| Author |
Across the Fence:  Your Pantry  |
|
|
country lawyer
True Blue Farmgirl
1022 Posts
1022 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 16 2007 : 10:23:38 AM
|
I must have lost my mind.  Today, I go into my pantry and decide it's time to clean and organize it. Not "re-organize," as it has never really been organized. I have taken everything out, just like they do on those TV shows. (Wish I had taken a "before" picture.) Now, I've got empty, clean shelves in the pantry and a kitchen island and table full of food. I'm looking for some ideas for putting all that stuff back in there! How is YOUR pantry organized?
"The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time."
James Taylor
www.ragstoroses.blogspot.com
|
|
|
ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
|
|
Beemoosie
True Blue Farmgirl
2077 Posts
Bonnie
New York
USA
2077 Posts |
|
|
babs
True Blue Farmgirl
226 Posts
Babette
MN
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - Feb 16 2007 : 11:01:52 AM
|
My girls and I (ages 9 and 13), we all cook... I organize by what I use most often and then sort by like items. This works for me until someone else uses the kitchen and they organize according to how they use it. ;)
So.. I'm constantly looking for stuff anyway.
Babs
Hatching Eggs: www.countryegg.com
My Etsy Store: www.mugwortmaggies.com
|
 |
|
|
bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - Feb 16 2007 : 11:12:13 AM
|
I sort of organize by use:herbs, spices and seasoning products, sauces, etc in one spot, baking items together, canned goods in one area, cereal and snacks in another. We are very short on storage space so I have to be organized so I know and use what I have. I also have one of those stainless steel kitchen shelf things in my laundry room for storing bulk items. I also routinely take everything out and use what was in the very back so there is some continuous rotation of products. I also store alot in jars so I can keep track of what I have.
with a happy heart |
|
|
|
KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Feb 16 2007 : 11:25:37 AM
|
You should watch the movie "Accidental Tourist" for inspiration--the spinster sister and her "boys" (middle aged brothers) alphabetize can goods, grains, etc.
I personally just put stuff where it fits, because I have small cabinet spaces, and my pantry closet is now a utility closet.
The small metal enamal cabinet from the 40's has all of our breakfast dry goods, along with extra sugars, flours, etc...and snack bars, chips, crackers, etc...
The cabinets hold canned goods and pastas, grains, etc.
The spice cabinet is the kicker--I have to organize that constantly because I use SOOO many! The bottom shelf is savory spices (all curries, chili's etc.., the mid shelf is baking spices, powders, cocoas--anything sweet or used with baking, the top is all oils and vinegars, bread/cracker crumbs.
And, after all of that, it still doesn't matter because my husband consistently asks me where everything is 
Just think of all of the roads there are...all of the things I haven't seen....yet. |
|
|
|
GaiasRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2552 Posts
Tasha-Rose
St. Paul
Minnesota
2552 Posts |
|
|
Tracey
True Blue Farmgirl
766 Posts
Tracey
State of Confusion
USA
766 Posts |
|
|
Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - Feb 16 2007 : 12:08:08 PM
|
Mine is organized by category- baking on one shelf, pastas and rice, etc. on another, veggies and fruits on another, canned meats and soups and so on.I try to keep everything in order by rows, but if someone else puts things away, it's anywhere they find space. Then I have to go back in and set it to rights. :(
Doesn't it feel good to step back and look how neat everything is?
Karin |
|
|
|
junebug
True Blue Farmgirl
2421 Posts
Sue
West Plains,
Mo.
USA
2421 Posts |
|
|
country lawyer
True Blue Farmgirl
1022 Posts
1022 Posts |
Posted - Feb 16 2007 : 12:54:53 PM
|
Thanks so much for your help! This is slower and harder than it would seem. I'm making progress, though. Any more suggestions out there?
"The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time."
James Taylor
www.ragstoroses.blogspot.com
|
|
|
|
kitchensqueen
True Blue Farmgirl
521 Posts
521 Posts |
Posted - Feb 16 2007 : 1:36:24 PM
|
I have only 3 small shelves in my pantry. The top shelf are jars of flour, sugar and other baking items. The middle shelf are the oils, vinegars, salt, honey, etc. The bottom shelf is for cereal, bread, chips, etc. I have a seperate smaller cupboard where I keep my herbs and spices-- savory cooking ones in one basket, and sweet baking ones in another basket. I dream of having a lovely walk in pantry (old farmhouse style) that is a room unto itself-- it would have a marble baking board in front of a sunny window, large bins for bulk dry goods, and the door would be an old-fashioned screen door so I could see in and out of it (saw the screen door idea in an issue of Country Living). I'd like to have a Hooser cabinet too, but I think I'd keep it in the main kitchen-- no pre-fab cabinets and counters for me!
http://apartmentfarm.wordpress.com
Opening in March 2007:
http://shadetreestudios.etsy.com |
|
|
|
Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Feb 16 2007 : 2:13:01 PM
|
I am sort of a food storage nut...I love it. I am not super organized, but do keep like items together...most of the fruit (canned or dried) in one section, baking items in another, etc. We have a cellar that is where I keep most of it and in the kitchen I just keep what I will be using during the week..(in theory..I need to go through the canned goods cupboard in the kitchen and haul some unused things back downstairs.) I try to go downstairs and take "inventory" now and then informally..just so I know what I could use more of on hand..so if I see a sale I know if we could use more mustard..I have made huge mistakes and way too stocked up on things and other times run completly out of other things..I guess that keeps life interesting..right??
