The Perfect Pantry®

Other People's Pantries #52

From Mary (Quilting in Oz), in Pittburg, Kansas:

Couldn't resist digging out some pictures of the pantry I USED to have. At that time I had three sons still at home, and was living in the town where I grew up, surrounded by a large extended family and network of friends, any of whom were likely to drop by at any time, and I was always cooking. 

While my kitchen wasn't all that big, I did have LOTS of cupboards and they were full of food. Also had 2 freezers in addition to the one in the refrigerator and they were always full. And a basement full of home canned goods. But I still needed more space so I could stockpile enough staples to be able to cook for those spur of the moment guests. When we moved a bathroom from right off the kitchen I converted that space to a pantry with floor to ceiling shelves. I know somewhere I have better pictures but can't find them now. These show just a portion of that space.

But there was a downside to having this much food always on hand.

About a year after this picture was taken I had a fire and lost pretty much everything. Living in a small town, the local grocery store owner volunteered to come up the next day and do an inventory of my food and then priced it all out for me for insurance purposes. How nice was that?  But I was shocked to discover I had over $2,000 worth of food in my house, and this was in 1984 prices.

I've never stockpiled that much again... but then I also don't have kids at home anymore, don't live close to that big extended family and also don't have a pantry or lots of kitchen cupboards.

But boy, there was sure something comforting about looking at a stash like this. Now I have an equivalent stash of fabric for quilting... which is at least non-fattening.

On Saturdays, we peek into Other People's Pantries.

Come on -- show us your pantry.

*Other People's Pantries will be ending soon to make way for a new Saturday feature. However, we'll keep peeking in pantries as long as you keep sending your pantry photos. So, please send your photos as soon as possible.

Here's how.

Pilaf noodles (Recipe: lentil noodle soup)

For years, I didn't know the proper name for pilaf noodles.

I lived down the block from a wonderful Middle Eastern market, where the owner knew me from my days as a food writer for the local newspaper. Whenever I would ask for those noodles, he knew just what I meant.

And when Ted would go to the store, I'd write pilaf noodles on his shopping list.

It wasn't until many years later that the owner of another market taught me the Arabic name: chayreyé.

Lovely, I know, but I'm kind of sweet on the name pilaf noodles, and I guess I always will be.

Pad Thai noodles (Recipe: rice noodle salad with shrimp and scallions)

There are noodles that tell you what to do with them, and there are noodles that leave much to the imagination.

Pad Thai noodles -- banh pho -- tell you exactly what they want to become.

Lasagne noodles (Recipe: four-cheese lasagne)

Lasagne noodles with an "e", or lasagna noodles with an "a"?

I have both in my pantry.

Is one right, and the other wrong?