I have tried to organize jars on the shelves some what.
Left, Top shelf, 'Sugar Shelf' and Oats, the stuff that may be used by everyone at any time, breakfast snacks etc. It is the most out of the way of the cooking area.
Left, Bottom shelf, has the teas and coffee filters will be moved to the snack bar. I tried to group by kind, baking spices, spices, herbs. A 4" shelf runs under the main shelving, I call this the rail. Smaller spice containers were placed on the rail along with most all of the black pepper.
Right Shelf, nearest the stove. I have tried to put the 'baking' jars there. Flour, cocoa, baking soda, etc. But, because the bottom self is taller, only certain large jars will fit on the top shelf. It's a difference of a quarter inch. This entire shelf unit is an inch shorter than needs be. There was a huge ass fry pan blocking this area, I'm howping we can place that pan where it won't be in the way.
I didn't count the little containers on the rail, there's alot of black pepper at this point. and I want to note that some of the volumes of spices are astronomical proportions, how long before we use up 6 cups of bay leaves?
I have guessed at these volumes, but I'm sure it's close enough. The spice inventory may only need to be done once a year, if that, but it would be nice to have an inventory list that can be checked if we usd up a commodity, so a shopping list is what the inventory list can become. Also, if cross referenced with purchases, we can keep track of how fast we use up certain goods
I'm trying to create the inventory checklists that we can use, so forgive the following format and the fact that items are listed as 'none', not to indicate that we need them but that they may show up on the check list after they show up on the shelves. Does that make sense?
Baking Soda & Powder I would like to also note that we brought new Baking Soda and Baking powder to Spirit Gathering. Baking Powder doesn't hold up well, especially at a lake environment.* Baking Soda can last indefinitely, if kept dry. 10 oz of Baking Powder is $2. Baking soda is 50ยข a box. I don't think this is the area to be pinching pennies or buying in quantity.
Co-Op Plastic Bags I liked the Co-op plastic handle bags we got at the wedge. They are a heavier plastic, beige colored with green and brown "co-op advantage" logo. These worked great as long as they didn't have any holes in them. I cut a sliver off the bottom of the greens, kale and lettuces, like re-cutting a flower in a vase. Then set them standing up in a co-op bag and poured in very little water. They stayed very fresh. Also, I rotated half defrosted jugs of water into the 'greens' cooler.
Smaller Rubbermaid containers requested. I had a problem with some of the large commodities, like 20 lb bags of rice. And the 5 gallon restaurant pickle buckets are hard to open and close. I am wondering if there isn't a more efficient Rubbermaid solution, with locking covers. And perhaps breaking the larger containers into several smaller ones, so 25 lbs of rice isn't opened every time someone wants 5 cups. Is this something we can look into? I would also like to see more of the large Storage totes.
Built in Pantry shelves: Ultimately, I would like to see wood shelves built into the north side with a built in ladder to access the top windows. The current wire shelves could be moved to the west side of the scullery.
tea inventory: I didn't do a tea inventory. Twilight did one in the fall of 2006. We purchased several more boxes of tea, as per the ones suggested by White Ash, so there should be enough. If you have a specific type of tea you wish to drink, you may want to bring some up.
*Baking Powder Baking Powder has a shelf life of 3-6 months, after it is opened, before it starts to dissipate and no longer leaven. It also begins to lose its ability to leaven baked foods when it comes in contact with moisture (never dip a damp measuring spoon into it.) Kawashaway is a damp place, ergo, Baking Powder can't be expected to last over winter. A small amount should be purchased each spring.
To test the vitality of baking powder, add a teaspoon to a third of a cup of hot water. If it foams and bubbles, it has enough oomph left. If it just sits there, toss it.
Baking soda should be kept in an air tight container, not an open card-board box.