Other People's Pantries #170

From Leslie (Pressure Cooker Diaries), in Irondequoit (suburb of Rochester), New York

The main pantry area is currently a little bare, but in the winter it fills up when we eat less fresh food. In the summer we eat almost all our food fresh from our CSA. (Plus, I have to make a run to stock up pretty soon...)

On the top I keep pasta. Second shelf is homemade items including jams and salsas. When that gets full it bleeds on to the third shelf with the bigger jars of pickles and tomato sauce etc. Third shelf also has store bought canned items, "refill" items for other areas of the pantry (like raisins), and popcorn. Fourth shelf is more beans and canned items, as well as broths and soups and more "refill" items for the fridge like barbecue sauce. Fifth shelf is flours and other grains. Bottom shelf is my canning supplies (except the jars) and often has plastic containers to reuse. However, they are all currently in use in the fridge, holding all our CSA vegetables.

Normally the pantry is overflowing, and for a while we had an issue with a shortage of space, so we added more shelves via a hanging unit on the back of the door. On the top shelf is our Nielsen homescanner. Second shelf is rices. Third shelf teas. Fourth shelf garlic and sweets. Fifth shelf normally has onions, but currently only has some leftover taco shells. Last shelf has potatoes usually, but we ate them all and haven't refilled it yet.

The spice and oil cabinet. Top shelf has infrequently used items such as a scale, and breadcrumbs. It also has our "refill" honey. We buy local honey in half gallon containers and refill our smaller containers as needed. There is also olive oil, which we do use often, but it won't fit on any other shelf because it's too tall.

Second shelf on the right side: nuts in reused rice containers with homemade labels, oils and vinegars. On the left side: baking supplies including sugars, cocoa, molasses, baking soda, etc. Bottom shelf right side: spices! We put an old book down to make staggered heights and so we could read all the labels. Most of the containers have been refilled, and some of the bulk refill containers and bags are visible in the back. Left side: Extracts, (which I should move to the baking section at some point) and my husband's breakfast supplies. He has oatmeal with all sorts of toppings pretty much every day.

And that's my pantry.

On the top I keep pasta. Second shelf is homemade items including jams and salsas. When that gets full it bleeds on to the third shelf with the bigger jars of pickles and tomato sauce etc. Third shelf also has store bought canned items, "refill" items for other areas of the pantry (like raisins), and popcorn. Fourth shelf is more beans and canned items, as well as broths and soups and more "refill" items for the fridge like barbecue sauce. Fifth shelf is flours and other grains. Bottom shelf is my canning supplies (except the jars) and often has plastic containers to reuse. However, they are all currently in use in the fridge, holding all our CSA vegetables.

Normally the pantry is overflowing, and for a while we had an issue with a shortage of space, so we added more shelves via a hanging unit on the back of the door. On the top shelf is our Nielsen homescanner. Second shelf is rices. Third shelf teas. Fourth shelf garlic and sweets. Fifth shelf normally has onions, but currently only has some leftover taco shells. Last shelf has potatoes usually, but we ate them all and haven't refilled it yet.

The spice and oil cabinet. Top shelf has infrequently used items such as a scale, and breadcrumbs. It also has our "refill" honey. We buy local honey in half gallon containers and refill our smaller containers as needed. There is also olive oil, which we do use often, but it won't fit on any other shelf because it's too tall.

Second shelf on the right side: nuts in reused rice containers with homemade labels, oils and vinegars. On the left side: baking supplies including sugars, cocoa, molasses, baking soda, etc. Bottom shelf right side: spices! We put an old book down to make staggered heights and so we could read all the labels. Most of the containers have been refilled, and some of the bulk refill containers and bags are visible in the back. Left side: Extracts, (which I should move to the baking section at some point) and my husband's breakfast supplies. He has oatmeal with all sorts of toppings pretty much every day.

And that's my pantry.

Comments

thanks for sharing pics of your pantry....how do you manage to keep your spices so orderly??

Oh, to have that nice light pantry. I have a deep dark dungeon. Big, but dark!!

@milton - It's not usually that organized. I will admit that I cleaned up a bit before submitting my pantry. The "shelves" (books) we put down do help a lot though.

@Margaret - one thing of LOVE about our kitchen and pantry is the light we get in the afternoon. It's a narrow galley kitchen, but the light makes up for it.

I love the "book shelf" idea!!!!

I love your idea for using a book. I also love the colors in that apron!