Friday, December 11, 2020

We Could Probably All Use A Little Organization In Our Lives


Hello, hello! Can we come in and eat some treats? 

I swear, if it wasn't for the poop, I would gladly allow my chickens in the house. As Mr. Moon said this morning, between our cats and our chickens, we are always amused. Maurice slept with us last night and this morning when we tried to snuggle a bit, that crazy orange cat who was between us made noises like she wanted to take our heads off. We only laughed but that was because we were protected by layers of covers, otherwise we both would have frozen in fear. I was wondering the other day if perhaps Maurice just has very, very sensitive skin. Perhaps a nerve disorder thing? But no, I'm sure that's not it. She simply does not want to be moved at all if she is in a comfortable place. 
I do not even want to think about what her early childhood was like. Poor baby.  

So what did I do today? I know you can't stand the suspense so I'll tell you- not fucking much. 

The chickens will sleep better tonight because I cleaned out their henhouse and we will sleep cozy because I washed the sheets. 
I know. You're shocked!

But I did reorganize my main food cabinet AND the spices. It took me all day to get around to that and about an hour to do it. Procrastination has become my super power since the pandemic began. I could give in-services on how best to waste time. Via Zoom, of course. 



That's a little better. Guess what? I have three unopened bottles of Liquid Smoke. Three. Also, three jars of chunky peanut butter. As you can see. And again in threes- Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix. And oh yes, there is a lot of coffee because when Publix sells the kind we like (Eight O'Clock French Roast- we are not coffee snobs) on BOGO, we buy a bunch. But that will all get used in a timely manner. I threw away a few things. Or, gave them to the chickens. Like a box of freekeh. Remember when I was all into ancient grains? I should try that again. Meanwhile, the chickens loved it. I threw away a jar of pickled beets without a date on them. They looked...funky. I kept another jar of undated beets. Why have I ever put any home-canned food on my shelves that weren't dated? I swear- I've learned my lesson. I threw away some pepper vinegar that I think someone gave me as a gift sixteen years ago. In the south, you get a bottle of pepper vinegar and you just keep adding vinegar to it as you use it up. I mean, you can go into restaurants and find bottles of pepper vinegar wherein the peppers are white from being reused so many times. The ones I threw out weren't exactly white but they were definitely mushy. 

As I said, I also went through and organized my spices. Now this is going to change my life. I have spices in several different places and until today, there was no real rhyme or reason as to why they were in the places they were. I have an old wooden Coke case that I keep some in by the stove while some live on some built-in shelves near the stove, and of course others make their home above the stove. Right? I did not deal with that last category today but here's how the rest of it went. 


These are the baking, pickling, and Indian spices. 


And here we have the others. The thyme, the bay leaves, sage, paprikas, etc. I keep my oregano in the freezer because I buy it in bulk at Costco. 
And I did throw out a lot of old spices. I thought about Steve Reed  who never throws anything away and I felt a tiny bit guilty but not very. I mean- ancient spices add nothing to either food or life. That's my opinion, anyway. Life is short. Replace your spices. 

Perhaps I'll slowly get the entire kitchen in a more organized and pared-down condition. I sure would like that. And it's sort of fun, isn't it? I think it would be a lot more fun if I were stoned when I did it but sadly, that's not part of my reality these days. 
Oh well. 
Martinis, however, are, and my husband just made me one. 
He's such a sweetie. 

Love...Ms. Moon


31 comments:

  1. A job well done! Dennis went into the back of the fridge last night and found some weird stuff dated about four years ago. Some kind of nut "milk" which is not milk at all. I admire your organizational skill! You have even lined up the chickens in an orderly manner! R.E.S.P.E.C.T, sister!

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    1. Yeah. How do you milk a nut? Huh?
      It's taken me years to train the chickens! Years, I tell you!

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  2. Organizing things always makes me feel useful. I have a pantry which is an easy place to lose things and then find them several years later. Looks good.

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  3. Someone should have made a video of your kitchen campaign. It would make excellent viewing. You could have even chosen your own dramatic background music. Now back to the procrastination Mary - it's a very underrated state of being.

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    1. Perhaps some "Mother's Little Helper"?
      I truly have developed superior procrastination skills. I put the "pro" in procrastination.

