slowly decreasing sodium content in high salt foods over time.

Pepper is a fruit, seriously! There are black, white, green, orange, red peppercorns. It’s been used in India since prehistoric times and at one time was a huge luxury only for the wealthy because it was so expensive.

I have a weird obsession with salt and pepper shakers, which is really sad since I only use salt that is too coarse for one and a pepper grinder. But I couldn't pass this picture up!