The Valiant Fight Against Pantry Excess Continues

As of tonight we still have our Christmas tree up. With Blizzardocalypseageddon 2011 in full swing it made for a nice backdrop to enjoying our last night with the tree up.

We've faced a bit of a setback in the battle against our food inventory. In taking down the Christmas tree we are forced to add the following stocking stuffers to our list:

• basil pesto
  
• jarred roasted tomatoes
  
• about eleven thousand chocolate covered cherries
  
• forty-seven thousand additional chocolates and candies
  
• smoked salmon
  
• stuffed olives
  
• Grand Marnier mustard
  
• Coco Haze spread
  
• twelve jars of grapefruit marmalade
  
• black cherry marmalade
  
• fancy plum jam
  
• Captain Redbeard's hot sauce
  
• salted lime cashews
  

On Sunday Jen fulfilled her six month scheme by combining her various flours together to make some brown bread. I came home from work early with a touch of some surprise illness and for dinner had a toasted slice with melted butter. Even in my sickened state I found it to be quite wonderful. Before dinner I made these crostini with the baguette from the freezer, the red pepper tapenade in the fridge and the remaining goat cheese. For dinner tonight I chopped up the remaining frozen bacon and divided it into two equal parts. The first part of the bacon I used as a topping for the leftover macaroni and cheese from the freezer and baked it in the oven. The second half I cooked with some sliced shallots and garlic. I then added some chopped kale and cooked it down a bit. I ground up the remaining cashews in the pantry and added it to the kale with a little milk, cream, and grated nutmeg and cooked it down a bit. This was a pretty delicious item for a nice cold night. For beer I opened the large bottle of Gouden Carolus Noël. The brewery responsible for this beer has been in operation for 642 years so I think they've had a good amount of time to get their act together. That being said, I was not a huge fan of this beer. The Corsendonk Christmas beer was one of my favorite beers in a while but the Gouden Carolus was a little too much for me. At 10% alcohol with all sorts of spices and action going on it tasted more like a syrupy booze than a beer to me. Perhaps someone with a better palate for such things would get more appreciation out of this beer. However, I did get a chance to use my new Champagne stopper to keep the bottle fresh. Unfortunately I don't know if I'm going to rush back to finish it anytime except maybe out of guilt. Okay, here's where we're at with our inventory clean up progress so for for 2011:

Inventory Update

Freezer

• ground beef
  
• chopped turkey from Canadian Thanksgiving
  
• flour tortillas
  
• coconut cookies
  
• macaroni & cheese from Canadian Thanksgiving
  
• turkey stock from Canadian Thanksgiving
  
• turkey stock from American Thanksgiving
  
• part of a baguette
  
• lemon bread
  
• Antiguan run fruitcake
  
• cranberry bread
  
• fudge
  
• Japanese noodles
  
• buttermilk bread
  
• stuffing from Canadian Thanksgiving
  
• bacon
  
• oxtail
  
• homemade bread crumbs
  
• edamame
  
• turkey curry
  
• rye bagel
  
• shortbread cookies
  
• puff pastry dough
  

Pantry

• pumpernickel bread
  
• panko
  
• cellophane noodles
  
• raisins
  
• dried cherries
  
• dried cranberries
  
• dried apricots
  
• dried chilies
  
• garbanzo beans
  
• canellini beans
  
• sardines
  
• anchovies
  
• sesame seeds
  
• cashews
  
• pistachios
  
• shredded coconut
  
• walnuts
  
• pecans
  
• semolina flour
  
• goldenberries
  
• forbidden rice
  
• candied cherries
  
• powdered dried porcini
  
• couscous
  
• nori
  
• quinoa
  
• sherry vinegar
  
• purple basil vinegar
  
• red wine vinegar
  
• apple cider vinegar
  
• champagne vinegar
  
• rice
  
• assored dried pastas
  
• lasagna noodles
  
• tomato paste
  
• relish
  
• chopped clams
  
• clam juice
  
• piccalilli
  
• fajita sauce
  
• cherry jellies for barbecue
  
• canned pumpkin
  
• pasta sauce
  
• croutons
  
• assorted flours for making brown bread
  
• pickled beets
  
• seafood stock
  
• beef stock
  

Fridge

• eggs
  
• korma sauce
  
• sauerkraut
  
• dates
  
• shallots
  
• miso paste
  
• cranberries
  
• pickled beets (made by Jen's dad)
  
• white sweet potato
  
• potatoes
  
• carrots
  
• celery
  
• cream cheese
  
• goat cheese
  
• cocktail sauce
  
• red pepper tapenade
  
• sauces, marinades, and condiments too numerous to list
  
• a million assorted beers
  

Christmas

• basil pesto
  
• jarred roasted tomatoes
  
• about eleven thousand chocolate covered cherries
  
• forty-seven thousand additional chocolates and candies
  
• smoked salmon
  
• stuffed olives
  
• Grand Marnier mustard
  
• Coco Haze spread
  
• twelve jars of grapefruit marmalade
  
• black cherry marmalade
  
• fancy plum jam
  
• Captain Redbeard's hot sauce
  
• salted lime cashews