Pantry Purge

The room I loved the very most in this old farmhouse when we bought it, was the walk-in pantry.

It had built in cupboards, floor to ceiling, and counters to set baked goods on.  It was wonderful.  (Except when an abandoned little dog, we had taken in, jumped up and confiscated/ consumed/ annhilated...a wonderful Christmas cake I had made and stored there.)  The people we bought the house from, had left a new door (to go out to the deck) and window that they had bought for in there, and hadn't installed yet.  You know that saying about living in a house for a while before you make changes?  I wish we had.  We went with their plan, which meant ripping out everything.  If we had it to do over again, I would want the door to go out of the kitchen to the left of the sink, (like at my parent's house.)  Trying to make the best of it, I built old pantry cupboards that reminded me of my grandparents old fruit pantry.  Some people install a tambour appliance garage in their kitchen to hide all of their "helpers".  We went to Costco and bought a "multi-level appliance parking structure."  I really like having the heaviest appliances at waist level instead of having to pull them out from a lower cupboard somewhere.  This has worked out so well...except ever so often there are too many rush hours, and there's a traffic snarl of stuff causing a big jam in front of said structure.  So, a pantry purge is in order.

I have a dry erase board on the front of the freezer.  Great idea I picked up from a friend years ago, except I'm usually in a hurry when I'm pulling things out of there, and forget to correct the tally....so I can't believe a word it says.

Our Asian mini-mart.  I love going to the Fubon on 82nd in Portland.  Wonderful selection of goodies.

The stepstool to get to the really high-up stuff.  I covered it my fave fabric, and topped it with clear plastic.

Some of the really high stuff.  Labeled, and candy colored scrapbooking paper inserted in front to hide the messy look of the contents.

Powdered sugar (and a century's worth of clear-gel, from Jen) on the open shelves Jim bought from someone on his route.

And the colorful towel Jen got me at the coast.  It makes me smile when I see it, as I remember the crazy games of Catch Phrase, we played on that trip.

This latest pantry purge yielded quite a feast for the chickens.  Out dated squash pickles, canned cherries, and old oats and cornmeal,quinoa flour etc. cooked into a nice hot mash for them.  Yum.