Condiment Creep

[nonblonde007]

I think I win? I gave up on counting, there are just too many varieties of every kind of condiment and sauce known to man! There are layers upon layers in my shelves that were I to try and reach for something in the rear, I am afraid that the oldest ones will have developed fangs and extract revenge upon my neglect and amassment habits.

But, in my defense......I do love and cherish each and every one, even if I don't remember their names.

[MarketStEl]

I see you take a similar approach in hoarding mayonnaise to mine, nonblondeJamesBond. (Well, in your case, nonblondeJaneBond.)

My jars accumulate because whenever Hellmann's goes on sale, I buy some. Usually, Unilever runs coupons in the Sunday newspapers (and Thursday Philadelphia Daily News) the week it goes on sale at one of the four biggest area chains--Acme, Genuardi's, ShopRite, Super Fresh--so I can add the coupon (which is always good on two jars) to the sale price. If there's no sale at Acme or Super Fresh, the coupon usually has an expiration date far enough in the future that I can hang on to it until there's a sale at one or the other.

I believe the frugality gurus call this "making your pantry an extension of the supermarket shelf." I recall that Lori in PA, our South Central Pennsylvania foodblogger from last summer, did this on a grand scale.

Remind me to point you in the direction of Gates Bar-B-Q so you can upgrade your barbecue sauce. But as I don't know how far Calico Rock is from Memphis, it may well be that better barbecue sauce is just a short drive away from you, and you won't need to order it online.

Not quite directly on topic, but close enough I'll ask it here: Has anyone besides me tried Hellmann's canola oil mayo? Has anyone noticed a significant difference in taste or mouthfeel if they have? I sure didn't.

Edited August 24, 2007 by MarketStEl (log)

[LittleChef22]

Wow, nonblonde those are a lot of condiments! I am a sauce person... I like every type of sauce/salad dressing etc so my shelves get pretty full too!

[Carlovski]

Living in a shared house I do have to keep a close eye on my condiment levels, not a lot of storage space - too often I have opened an at first glance full fridge and cupboard to realise I don't actually have anything I can actually eat (I have the same issue with spices).

I do know a girl though who usually has 2 fridge shelves devoted to nothing but pickles and chutney

It's normally worst after my occasional visit to a chinese supermarket (The one near me also stocks lots of indian, thai and malaysian ingredients) but the longest lasting bottles tend to come when I have shopped while slightly drunk - I had a bottle of pomegranate molasses for about four years!

I'm currently on 4 soy sauces, 2 oyster sauces, Worcester sauce, mushroom ketchup (But strangely no tomato ketchup!), HP brown sauce, 4 different mustards, a couple of chutneys (Spiced plum, mango and a lime and chilli one), 2 chilli sauces (very very low for me!) and a bottle of salad dressing I got for when i had a party and couldn't be bothered to make any.

[Dianabanana]

the longest lasting bottles tend to come when I have shopped while slightly drunk

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But isn't that fun to do?

[birder53]

Moving cross country required discarding all open condiments in the refrigerator. I'm amazed at how empty my fridge is right now! Given time, condiments will surely creep back in - and that's a good thing!