Old Mother Hubbard

What began as a simple search for a small can of chicken broth to take a stab at a new soup recipe, ended up as a total purging of my kitchen cupboard.

I do skim through my cupboards occasionally. 

When the boy-scouts solicit door-to-door in their quest for can goods to benefit the local community pantry, I rummage through my cabinets to donate to this worthy cause. 

When the mailman, through the post-office, makes his yearly appeal for food items, I dig in again and fetch a few more items.

So see?  As I purchase new food, I do clear away the un-used…or so I thought.

But during my hunt for that elusive chicken broth, I came across cans, bottles and boxes of food that….well, let’s just say, were a tad significantly outdated.

Out came cans of veggies, bottles of dressings, cartons of bread crumbs, jars of sauces, and boxes of assorted jellos.  Some containers dated from years back.  Where did the time go?

Since my divorce almost 4 years ago, I don’t cook or bake nearly as much anymore.  Throughout my 36 married years, I had always made dinners…full course meals. Meat, potatoes, vegetable, bread, dessert.  And I always had plenty of food.  Growing up in such a large family, I witnessed food served in large quantities.  Good food, too.  Huge bowls of home-made spaghettis and stews.  Large pans of oven-baked chickens, and flavorful roasts.  And don’t forget the long sheets of pastys (U.P Style) by the dozens, coming from the oven.

Even now, when entertaining, I always have enough to feed an army…no matter what the occasion. 

You can take the girl out of the large family, but you can’t take the large family out of the girl.

So now I have outdated cans, cartons and bottles cleared from the cabinet sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor.  Out to the trash just in time for garbage day.

I’m confident I’ll be back to the grocery store soon to begin re-stocking.  This time, I hope to re-stock much more slowly.  Now where’s that chicken broth?