Oh my Lord! I think I could run a restaurant for a month with all the food I have in stock! I do buy my fruit and vegetables fresh, although having said that, we're mostly using home-grown at this time of the year. Although we have a lot of 'stuff', I'm always aware of what needs eating when and we have very little wastage. I have every type of rice, pasta, bean, flour, nut, dried fruit so I can fix whatever, whenever without having to rush to the shops! My cooking is often fairly spontaneous so I like to be ready for any gastronomic urges, so to speak! I love to make chutney and preserves - we are lucky enough to have an ancient Medlar tree in our garden, so I make Medlar Jelly every year. It seems we can't eat the preserves quickly enough though and I always have a lot of jars in stock. I don't know what causes the 'disease', but if we ever become houseband for any length of time - well we won't starve, that's for sure! And hey - you're all welcome any time you like if you ever get real hungry with nowhere to go - I can always fix you up with something to eat! jodda.x