I’ve really been enjoying sneaking into other people’s pantries the last week. Not only to see what other people are putting up, but to see what else they store in there.
I thought I’d like to join in the fun. Our pantry isn’t as full as you might expect, but then most of the veggies and some jam are in the freezer, the onions and potatoes are in the barn, the garlic in the kitchen cabinet and the herbs are in the garden. Plus, here West of the Cascades, we have access to a lot of fresh produce all year round.
We can buy apples and pears pretty much all winter at the farm stand and farmer’s market. Same goes for salad greens, scallions, radish and most brassicas. This year they’ll hopefully come from our garden, but if not I know we can get them from local farmers. So I put up and keep only the things that I love to have.
Here’s what it looks like tonight:
This cute little closet is in between the kitchen and the dining room. I’m not sure what the former owners used it for, or what it was designed for, but it works really well for canned goods. Mike’s supposed to put some more shelves in for me, but in the meantime I’m just stacking the jars in there.
Missing is most of the tomatoes I expected to have by now, but will be canning in the next week or two (they’re ripening under a poly tunnel until we get a frost warning), the canned apple slices that are still whole apples in the garage and the bread and butter pickles I need to make this weekend with the last of the cucumbers. I’d hoped to have some blackberry jam, but the time to pick has been eluding me, so I may buy a flat at the last of the Edmond’s farmers markets this weekend and make some freezer jam instead.
Want a closer look?
Bottom shelf. From left to right this is 20 quarts and 2 pints of dill pickles, plus one from last year. 12 pints of garden pickles (mixed carrots, beans, cauliflower and zucchini). 13 pints of Dilly Beans. 5 quarts of pickled asparagus. And 5 half pints plus 3-12 oz jars of pickled red onion. We’ll be vinegared up all winter at this rate…
Middle shelf. 16 jars (left from 24) of no-pectin strawberry jam – we’ll never have enough for winter at this rate! 7 quarts of stewed tomatoes. 8 quarts, 1 pint and 24 half pints of peaches. Plus 2 jars of apple slices from last year that we need to eat.
Top shelf: Mostly empty, but will be filled with the rest of the apple jars and chicken stock when I get around to trying out Denise’s pressure canner later this fall. There right now is the 24 half pints of apple sauce from last night. I’ll likely make a few more pints when the rest of the apples are ready.
So, if you’ve been growing or preserving this summer, what’s in your pantry? What’s it look like? Enquiring minds would love to know!
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We’ve been meaning to take a pantry picture, too! I’ve been busy this week cleaning and re-arranging so the canned goods could move off the dining room table and into the cupboards. Maybe the family photographer will have some free time after HarvestFest on Saturday.
We have very similar things in our pantries, except I have many, many more kinds of jam. Like 10 or 12 kinds of jam. I also have some sauces, like ketchup and Asian plum sauce.
Laura -
Will you use some of your harvest potatoes as seed for next year or will you buy new?
Ahh, if only I had a pantry! Currently all our canned goods are squeezed onto various bookshelves in our spare room and my office. I dream of having a localized storage place for it all. So far
7 pints green beans
4 quarts Wheat berry and Kale soup
9 quarts black beans
7 half pints of Peach Habanero salsa
2 quarts apple sauce
7 quarts green tomatoes
8 half pints tomatillo salsa
2 quarts corn stock
5 quarts chicken stock
4 pints Rhubarb juice concentrate
4 half pints roasted tomato paste
6 half pints Blueberry Habanero Chutney
Like you – I am waiting for the tomatoes to ripen and we have a good deal of frozen produce including Chinese Broccoli, Kale, lambsquarter, blackberries, cherries, yin yang beans, and peas. I should do a post on this…why do we find it so entertaining to peer into others kitchens?
Try as I might, I am just not a huge apple fan. How do you make the canned apple rings? Maybe I’d like those? Apple season is in full swing, but here on the OTHER side of the Cascades we don’t have quite the access to goodies year round as you. I’m envious
6 quarts pickles from last year
4 pints grape jam
13 quarts tomatoes
9 1/2 pints ketchup
10 quarts peaches
14 pints pear butter
14 pints pear chutney
Expecting to make big tomato sauce batch this weekend and hopefully blackberry preserves, if I am not too late. We aren’t big pickle-people, so we go light in that department.
Wow, wanna come over and organize? I don’t dare show a photo of mine…EVER. At least I can rest assured knowing all the things I lost are in there somewhere.
Denise – I saw your pantry post the other day, your jams and preserves sound AMAZING!
Angie – we’ll buy potato seed again next year as I think we’ll get it from a different supplier, and I’d like to try a couple new varieties.
Maya – wow! go you! I don’t know, but I find it fascinating to hear what others decide to make and how they store it. Maybe because I sometimes find fabulous ideas?
Meadowlark – I just peel and slice the apples (into 8ths, not rings), cold pack them and pour a boiling sugar syrup in (15% I think), then process. It’s just like canned peaches or pears, but with a firmer texture. Oh, and a bit of cinnamon and cloves. So good!
Renee – nice! Yeah, I think you’re either a pickle person or you’re not. We definitely are, but we’re not so much the jam and preserve people. Saw your pantry post tonight – looks just like our basement storage in the last house – so strange!
Megan – you should see the rest of my cabinets, then you wouldn’t feel bad. Or hey, my closet for that matter…
Nice looking pantry. I’m sure it helps out year round and gets restocked as the food is ready to pick fresh from your garden.
Jon-who also has a well stocked pantry