old things in cupboards

hilstep2000

My daughter was helping my Mum clean out her cupboards a few years ago, and found a tin of "Ma Made" that was dated 1981 (this was in 2007!).
My Mum didn't want to throw it out, but my daughter said "Grandma, if you haven't used it by now, you are not going to!" and binned it!

toddles*

edit - revise

LJM

i always after years of working in shops and schools and running a home have learnt to stock rotate i hate getting something out the cupboard and it is out of date plus it is a total waste of money. perhaps you could suggest she does a stock inventory of her pantry then pin it to inside of door that way she would know what she needs and is running low of

ChocClare

My MIL was also like this - I remember one Christmas she said, we will 'ave some of zeze nice mussels (she was French, btw - OK, I'll stop doing the accent now because she didn't speak FRENCH with a funny accent). She went to open this jar of mussels in tomato cream sauce and couldn't get it open, so she asked my DH to do it. As he picked it up, he said (note I haven't done the accent here as he was talking in French), Mum, this says best before 1997 (this was in 2001). She squinted at the date and said, No... does it say 1997 or 1991? She still ate them. We didn't.

It wasn't that she put new stuff in front of old - she just had a very full pantry of delicacies that she'd never got round to eating. I blame the war. My grandmother's pantry had 24 packets of jelly in it, despite the fact that she never ate jelly. But she got snowed in in 1948 and never got over the shock, so she had food on hand...just in case.

jackieglasgow

ChocClare wrote: »

But she got snowed in in 1948 and never got over the shock, so she had food on hand...just in case.

That sounds like some of us over on the Preparing for winter thread! :rotfl:

charlies-aunt

I try to rotate what I buy as my Mum and Dad fell foul of eating out of date peaches (out of date by years, not just a few months :eek: ) - the tin was a bit swollen and they thought that they tasted a bit 'tin-ney' but they thought 'what the hell' & ate them anyway and had serious food poisoning.and were very, very ill for many weeks. :eek: If in doubt, chuck it out!

Linda32

OH's Mum buys alot of food, but its nothing to do with the war, although she was alive then, its because she thinks it looks "poor" if the cupboards arn't full.
(She is the same with display cabinets and ornaments).

She will buy four tins of chopped tomatoes for instance. I don't think she even likes them!!!

I buy as much as we need for the week.

jcr16

i do keep a good stock in. but when i buy new ie toms, beans etc. i always put the new at the back of the time and there fore i use the shortest date first. havign said that somehow a tin of heniz soup got missed and when i went to get it for hubby it was 2 years out of date. no idea how i missed that. as i even clean the cupboard every few week's.

my mum has a huge pantry cupboard i love it. i've said to hubby next house i want a big larder cupboard. but thats proving hard to find as most peeps take them out when they fit a new kitchen.

Primrose

Actually I think living through either the First World War or the Second World War had a huge amount to do with the way many older people store food. Virtually everything was on ration and in short supply so it became a matter or survival to stock up on things when you could, either to eke out everyday boring food menus or for special occasions like Christmas, parties, weddings, etc.
When my grandmother's house was cleared out about 25 years ago there was a HUGE floor to ceiling wardobe absolute full of tinned peas. She must have loved peas which I suppose could be turned into soups, or added to caseroles & stews to bulk them out. Some of the tins were 30 or more years old.

Herbyme

When we took the shelf out of our corner kitchen cupboard to put a carousel in it, there were - gasp - 11 tins of baked beans in it. We do eat a lot of beans, but that seemed a lot even to me!