The pantry tour and lots of links! Get your tea and follow me!
Every so often I like to give you a pantry tour.
I like seeing others’ pantries, especially the old-fashioned ones. I think my first foray into the world of YouTube was watching real homemakers’ pantry tours!
So this is going to be a lot of pictures of seemingly undifferentiated shelves full of stuff, but in the words of P. G. Wodehouse, if you like that sort of thing, then that’s the sort of thing you like! And I’m here for you.
I’m going to try to orient you so it’s all a little less jumbled.
If you need to know where in the kitchen you are, go here.
My active cooking area is to the left and back, so the pantry is some steps away.
Here you are going a little closer, past the back stairs…
I found that old folding ruler amongst my late father-in-law’s things and just decided to put it up here. And you see my new shelf, up high there above the metal shelves:
Cute little vintage shelf with potatoes, onions, and garlic (this is last year’s garlic; this year’s is out in the garage still!):
Full disclosure: there is not a ton of food in here.
It’s just the two of us. And I haven’t gone shopping for real in a while. So there aren’t many potatoes etc. I understand if you’re running a big household and think, “Well, I have a lot more food!” But just know, this was my pantry all those busy, populated years and my sewing machine and fabric stash were in here too! Click for a really old post with how it was!
I made room for the “apothecary” — my herbal remedies, some from the garden, yard, and lane, and some boughten:
The wine racks are from an Aldi special some months ago. They are really perfect as they are super space saving (hexagons for the win! the bees know!) and stack. We call this the “wine cellar”!
Again, haven’t stocked up recently in this department, but when we do, there is room for 14 bottles right here!
On the bottom rack are extra clean towels and rags in the basket. Also cloth napkins. The active supply is in the main part of the kitchen. You know, if there’s a big spill, it’s really handy to have an old, absorbent towel nearby so you don’t have to use your good ones. And I have so many good ones right now that I have this extra stash here.
On the high shelf are some jars…
I suddenly wanted the jars to be stepped back, so I grabbed the three cooling racks I have that sort of have stands and stack. I don’t use them very often, so I don’t mind putting them here for now. If it looks wonky, it’s because it is wonky…
I have some staples in these buckets. Wheat berries, flour, rice, sugar. I like to buy those in bulk:
I like having the microwave in here. But I think I would like to replace it with an air-fryer or some sort of combo, as we often do not need to heat up even our smaller oven! Yes, I need three ovens, I guess…
The empty buckets, as well as the “second bucket full of wheat berries” or what have you, are stowed here next to the fridge. The doors to the fridge and freezer have to be able to open all the way, or you can’t get into them, so the fridge cannot be shoved into the corner, as I would dearly love to do. Refrigerators are so annoying!
Pay no attention to the electrical situation here… the fridge’s outlet was installed by the electrician, no worries haha…
This is my second fridge. I used to have a second one out in the garage and this was my main one. It’s actually a very good appliance, but being normal depth, stuck way out into the kitchen in a paralyzing way.
I was so happy to bring it into the pantry. I hated going out to the garage for extra things, and anyway, in winter, modern fridges stop working! So what’s in them freezes while what’s in their freezers thaw… I now just have my deep freezer out there, and it is rated for garage use.
To the right of the fridge I have moved my cookbooks and miscellany:
I like having a little line to dry ziplock bags on. We shouldn’t throw away a ziplock that has just been used to store bread. Rinse it out and hang it up!
The window is such a nice feature of this pantry. Like all my windows, it’s big; it really did not have to extend so low, you know? I could have a cabinet there, under it… oh well, I appreciate the light and the airflow.
That wooden box just happens to fit very nicely on the shelf and contains my stash of incandescent bulbs (partial).Back when the regulations to restrict them came out, I began hoarding. Some are upstairs…
My stash of “special” jars… distinct from all the other jars here and the ones out in the garage. You know what I mean… there are a few Mason jars in there just because of previous disorder, but most are funny sizes and shapes.
Bags, because one does not just recycle a paper bag, particularly one with handles… and then cleaning things need to be hung up, but lacking a broom closet, I have to find places for these things in here. If you go back up a couple of pics, you will see the dust mop on a nail to the left of the window. These things are not necessary for me to access every day, so they are tucked back here.
Jars on the lowest shelf and on the floor here in boxes:
Things over here are my “shopping area” — pasta, dried fruits, honey, canned and dried beans, spices to replenish my active supply by the stove, and so on.
The wooden boxes, below, have tea things and some random tins, sorry, this is not a good picture!
There is a rack there on the wall for dirty rags, towels, and dishcloths so they can dry before being put in the hamper — and my broom is on a nail! Highly recommend for greater housewife satisfaction — get your broom off the floor!
Circling back around:
Okay, we can go back to the kitchen now… this is the “active pantry” cupboard, plus I have drawers over here for baking supplies and bread and chips.
Hope you enjoyed the tour!
bits & pieces
Holly Hickman interviewed me on the topic of minimalism (I think by now you know which side I’m on, but you might enjoy it!).
A lengthy essays on the life, work, and faith of George MacDonald, a true spiritual father for so many of us. The Mythic Vision of George MacDonald by Robin Mark Phillips. MacDonald “showed the beauty of the Christian story, articulating a vision of re-enchantment that was as counter-cultural in his day as in our own. He aimed to show, not simply that the Christian story is true, but that it is attractive.”
I loved this “underground” history of fry bread — something you find at the fair and maybe make at home?
I liked this article (and feel like we’ve talked about these things before? It’s good to think about time!): In defense of interstitial time: How to grow life in the in-between moments
I really loved this article about the masculinity crisis in the Church. I get the question a lot: I read what you say for women, but what can my husband read, about manhood? Maybe ask him what he thinks of this!
from the archivesThree Features in My House You Can Have Too
On teaching a foreign language to your child
Your Child Can Talk Less
How to talk to your child about scary news
liturgical living
Tomorrow is the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
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