What do you always have on hand? Why?
I’d count refrigerated items as pantry staples if they keep for longer than a couple weeks.
One recent addition to my pantry has been dried chillies - great base for red chile sauce for enchiladas. Those plus maseca and some beans (also both staples) and I have a base for amazing enchiladas or tacos or whatever.
It’s a hard question for me. I’ve known people with much less than I and well stocked for them is much different than me. We’re lucky my twin works at a grocery store so I can stock the house with more stuff for cheaper. I also like canning so like. My house has apple butter. Do most houses have apple butter? Probably not. I have three kinds of flour when some people have one and that’s like fine.
I try to always have flour, sugar, salt, kosher salt, pepper, butter, spices (what kind? A lot!), noodles, pasta sauce, brown sugar, vanilla, cream of soups, canned beans, dried beans, onions, garlic, potatoes, dried potatoes, dried milk, soy sauce, oatmeal, different oatmeal, and then my brain trails off. Oh! Fuck ton of rice!
Where do you get apple butter? I try to stick up when I can but that seems to be seasonal so I can’t get it at least half the year.
Interestingly, apricot preserves is a good substitute for apple cider, is always available and lasts - I don’t really drink cider out of season but want to cook with it often. However a pork shoulder slathered in apricot preserves works really well when I wanted to spritz it with cider
I make it and can it myself! Otherwise it’s sometimes next to the jellies and jams at stores, or can be bought at farmers markets like where I get the apples to make my own!
I have apple butter. I make a huge batch that takes me years to get through and I wonder why I keep doing that.
Sometimes it’s the result of someone saying “come to my house and show me how to make apple butter” and I end up taking half of it home.
Yes! But if your don’t make it or have someone that gifts it to you, the house probably does not have some butter.
I need to make sure more houses have apple butter!
I guess the trick is to go to people’s houses and make apple butter with them.
My electric pressure canner is here and I’m positive my kitchen is clean. I’ll just keep sending people apple butter instead!
The Apple Butter Distribution Network is how you make friends and influence people.
What’s your batch size capacity in that electric canner? I have four canners, non electric. I can pull more than 20 pints simultaneously.
I am physically not well so the 10/13 half pints it can do in a batch is enough for me.