The Promised Pantry List

"And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them." Genesis 6:21

First, a little about our day. The cold has blown in again and with it a bit of snow. This is definately a 360 degree turn around from this time last year when temperatures were often in the 70's, winds were 40 mph and it seemed all of Oklahoma was on fire. What a blessing the moisture is. My granddaughter and I have been cooking today. I made a soup from leftovers in the refrigerator - gravy from last week's buffalo roast along with the last of the meat, leftover winter squash, some homemade broth, onions, hamburger, potatoes. Next Lianna and I got out the sourdough starter and made a couple loaves of sourdough bread, then she insisted we bake a cake. We found this great old recipe in my 1953 Joy of Cooking for Mock Pound Cake:

Sift 2 cups sugar. Beat until soft 1 cup butter. Add the sifted sugar gradually. Blend these ingredients until they are very light and creamy. Separate 4 eggs. Beat the yolks into the butter/sugar mixture. Sift 3 1/2 cups cake flour (I used all purpose). Resift twice with 4 teaspoonfuls baking powder and 1/2 teaspooonful salt. Add these ingredients in 3 parts to the butter mixture alternately with thirds of 2 cups milk. (The recipe called for 1, but it was just too stiff.) Beat the batter until smooth after each addition. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla. (I used 1/2 teaspoonful lemon extract, 1/4 teaspoonful almond extract, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.) Whip the 4 egg whites with 1/8 teaspoonful salt until stiff but not dry. Fold them lightly into the cake batter. Bake in a greased tube pan in a 350 degree oven for about 1 hour. A strand of spagetti makes a great cake tester. Our grandmothers used a clean broom straw. Cool for 5 minutes then loosen from the sides of the pan and invert onto a plate to complete cooling. This cake is light like a chiffon cake, yet rich and flavored like pound cake. It will probably our new tradition for birthday cakes.
Now, the promised pantry list. The items in italics would be the first ones I'd do without. Explanations for my individual situation are in parenthesis:

• Whole wheat (We have a Country Living grain mill that grinds beautifully. I highy recommend them.)
• Whole corn (Ground in the mill for cornmeal or made into hominy.)
• Popcorn
• Rice
• Oatmeal
• Dried beans
• White flour
• Sugar - white and brown
• Salt (we keep a 50 pound bag for use in curing meat)
• Lard (kept in the freezer)
• Vegetable oil
• Vinegar (White for general use. We make our own wine vinegar for good eating.)
• Honey
• Sorghum
• Peanut butter
  
• Whole peanuts
• Mustard
• Ketchup
• Dried fruit
• Bouillon (My preference is home canned bone broths, but I keep a bit of this on hand.)
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Yeast (Kept in the freezer. I'm using yeast that's been expired for several years but is perfectly useable after being kept in the freezer.)
• Cocoa
• Soy sauce (Bought by the gallon from an Oriental grocery store)
• Dried milk
• Dried eggs (Usually obtained from friends who get Indian commodities. Most people don't use them.)
• Coffee
• Tea
• Pepper and spices
• Pasta (I have a hand-cranked pasta machine that makes much better than store bought)
  
• Commercial canned vegetables
• * Green beans
• * Potatoes
• * Peas
• * Mixed vegetables
• * Corn
• * Spinach
• * Diced tomatoes
• * Tomato sauce
• Cream of mushroom soup
• Salmon
• Tuna
• Onions
• Potatoes
• Ramen soup (Cheap and easy. Really flavorful versions are available at Oriental groceries)
  
• Salt peter (For curing meat. Another item available at Oriental grocery stores.)
• Canning jar lids
• Disposable plates, bowls, utensils
• Paper towels
• Toilet paper
• Feminine products (We've started using cloth pads, so this will soon be deleted)
• Dish soap
• Bleach
• Ammonia
• Laundry soap
• Lye (A multi-use product - soapmaking, hominy, cleaning.)
• Otc medications
• * Aspirin
• * Ibuprofen
• * Pseudoephedrine
• * Diphenhydramine
• * Robitussin
• * Cranberry juice capsules (I have frequent UTI's)
• * Vitamins

My next step will be to determine storage quantities and I'll post these when I get done.

A friend sent me this great link:

Making of America Digital Library

The following is an excerpt from a book in this collection "Plain and Pleasant Talk About Fruits, Flowers, and Farming" by Henry Ward Beecher written in 1859:

The two extremes of husbandry are, the adoption of every novelty and every experiment indiscriminately, and the rejection of every new thing and every improvement, as indiscriminately. Wisdom consists in "proving all things and holding fast that which is good." We do not advocate large outlays for expensive machines-for fancy cattle, for every new thing that turns up. But when, after full trial, it is ascertained what are the best farm horses, the best breed of cattle, the best milch cows, the most profitable breed of hogs and sheep, and the most skillful routine of cultivation, we think our farmers ought to profit by the knowledge. It is never a good economy to have poor things when you can just as well have the best. This, then, is OUR CREED. We believe in small farms and thorough cultivation. We believe that soil loves to eat, as well as its owner, and ought, therefore, to be manured. We believe in large crops which leave the land better than they found it-making both the farmer and the farm rich at once. We believe in going to the bottom of things and, therefore, in deep plowing, and enough of it. All the better if with a sub-soil plow. We believe that every farm should own a good farmer. We believe that the best fertilizer of any soil, is a spirit of industry, enterprise, and intelligence —without this, lime and gypsum, bones and green hanure, marl and guano will be of little use. We believe in good fences, good barns, good farmhouses, good stock, good orchards, and children enough to gather the fruit s: We believe in a clean kitchen, a neat wife in it, a spinning-piano, a clean cupboard, a clean dairy, and a clean conscience. We firmly disbelieve in farmers that will not improve; in farms that grow poorer every year; in starveling cattle; in farmers' boys turning into clerks and merchants; in farmers' daughters unwilling to work, and in all farmers ashamed of their vocation, or who drink whisky till honest people are ashamed of them.

Till next time,

Judy