Sunday, October 25, 2009

Lot's of my Mother in me!


Ann going through my pantry!

Unopened brown sugar, standing on it's own!



Evaporated relish and old ketchup....












Shameful expiration dates....October 20th, 2002!!!!!!


It's been two years since my Mother died. More and more I see her in me. The movement of my hands and the arthritis that is
already evident. My smile, the way I roll my eyes and I guess the way I look in the passengers seat of a car. The way I've been "starting" plants from cuttings and nursing along those that look doomed only to have them "come back" healthy and green once more.

As many of you may recall, we had so many stories about my Mom's thriftiness and her saving of so many things. She was a believer of buying on sale and stocking up. But as the years progressed and she ate less and cooked less the "supply" cupboards began to hold a large amount of expired items. Well, I hate to admit it, but that has been found to be the case in my own house! Ann has been living with us for the past several months. She is the apple that has not fallen far from the tree. She is a lot like me but also a lot like her Grandmother. I guess I should state she is like us when we were younger. I hope she realizes that she will also be a lot like us as she ages. Anyway, on a recent weekend I came into the kitchen to find Ann perusing my pantry. She was pulling out multiple bottles of yellow mustard, ketchup, relish that had been bought on sale. You know, those 10 for $10 deals. Stored in the pantry to be forgotten until I bought another and added it to my plentiful stock. She found rock hard brown sugar, and expired, unopened flour. She challenged me to try and guess how many hatched mill bugs the flour had, but I declined. The worst was the expired Sizzle & Stir from 2002. My mind went racing back to my Mom's house. There in my squirrelled away memories was me, in Ann's place, and my Mom in mine. Now the difference here was I ALLOWED ANN TO THROW OUT the stuff. But I had to admit, I was glad to have a daughter standing in my kitchen bringing me to task. So now the pantries and the frig are all safe. The health department would be proud and none of you have to fear food prepared from outdated items.

As the years past and I see more of Mom in me, I am proud! I hope I have inherited all of her good qualities and that I have toned down the not so good. I have a deeper appreciation for who she was and how strong she was. I hope I can do her proud.

Until next time....Always, Kathleen
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3 comments:

Becka said...

I love the look on Ann's face. But one question, what is Sizzle n Stir?

Shelley said...

This is a fantastic blog! I too cleaned out my grandmas' pantry and found SO many out of date items. She snarled as I tossed them, but it had to be done, and she knew it!

I too love Ann's expression! She's the best for doing this! And I too am curious, what is sizzle and stir? I see it's made by lipton, some type of hot tea?

Kathleen said...

Sizzle n Stir was some kind of dinner you could add chicken to. No idea how good it was, I obviously never tried it!

Kathy