Autumn creeping in and Pantry Cleaning in Full Mode

You can feel the subtle change in the weather.  We get more misty mornings and spiders webs in September and as the temperature lowers, it is a lot damper sometimes with more ephemeral starts to the day. This is the time of year where spiders seem to double and I am forever sweeping spider's webs from the ceiling of the passage.  My perception is that the Sun also  alters its position in the sky as well at this time of year.  This year although we have had some warm periods, we have not really had our proper English Summer.  The weather patterns have changed again and it is time to get practical and start sorting out our priorities and what is important to us at the end of the day. I have a lot to do in a short space of time, some of it in anticipation of next year and what I hope to do then. A lot to do in the house, and updating parts of the house that have not been touched for ages.

Today we have had for the best part in the early hours  of this morning continuous rain.  It lessened off for a bit but is now in full pelt (12:35pm). Drumming down on everything in site.  There has been a yellow warning with regard to the rain from yesterday until 6:00pm tonight (yesterday's weather forecast). Some areas at risk of flooding. I have since checked today's forecast and at the moment it is 39% risk of rain.  It is chucking it at the moment but there will be light showers into the afternoon.  Temperature is about 20 degrees today but is due to go to 14 degrees by Wednesday and then start to go a little higher. Rain is forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday at the moment.  We need the rain so this drenching will do some good.  Tomorrow is meant to be dull.  Pitstop at 4:00pm when I stopped for a cuppa.  Sun is out it has gone warm although there are a few clouds passing over.  From one extreme to another - such is the British weather.

It is a good time to be productive and carry on with the Pantry.  It will be tomorrow now when the flooring is put in and then I will be able to re-organise the bottom part of the Pantry.  It will be all clean again which is what I was after before I re-stock.  It is always important to keep on top of the Pantry as stuff is in and out and fresh stuff if stored in there needs keeping an eye on.  Hopefully will get it all sorted soon. It is very satisfying to get everything looking clean, tidy. I have found stuff as per usual.  

I am slowly working through, cleaning jars, sorting contents, sorting shelves.  The Pantry will need a fresh coat of paint next spring, but that is all part and parcel of maintaining a traditional pantry.  In the Spring always painted up (traditionally given a Lime wash) as part of the Spring clean, tidied up and cleaned out.  

My little Pantry is someone else's dream Pantry.  I am grateful for it, however do not have room for the large storage jars that I have and the empty ones I have and the more I would like for adding in further basic ingredients. Then there are all my glass storage jars on my dressers.  It will happen eventually but in the interim I am making the best use I can of it and making it work as best as it can for me.. A Pantry is a must have to my way of life.

My Pantry over the years has got us out of so many situations when money has been sparse, but being able to eat makes all the difference. It takes away so much stress by knowing that you will eat.  Granted they are probably not meals of choice, but they keep the belly full and it helps you get by for another day. The main thing is to get through another day, situations change, some days once all the bills have been paid you have more money.  Other days not so much. In the greater scheme of things it is good simple food that has a charm and place all of its own which sees you through and save the purse. 

When money is tight I quite regularly make traditional English food things like soups and casseroles, cheap and cheerful food, even homemade stir fries, egg and chips, that sort thing that keeps the belly full.  I nearly always have eggs and potatoes as well as onions, bacon, cheese and milk in.  You need other items besides just preserved items.  They are just different kinds of "Pantry" storage that lives in the fridge, the freezer, the Pantry, the Cold room.  Just different sections of your bigger "Pantry".

Having a well stocked Pantry on all the basics though gives security and less worry.  At least you are going to eat. I have been with G about 37 years, raised his two children (they moved in on us which was totally unexpected) and by working full time with no breaks.  so there was always a need for plenty of food for them especially when they were growing and eating more than we did.  

In those 37 years (which have not been easy) I have had him out of work at different times over 12 years.  He has been able on occasion to find temporary work that brought in some money to go towards bills, but having the satisfaction of food available lessens the stress.  I think there is a saying "control what you can control and leave the rest".  It will sort itself out, but certain things have to be prioritised.  I was always taught that a roof over your head, food in your belly and warmth were the essentials and that everything else was a bonus.

I miss my freezers so much, as anything that constituted a bit of a meal or left-overs used to be squirrelled away and frozen and then used up later on.  

When I had the freezers if there was a lot of meat leftover from a joint, I used to freeze whole meals.  This made life easy during the week so that it was just literally a defrost and warm up meal straight out of the freezer. These worked out well when I was working as mid-week we were able to have the luxury of a full roast meal very quickly of an evening after coming home from work. This method of "preserving" saves so much waste and so much money. I used to go shopping for the month with a set amount, freeze all my meat and then quite often or not did not use it all up, and ended up with a buffer/stockpile to rely on.  These days I literally do not have a place to have a freezer whether upright or chest freezer which is my preference. 

When my lovely darling Nan was alive, my Mum and I kept her going on freezer meals. We used to plate up meals for her freeze them and take them over.  My Nan was a very good cook and always having had good food throughout her life she found the OAP meals not to her taste.  This was our way as a family to help her and making sure she got a good meal in the process.  She was visited a lot, and we also had her visit us.  It is the company that matters most when you are older. 

The positive view on not having the freezers though is helping me navigate other ways of providing food for the Pantry shelf, whether that be as part of a meal or a meal in a jar. I am very much on an experimental journey working out what things suit us, what we like and what we do not. A lot of research has been done, and I am hoping to get into the swing of things of getting more items prepped up so that I can just grab a jar from the shelf and we either have a meal or part of a meal.  This works well with all the fruit I put up as am able to get a pudding ready in next to no time.  I am also making my own homemade Pantry mixes for a few things which is also helping in its own way.  I do however in the future want my Freezers again although I am grateful not to have a dearer electric bill as a result at the moment.

Meanwhile back to today.  I have been up and down steps backward and forward, washing and cleaning shelves, and jars, bottles etc. Making sure everything is lovely and clean in readiness for OH laying the new flooring tomorrow.  

My kitchen now looks like a bomb has hit it but getting it done and out the way with is necessary.  Once all done and dusted will be able to close the door on it, get the items that go in the bottom of the Pantry back where they belong as well as drag in a few things from elsewhere in the house that were bought with the Pantry in mind.  To finish the Pantry, I just need two hook boards for the back of the Pantry door.  We have the wood, and I just need to buy 8 hooks as I am planning on two boards of four hooks. Upper ones for my aprons and some other Pantry items on the bottom ones. That should finish off the Pantry nicely.

Right I think that will do for today.

Going to watch some TV.

Have a lovely evening everyone.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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