clearing the deck

When Frank and I first married I took my wifely duties very seriously, and set about stocking up the pantry. Frank couldn't cook to save his life (though I will concede he had not yet starved to death) and I had been living with friends, so there was a lot of stocking up to be done. Every week I purchased a few extra items at the supermarket until I was satisfied I had everything I might ever need. The cupboard was... stuffed.

You will understand my shock then, when upon observing a friend's briefly opened pantry I spied almost no food. How did she manage to feed us so well with so few supplies?

I came home and reviewed my well stocked cupboard, realising we had more than enough and I should probably find a way to reduce some of our excess food. When the new year ticked around I resolved to use up all those boxes of dried fruit, sweet biscuits for cheesecake bases and fish stock I might need one day.

Here it is May and I have made some progress. The mixed fruit is almost gone, some of the choc chips have found their way into biscuits, and slivered almonds have augmented a dish or two. I can see extra space on a shelf or two.

But I'm not sure this is really called for...

...pink soup?

I had some left over vegie soup. The beetroot made it pink, but at lunch time there wasn't quite enough for two of us. So I dug out the Cream of Asparagus soup Frank's mum must have bought before we were married. I don't quite know how many years it has been sitting there, but it wasn't rusty so I opened it up and stirred it in to create this pretty brew.

It tasted OK, but I wouldn't do it again.

And it might not have been such a good idea to make that cake with the tin of sweetened condensed milk with an expiry date 2004. But I made it anyway, and even managed to use up the slimy glaze cherries, pineapple and ginger. And we're both still alive to tell the tale.

Now, what can I make with those moth eaten pistachios?