Try these hardworking pantry organizing tips

Start 2021 with a clean and orderly pantry.

It must be in our DNA to approach a new year with a need to improve something. Given a fresh start, most of us want to get the year off on the right foot. If you turn this renewed energy toward your kitchen pantry, you’ll be better organized and more efficient in your meal prep. Let’s dive in.

This is NOT a clean and orderly pantry! But after a few hours and a trip to the Dollar Tree for a few supplies, my pantry was transformed.

This is a photo of my sad pantry. As you can see, it needs help. Now, I’d love to spend thousands on a beautiful custom closet, but I don’t have the funds or the space. So, I did a little research on how a pantry can work hard and smart for you and your family.

Experts at the St. Louis Closet Company suggest I start by addressing the clutter (hello, clutter) and purging cookware I do not use. Toss expired spices, canned goods, and other items. (I found a can of black beans that were two years old and a small jar of allspice from the 1990s.)

After everything has been removed and the space cleaned, it’s recommended I visualize what I want the pantry to look like. In my pantry, the two issues are the wire shelves and the wasteland at the bottom of the closet. It would also be nice to have space to store soft drinks other than the case sitting by my back door.

Time to visit the Dollar Tree store by my house, which is always a good time. It reminds me of the days when we visited the Woolworth dime store at River Roads Mall in north St. Louis (which has since been demolished). It was such a treat to go to the mall on a Saturday night. When we moved, our dime store became Ben Franklin on South Grand Avenue (also closed). Sigh.

It’s usually best to go into Dollar Tree with an open mind and flexible plan. When I go with something specific in mind—like this time after I watched a number of pantry renovation videos using Dollar Tree products—I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted, but I could buy what I needed. I had to mix white with blue for bins and baskets because there wasn’t enough of one color. The cute black chalk tags seen in a video were not in any of the three stores I visited, so I found colorful peel-off stickers to label containers. All told, I filled my cart at Dollar Tree with nine containers, plus a package of tags, permanent markers, two pie plates and a small bag of glass marbles (to make a baking spice Lazy Susan) for under $20. While cleaning out the pantry, I found several glass apothecary jars that I emptied and sent through the dishwasher so I could incorporate them into the design.

To put the pantry back together, St. Louis Closet Company experts suggested I keep frequently used items easily accessible. Canned goods should be easily identifiable. I didn’t have a pull-out drawer, but I found a tiered wire shelf in the basement that holds about a dozen or so smaller cans. The large cans of tomatoes stack next to the shelf.

With inexpensive bins and containers, it's easy to organize your pantry to assist in easy meal planning.

Bulky packaging can take up a lot of space, so food storage systems help me organize flour, sugar, and dry pasta.

What should the well organized pantry have in it? For that, I went to trusted sources: experienced home cooks. The most popular pantry items were oil (mainly olive, but also avocado), vinegar, canned tomatoes and tomato paste, dried pasta, chicken and beef broth, and garlic.

Anne Miller also keeps dark chocolate in her cupboard; we are sisters of cacao. My college roommate Barb Anderson makes sure the number for Imo’s Pizza delivery is inside her pantry door. She’s not wrong.

Peanut butter got a thumbs up from a couple people, including Pat Fisher who also keeps tuna and raspberry jam in her diverse pantry. Ramen noodles and rice were tagged as necessary items by a few cooks, and Melissa Corbin advised a cook keeps red and white wine in her pantry. Mushrooms of the canned (Marcy Epps Watson) and dry (Neala Schwartzberg McCarten) varieties were mentioned.

Cooks Linda Jarrett and Lory Cosner, as well as Carol Schlitt and Elaine Warner keep a variety of canned beans on hand; I bet they will like this featured recipe from University of Missouri Extension. Cathy Babcock Johnson gave a nod to her Japanese heritage by sharing she’s never without good soy sauce, ginger, and mirin. And Fran Folsom passed along wisdom from her mother, who told her you’ll never go hungry if you have a can of Spam in your cupboard. Fran, I’d offer this also works in a quick fried rice.

