starting from scratch

Hello from Anchorage! This is the kitchen in our apartment--we just moved in last week so the kitchen is not quite functional yet. As you can see, I am now cooking on an electric stove which is not my favorite but will have to do (all the apartments here have electric stoves). But...this kitchen has a great breakfast bar with a view of downtown Anchorage and the mountains and tons of counter/cupboard space, so on the whole I'm happy with it.
(Here's a picture from the kitchen looking over the breakfast bar to the view of downtown and the mountains out our window.)
So far the food discoveries here have been good. I've taken up partial residence at the downtown Kaladi Brothers coffeeshop, mostly to use their free wireless but also to enjoy their short classic cappuccinos. We have done most of our grocery shopping at Fred Meyer but also have made a few trips to the New Sagaya city market. Groceries are more expensive here, but so far I've been able to find everything and it's been good quality. Fred Meyer sells my favorite Frontier chai blend, so I'm happy! Our apartment is within walking distance from the downtown farmers' market which starts operating in May or June.
I'm finding it to be a bit overwhelming to start building a kitchen pantry from scratch. We go to the grocery store at least once a day (yesterday we went three times). So far I've bought four spices to start my new spice collection: basil, oregano, cumin and chili powder. Little by little I'll get my supply back to where it used to be!