Portrait of Etta Corbin, in an apron, smiling

Author · Home cook

Etta Corbin

Pantry economics for people who cook on weeknights.

About

I'm a home cook, not a chef and not a nutritionist, which I consider the whole point.

After emptying my pantry onto the dining room table one winter and counting forty-seven separate dry goods, most of them redundant, several expired, I spent two years reverse-engineering the boxed mixes I had been buying. They turned out to be built, nearly all of them, from the same twelve cheap ingredients.

I show the arithmetic, and I have never once believed a testimonial that landed on a round number.

The Mix-Once, Cook-Anytime Pantry System is what came out of that. I write about what things actually cost.

Recipes

A stack of pancakes beside a jar of homemade pancake mix
Breakfast · From the book

Homemade Pancake & Waffle Mix in a Jar

Six pantry staples, one quart jar, three batches of pancakes, with weights and an honest cost line.

See the recipe →

All recipes

The book

Cover of Dry Mix Pantry Cookbook by Etta Corbin

Dry Mix Pantry Cookbook

The 12-Ingredient Pantry System: 24 Mixes That Become 75 Meals, Sides, Sauces and Sweets

  • 24 jars
  • 12 common ingredients
  • 75 meals, sides, sauces and sweets

Twenty-four jars, built from twelve common ingredients, that replace the boxed mixes and seasoning packets sitting on your shelf right now.