Keep canned beans and tomatoes in your pantry and you can make these vegetarian enchiladas, a delicious and filling family meal.

The spice rack should include, in addition to salt and pepper, garlic powder, and minced onions. Cousin David Klausmeyer added smoked paprika and curry powder to that list. David, we are not only related by blood, but by spice, as I have a variety of paprika and curry powders at home.

To this list of staples, I’d have to add pickles plus green and black olives. But no matter what we purchase, I think our well-stocked pantries will be of particular importance to us this year as America stares at winter during the season of COVID-19.

But take heart; pantry cooking can be adventurous (maybe not as adventurous as cooking with Spam, but I digress). This recipe for meatless enchiladas will serve a family and is packed with protein. To the original recipe, I added the cumin and coriander—I mean, the spice rack had been organized by alphabet, so why not? For a side dish, serve fried corn but leave out the bacon to keep the meal completely vegetarian.

For more ideas about cooking from a well-stocked pantry, visit the Canned Food Alliance.

And if you do a pantry makeover this year, drop a photo or description in the comments! Happy 2021, everybody, and stay well.

---

British sausage rolls take the crown

Diane Carson’s savory bites are perfect for TV binging or a small holiday gathering.

Diane Carson

Folks at Netflix are happier than Mrs. Bob Cratchit at the sight of a perfectly turned-out Christmas pudding. After all, season four of The Crown is the series’ most popular, according to the website, Business Insider.

Netflix has planned two more seasons giving ample opportunity for fans to peek into the embellished tale of life inside the royal family. But Diane Carson, a St. Louis business owner and self-avowed champion of British food, remembers when she met a senior member of the family. In fact, she fell head-over-heels for HRH The Prince of Wales.

While working as the British pro consul, Diane hosted a proper English tea for the Daughters of the British Empire in 1976 when Prince Charles visited St. Louis, Missouri. She was given a private audience with Charles who presented her with an autographed photo, making a quip about it being taken during a time when he was younger and much more handsome.

“You know in the show how they tell people when meeting the queen or a member of the royal family what to do or say, that’s true, and one of the things you’re not supposed to do is turn your back on them when leaving,” Diane said. As instructed, while walking backwards to depart from Charles, she fell over a wingback chair. “I managed to collect what was left of my dignity and got up.”

As the saying goes, keep calm and carry on.

And that’s something Diane knows quite a lot about. While her father was a member of the Royal Navy, the family moved all around Britain. “I was in several different schools by the time I was 10,” she said.

So, to offer greater stability, her family enrolled Diane in a British boarding school in southwest England (North Devon). Here, in a “domestic science” class, she learned to cook.

“We were taught how to make scones, cheese straws, and other goodies. That was probably the only class I got really good grades in. I really liked that class,” she said with a chuckle.

Actually, Diane comes from a line of great cooks.

“My great-grandmother was a gentleman’s cook; she had the whole Downton Abbey experience, I guess. And my mother was an amazing cook,” she said.

Although Diane said her palate has become quite “Americanized,” most of her cooking is British based. Childhood memories of British comfort food includes shepherd’s pie and fish and chips.

Shepherd's pie is one of Diane's go-to comfort foods from her childhood.

“My dad called me ‘Chippy Lizzie’ because that was pretty much all I ate,” she said, laughing. “My parents ate a lot of lamb, but that’s not my meat of choice. My husband (John McPherson) loves lamb and says I make it better than anybody.”

What’s her secret? “I marinate it for a full day in Merlot, olive oil, and garlic,” Diane said.

When she was 17, Diane and her family moved from England to St. Louis as her father had a new position with Boeing (then McDonnell-Douglas). There are a few things she misses from England, including seasoned and stuffed chicken in a cooking bag that’s ready to bake at home.