      Delete
  4. It's fun to see into other people's kitchen cabinets. Peering at what they have. My own spices are in three cabinets, in about five different lazy susans. Not sure what the logic is, except that one lazy s is nothing but peppers and salts. So that works. I can find stuff, so I suppose that's something.

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    1. Do my cabinet's items have you laughing? I do keep other food in other places. So, that's just part of what I keep around. And as long as you can find things- it's okay.

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  5. Did you find any black olives in olive oil? I could use them. And I sure would appreciate that metal pot on the third shelf. Otherwise, it looks great.

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    1. Nope. No black olives in olive oil. I do have some blue cheese stuffed olives in the oilest oil I've ever encountered. It's like oil on oil steroids.
      That metal pot is actually a Whirly Pop Popcorn maker! It's awesome.

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  6. I love to organize my pantry and spice cabinet, but in three days tops I’ll be back to throwing stuff in Willy billy.

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    1. Well hell! That should be WILLY NILLY, Mr. stoopid auto correct. Geesh!

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    2. I was seriously thinking that I like "Willy Billy" better than "Willy Nilly."

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    3. It comes from "will he, nill he" - in other words, it happens whether someone wants it to or not.

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  7. You know I have that same superpower- procrastination! You did great to get the cabinet and spices organized. There are so many jobs like that I need to do but I'm just trying to get Christmas preparations and basic housework done. It's never-ending. I love the chickens at the door! Take care!

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    1. I have done nothing to get ready for Christmas. At all. Except to order more flannel than I'll ever need. Or use. So more power to you, Bonnie!

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  8. Sheesh. Just reminded me I need to wash the sheets...and that my spice cupboard is likely to have way too many dead spices in residence. Maybe next year... :) Good job on your tasks.

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    1. There's always next year...
      Unless there isn't in which case who cares about the spices?

      Delete
  9. At some point during this lockdown life, I organized my canned goods pantry. This includes a spreadsheet of inventory. OMG and LOL, but I am telling you it thrills me to pieces when I can easily figure out I do not in fact need another can of such and such because my handy dandy chart shows I have plenty already.

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    1. Oh! And that chicken picture is divine!!

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    2. Jill, I swear- that sounds like a true thrill to me. Sometimes I do make a list of things I DON'T need but then I lose it.

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  10. Yes, reorganizing your spices always feels good when you are finished with it! I have a lazy susan corner cabinet where I keep my spices. I threw out a lot of them when I last cleaned it out as most were very, very old. Now of course, every time I go to make a new recipe, I am missing the one spice I need.

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    1. You gotta replace the old ones! Best to do it one-by-one though. They're so expensive!

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  11. How funny, I Organized my Cabinets during Pandemic too and we have only lived here since February! Now, if only I could get the rest of my Life and Property Organized, I'd be Golden! You did a good job, I have a penchant for Spices and a Pantry Cache, which only intensified during Pandemic when other people were Panic Buying and Grocers were running out of staples we use a lot. I didn't exactly Hoard, but I sure have more than usual, so your Threes amused me because I have at least more than One of everything now I think!?

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    1. I've been the same way- not hoarding but absolutely making sure I don't run out of things. I'm getting a little better but at the beginning of the pandemic I was a little nuts.

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  12. We have all the same brands of spices! That made me smile to see. :) I love the photo of your chickens peering in. Cuties!

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    1. Of course we do! You and I are both southern cooks.
      It cracks me up when the chickens do that. They are absolutely asking me to come give them treats, i.e., kitchen scraps.

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  13. Chickens in the house ?
    Only one time and boy was there a mess

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    1. Mine used to sneak in frequently but then my husband repaired the screen where they were gaining entrance. It was somewhat charming to have chickens in the house but...yes. The mess. They sure did love the cat food though.

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  14. LOL -- I love that you thought of me when you were reorganizing your spices! We still haven't thrown any of ours away but I'm about to the point where I'm going to start. We still have spices that expired in about 2012. But I always think of my mom, who had spices going all the way back to the 1960s, and she still used them. She insisted they were fine!

    Remember how we had five bottles of cinnamon several years ago? Well, we're now down to two, mostly because I've been putting it in my morning coffee just to use it up. It's not bad that way.

    The good thing about a clean-out like this is it allows you to take stock and get organized. Now you can work your way through that peanut butter. :)

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  15. Congratulations, will you come and do the job in my kitchen now?
    Please!

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