In the 18 hours since I have officially moved into my grandmother's home, I have investigated the contents of the fridge, the freezer, and all the kitchen cupboards. I've been advised to look for a Dymo labelwriter among her appliances so that I can label canisters, but Grandma is actually pretty careful about labeling things.
Grandma seems to keep her food in pairs; either there's a little bag which has been portioned out of the Family Value size bag, or there's one jar open and one jar for backup. The two containers are rarely stored together.
One of my mom's friends is a professional organizer. She says that being organized just means being able to find what you want when you want it; you can organize your life in cardboard shoe boxes if that's what works for you. My corollary to her axiom is: no one can tell you where to store your pasta sauce. (My grandmother's unopened jar was in the laundry room, rather than in the cupboard with the canned diced tomatoes and tomato paste.)
Given time and attention, I will learn where everything is or is meant to be. What will be harder is learning what to do with these things I would never have a reason to buy. Grandma was decanting powdered milk from a giant box into a clean jar when I came outside to write this post. She says she puts it in her cocoa, which is an obvious use which would never would have occurred to me (since there is un-powdered milk in the fridge).
I was raised on a strict diet of Chinese-influenced-New-York/American-food-that-my-mom-likes. So, no Jello pudding. No brussel sprouts. Moving to England broadened my culinary horizons - parsnips! brussel sprouts! Crunch Cremes! Quinoa! Moving to Tulsa is going to add yet another mid-western health food dimension - Stove Top chicken stuffing. Milled flax seed. Jiffy mix corn muffins. Sugar-free jello. Instant tea. Betty Crocker Double Chocolate muffin mix. No, wait - I totally know what to do with that.
In an effort to follow Teddy Roosevelt's advice to "do what you can with what you have where you are", I was browsing online for some recipes for a few ingredients that are in the fridge. As always, I was frustrated by the "serves 8" size of the recipes; I may not be an ambitious cook, but let's not eat the same thing for 4 nights running, please! So, I went down to the library to peruse the cooking section. Some interesting titles. Cooking with Shakespeare (isn't he dead?) James Beard's American Cookery (who?) Tastefully Oklahoma (hmmm....) You're fine to cook - A first cookbook for newlyweds, couples and lovers. (I've technically just moved in with someone - does that count?)
I came home without a cookbook. And now it's almost time for dinner, so I'm going to open up the fridge and say,
"Leftovers, anyone?"
I'll be interested to know what you think of the pseudo-sugar that your grandmother used when Grandpa was alive - I was afraid to try it :o(
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