“Why don’t we have that here?” she asked.

With a background in event planning, Diane hosted British-themed parties to commemorate historic happenings within the House of Windsor, including a full tea for friends in 2018 when Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, wed Meghan Markle. For fans of The Crown who would like to binge watch season four (I suppose there are a few people, like me, who haven’t seen all the episodes yet), she suggests a menu of poached salmon, tiny new potatoes with melted butter, and English garden peas with mint. In fact, in one of the episodes, Prince Edward grumbles to his mother the queen the fact they he is always served poached salmon at their luncheons together. Uneasy is the head that will never wear the crown.

Diane says she watches The Crown “much to my Dad’s chagrin. He insists there is too much poetic license.”

Or one might try these savory sausage roll bites to pair with a pint of ale or hard cider if you’re just making a night of it with the royals. These tasty nuggets would also be a great appetizer for your family’s holiday, to nibble when trimming the tree, or family game night.

“Those things (sausage rolls) disappear like wildfire,” she says. “As soon as guests arrive for my Oscar parties, their first question is ‘Did you make sausage rolls?’,” she said.

Sausage rolls are one of Diane's signature dishes. They usually are featured on her holiday table. (Diane Carson photo)

But most of the time, this busy business owner (Promo Xperts) cooks for two—herself and her husband—and that’s her biggest challenge as a home cook. As a result, she freezes a lot of leftovers.

“My husband and I eat a lot of fish. I like salmon. We also have a fishing cabin near Bennett Springs State Park so we can go trout fishing. We use what we catch; he makes smoked trout and I remove the skin, dip the trout in egg and Panko breadcrumbs, and pan fry it for Trout Tuesday,” she said.

Dinner plans usually begin during the week with the question “what do you feel like eating tonight?” Although Diane usually cooks every day, she and her husband occasionally get barbecue or Mexican food to bring home. Weekend dinners might be the proper British roast with Yorkshire pudding.

“I use (British chef) Jamie Oliver’s recipe. The trick is using Crisco and getting the pan smoking hot for 20 minutes before you pour in the batter.”

And with the holidays just around the corner, Diane said she’ll cook for Boxing Day, the traditional holiday observed in Britain the day after Christmas.

“That’s when we have the full-blown roast turkey, roasted potatoes, Brussels sprouts, yeast rolls. Have you ever had British roasted red potatoes? You parboil them first and then put the potatoes on a cookie sheet, drizzle with vegetable oil and bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. They turn out crispy on the outside and so fluffy on the inside,” she said.

But don’t look for the cranberry sauce.

“You wouldn’t eat that in the U.K. with turkey,” Diane said.

What you will see on the holiday table this year is the traditional Christmas cake made from her mom’s recipe. Her parents each year mailed the cake to Diane, who would then decorate it with marzipan and “put a frill around it.” Although her father lives in Scotland, Diane’s mother passed away a few years ago.

“The last time I was home, I brought all of her recipe books back; some were in her own handwriting, including the Christmas cake recipe,” Diana said. The recipe calls for a six-inch baking pan, but Diane didn’t have one, so she asked her Dad to please ship Mom’s old pan to her. The recipe also requires the cake soak in brandy for a few months. “I feed it every week,” she said.

Traditions certainly remain a big part of Diane’s cooking. For novice cooks, however, she offered this advice.

“Be adventurous. Don’t stick totally to the recipe. You can add things and change it up, as long as it’s not too weird. Experiment and have fun. It’s OK to have a kitchen disaster; everybody has (had one).”

All one needs to do is keep calm and carry on.

---

Classic snickerdoodles

Enjoy this comforting cookie for the holidays or every day.

Snickerdoodles are a classic cookie that's perfect for any day.

One glance at my Spotify library and you’ll know I’m a lover of the classics. I take comfort in the familiar, whether we’re talking about music or food. Santana has staying power, as do snickerdoodles.

