In Kitchen Makeshift Pantry

Remember when I said I would show you how we managed to find room for all the fruit we preserved this year? Well, this is that post. And in fact, the cabinet where we stored all that goodness, or at least the bulk of it, it is the one under the counter in that picture.

It looks like this on the left:



To the right of that box of peaches is where all my cookie trays, muffin tins, half sheet pans etc are kept. Basically I made lots of room by stacking the boxes on top of each other to go 2 high. Really, there was no other option. Also, on the bottom you can see all that extra space in front that does not exist in the top shelf? That is because I stacked loose jars in the back, behind the boxes where little hands cannot reach them!


If you are wondering what is underneath the cookie sheets and to the right of the rice and 4 dozen pints of pears you will find the place my BOSCH mixer usually resides, and behind that:

Flour was on sale for a better price than Costco, so I picked up 10 x 5 lb bags and stored it in the grocery bags to protect the flimsy paper from my cooling racks and general other cabinet mishap...


Now, that is clearly not all my canning, in fact, that one was the easiest because the top was jars and sheet pans, and the bottom left was a big box of oatmeal and some cracked rye, so not much to relocate.

The other spot was a chore. I started by taking out all the canned goods that were in the metal from the manufacturer and anything else that could be stored in the garage.

Then I once again stacked my canned goods.

When you open the cupboard door it looks like this:



If you move the cereal on the top shelf you will see my quarts of tomatoes and salsa:


The second shelf is home to the pear fruit cups:

And the bottom shelf is home to the rest of the pears:


It may not be the pantry of my dreams, but it works, and it holds all the canning I did this year. I do have a few ideas on where to get more space for next year, but that is next year.

For this year I am really happy with the results.