One of the most satisfying (yet a little bit terrifying) things to do at the end of the year is to clean out the pantry. You get a chance to set aside all the things in there that have expired. You see what you didn't actually use and what you need more of. You get to decide what to put back and how to re-organize it if you want to.
You also have the opportunity to make changes. Ask yourself why you have X, Y or Z in your pantry anyway? Because that's what your mother had? Because you read a list of pantry staples in a cookbook? Because you aspire to cooking new dishes?
I have one thing in my pantry that's ridiculous. It's a half-empty container of Morton's table salt from 1991 - yes, I said 1991! It moved with me from Edmonton Alberta to Tarrytown NY in 1991 and has been in my kitchen cabinets ever since. Every year I look at it - so far it's still there.
But this year, I've decided it's time to move on and update my salt. The fact that it's still around and not empty shows how little salt I actually use - basically only a small amount here and there for cooking. There's no salt shaker on my table.
I'm going to stock my pantry with what I actually use, not what's on a list or what was in my mother's pantry. Yes, I can try new recipes of course. But I'll buy stuff for the recipe and then make it. Not buy stuff on the off chance that someone will stop by and I'll need to feed them lunch. For better or worse, that's not how it works anymore in 2022. And there's a whole lot of places to buy great lunches around here. So if you want to stop by for lunch, great! I'm sure we'll be able to find something delicious without worrying about my pantry.
But this is really about something bigger.
For the last two years, there's been a kind of limbo. Its like a vinyl record that skips or repeats. A nudge is needed to move the stylus out of that particular groove so that the rest of the song can play. I got that nudge this December when my beautiful younger sister Amy got married. She and her husband picked Corinthians 13:4 as their scripture (the love is patient, love is kind one). The minister reminded us all of how difficult yet wonderful it is to follow that advice. Don't be jealous or proud. Be patient. Don't be arrogant or irritable. Be optimistic. Strong. Rejoice in what's good and right.
These are the qualities that I'm putting into my pantry for 2023. I will use them when the messages swirling around me become too hateful. I'll add a few packages of Instant Roy Diblik in there as well, just in case I need to be reminded to share space unselfishly like plants do in a natural ecosystem.