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
|
|
|
brightmeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
2045 Posts
Brenda
Lucas
Ohio
USA
2045 Posts |
Posted - Feb 16 2007 : 2:18:34 PM
|
Well, I am hardly the organized type, but I do try to store things in my kitchen closest to the place they are used. So the coffee mugs are right above the coffee maker, the pots are in the cabinet by the stove, and the baking ingredients like baking powder, baking soda, tapioca, brown sugar, chocolate chips, etc. are all in one cabinet together near the oven. The mixing bowls are kind of near the KitchenAid mixer and the flour is close to the bread machine.
But my kitchen doesn't have a built-in pantry (SAD FACE) so I bought three small pantry cabinets from Target. I put most of my canned goods and pastas,etc. in there but organized? Who can say? Mostly by size, I guess... so I can put the tall things on the tall shelves and the short things on the short shelves, I guess.
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my blog at http://brightmeadowfarms.blogspot.com ,web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
|
|
|
candismom
True Blue Farmgirl
560 Posts
Elizabeth
560 Posts |
|
|
Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Feb 17 2007 : 05:14:37 AM
|
I have a floor to ceiling one in my kitchen, and use several cupboards in the laundry room (which used to be a kitchen; it's like 15'x19' or something like that). In the kitchen one the top shelf has stuff I don't use all that much, like my salad spinner (garden's frozen), crackers, brown rice in jars, and cake flour. (Good thing it's cake flour and not even a bug would eat it; I'm not sure how old it is.)
Next shelf has jars and jars of herbs and spices. I buy in bulk and repackage. Flavored olive oils and regular olive oil on the left, butter and sweet spices on the right. There are a gazillion jars in there, but I can just about lay my hands on any of it with my eyes closed and come up with the right thing. I'm consistent that way.
Next shelf has dinnerware; plates, bowls, saucers, cutting boards, terra cotta chili bowls, pepper mills (gotta have a few) and some boxed teas in the back, along with BIG bottles of vitamins that I download into smaller ones.
Next shelf has flours. White flour, wheat flour, rye flour, potato flour, brown rice flour, gluten flour, etc. I also keep some nuts and seeds and whole grains, bulgur, cracked wheat and other sorts of bread stuff in there. It's pretty to look at. Oh, and there's a stash of espresso chocolate in there and some 85% cocoa chocolate, but don't tell anyone. 
Next shelf is sugar, honey, corn syrup, molasses, golden syrup (if you're from the South, you'd know what this is), coffees, drinking chocolate, nuts, dried fruit, and little fruit cups. I put those in a little basket thing so the grandkids can find them easily.
Bottom shelf is two big stacks of nested mixing bowls and strainers, extra units for my JennAir range, and boxed cereal.
The door to the left has shelves in it. Top one has all sorts of obnoxious stuff like food coloring and colored sprinkles. The next one has different spices, the next one has homeopathic remedies. Next one has hubby's daily meds, the one after that one has my daily meds. Bottom one has spray stuff like spray olive oil, and some egg wash spray I use sometimes on bread to get the seeds to stick to the top without deflating the loaf a whit.
Inside on the wall to the left is a Braun hand mixer. Well, maybe it's Krups; it's one of those stick ones. I thought I had to have it and I hardly ever use it.
On the right in the same place is a row of cups hung on hooks. I used to hang my cheese paddle there and for years after I stopped making cheese I forgot that I could do something else with that space. Duh.
Canned goods live in the laundry area. There are five or six shelves. The freezer is back there too, as is the juicer/juice extractor I never use, and a bunch of extra pans that I rarely use, like my tube cake pan and a couple of baguette pans, the waffle iron, etc.
You should see how I do my closets. I have clothing spread out everywhere too; three closets (two of them double), three dressers and an enormous mahogany armoire. And I never have anything to wear.  |
|
|
|
Aunt George
True Blue Farmgirl
1476 Posts
Georgann
Midlothian
VA
1476 Posts |
Posted - Feb 17 2007 : 06:24:59 AM
|
Wow....I need to get with it. Love these pantry descriptions! One thing I might add, is I found a great way to store small always fall on the floor items. Just get a small drawer thinging that you can put flat packages in. Small kiddie treats etc. Mine is a small 3 drawer stacking unit that I have on the shelf. I also increased the shelf space by putting in wire baskets that hang from the shelf above...I keep napkins and placemats on them. Also an on the door wire shelving unit...great use of unused space. I'll try to snap some photos today or tomorrow. I'm not the most organized, but trying to improve. My pantry is very small, so I've had to really conserve space in it since I cook 3 a day for 5 people!
http://auntgeorgeshouse.blogspot.com/index.html
Thanks for checking out my apron and sewing musings! |
|
|
|
oceanfarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
231 Posts
Rachel
A Little Closer to Heaven
Oregon Coast
USA
231 Posts |
|
|
herbquilter
True Blue Farmgirl
891 Posts
Kristine
Bonney Lake
Wa
USA
891 Posts |
Posted - Feb 21 2007 : 12:40:20 PM
|
I love pantry's and especially when they are full. We have 3 pantry's. Here's a pic of the canning pantry in the fall.
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r104/herbquilter/canningpantry.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>
We have a pantry in our hallway that is close to the kitchen,for dry, packaged & metal canned goods.
Then under the stairway in the basement we have the larger buckets of grains, beans, gallons of oil, etc.
We use our food storage & eat what we store.
Love the self-suffient live style!!!
Blessings,
Kristine ~ Mother of Many & Herbalist
www.herbalmomma.com
|
|
|
|
herbquilter
True Blue Farmgirl
891 Posts
Kristine
Bonney Lake
Wa
USA
891 Posts |
|
| |
Across the Fence: Your Pantry |
|
Your Pantry