While I’m not sure how Carlos feels about this cookie, a brief discussion with my Facebook peeps revealed that snickerdoodles indeed have a place on the holiday cookie platter, although a few, including my colleague Barbara Gibbs Ostmann, questioned if these were a Christmas culinary item. I’ve known Barb for (muffling the number with my hand) years. Prior to her years as a travel writer (when I met her), she worked as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch food editor and was a founding member of the St. Louis Culinary Society.

So, I asked Barb how she would define a “Christmas cookie” and she replied it’s defined by family traditions. “But taking a broader view, I think of them as cookies that tend to be baked only at Christmastime. For example, the red and green dough, sprinkles and frostings, the shapes, the seasonal flavors.”

Having been to a few European Christkindl markets, Barb remembered examples of wonderful baked goodies in Germany only made during Christmas. “I think having them once a year makes them more special, as opposed to everyday favorites,” she said, adding that she enjoys snickerdoodles year-round.

Barb’s right in that many home bakers (myself included) unpack the cookie cutters, presses, sprinkles, and such during the holidays, but I also like including one or two of the classics on the platter because I think those also remind people of childhood. Even today I chuckle when Mom would set out the cookies and milk for Santa because the small assortment of four to six cookies included a decorated cutout; a couple “special cookies” such as lemon snowballs, Hungarian horns, or apricot bars; and always a chocolate chip cookie.

And similar to a chocolate chip cookie, I think a snickerdoodle is a hug wrapped in flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Especially this Christmas, we all could use an extra hug. But where did this yummy cookie with the funny name come from?

Most accounts seem to agree that these cookies are tied to the Amish communities of northern Indiana. Das Dutchman Essenhaus bakery indeed offers snickerdoodles (a dozen is about $13).

In her book, The Joy of Baking, Barbara Grunes notes these cinnamon sugar cookies have been around since the late 1800s, known earlier as snipdoodles. The origins of the goofy name seem a little fuzzy, though. According to the Joy of Cooking, the name might be a corruption of Schneckennudeln (translation, snail noodles), a German cinnamon roll. One thing we can agree on, snickerdoodles are just darn delicious, no matter what time of year they are baked and enjoyed.

Another reason to love these cookies is their ease of preparation. A short list of ingredients appeals to new and experienced bakers. Don’t omit the cream of tartar if you want a chewy, softer cookie. This ingredient gives the cookie its signature bite and tangy flavor and keeps the sugar from crystalizing into crunchiness (#bakingisscience).

I bought this little booklet decades ago while visiting Hermann, Missouri, with my Mom. We loved the cookie recipes, including the one for snickerdoodles.

Moving on to the next discussion topic: butter or shortening. The recipe below, from a little cookie book I bought in Hermann, Missouri, years ago, lists shortening for snickerdoodles, but you’ll also see many recipes that call for butter. I’ve even read an article that tested six variations of butter, shortening, and half butter/half shortening. Let’s not get too crazy, people.

The experts at King Arthur Baking say shortening will keep cookies from spreading because of the higher melting point. This, plus the cream of tartar, will make your snickerdoodles softer and more rounded. Now, if you simply don’t have shortening in your pantry but you have butter in the refrigerator, just chill the cookie dough for at least 10 minutes to help control the spread.

For a really fast kitchen hack, whip up a batch of snickerdoodles using Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix. I’ve made this recipe twice and found that the cookies were not so flat if I chilled the dough before forming the cookies. Each time, however, they were tender. Honestly, what got my attention was the chocolate inside the cookie.

Final hack for the day: Keep the snickerdoodles soft while storing them by adding a piece of bread to the container or the resealable bag. And if you'd like to dress up this old friend for the holidays, Barb suggests using tinted sugar.

So, there’s the snickerdoodle saga. Get reacquainted with this old friend and snuggle up by a fire with a cup of coffee or tea this winter.

---