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Insane Kitchen Hoarding Disorders


weinoo

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My husband would say I hoard containers. Before moving to Australia, I got a set of glass containers with air tight lids along with some large plastic containers. Since we got here 2 months ago, I bought 3 sets of plastic containers plus some single pieces. I can't help but look when I walk by the container isle....

I used to hoard cookbooks. I can't not buy them when I saw them on sale. I got rid of quite a lot of useless ones when we moved. I still buy cookbooks but I'm a lot more selective now.

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I hoard martini glasses. I'm always looking for sets of four in thrift shops - I want the small ones, not the huge ones that retail stores sell new. Then one of the set will get broken, and I think I should re-donate the remaining three, but I . . . don't. Some of them are scattered around the house, holding trinkets or nuts or whatever, but most are taking up too much room in the cupboard.

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I buy great quantities of spice and regional foodstuffs when I travel -- I usually leave all my clothes in the hotel room so I have more space.

I have purchased saffron by the kilo, tubes of Thomy mustard by the case (then I found a store that stocked it locally), peppercorns, allspice berries, fleur de sel, capers, decent anchovies, balsamic. You name it, I've probably brought it home by the suitcase-full.

I just wish I could bring home the stuff I REALLY want -- Spanish jamon, cheese, raw milk, etc. If I were rich enough to jet around by private plane, I'd always have the dairy and cold cuts that I crave.

Who cares how time advances? I am drinking ale today. -- Edgar Allan Poe

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OK, here goes. *deep breath*

I have 4 freezers. And 3 refrigerators. Do you need to know more? :shock::blush:

Do you have a back-up generator.. :cool: if not .. I would ...and I do for my 2 freezers

"backup generator"? heh heh heh. We have three, two 2000's and a 5000. We live in a rural area, so our power goes out alot. I also should say I keep one of the freezers to freeze all our stuff when we come back from travelling so we don't get bedbugs. Um, but maybe that doesn't make me sound less insane...

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I've got backup generators but I also have solar panels on my roof (installed after I got the generators). I might run out of diesel for the generators but the sun ain't going to stop shining as long as I am still around and it's free!

So I have redundancy, backups to the backup, so to speak.

I was the first in my area to go for this alternative power source but now almost all of my neighbors have it.

Even better, for much of the year, I'm producing more power than I use so SoCal Edison has to pay ME! Very satisfying, those checks. :raz:

Edited by andiesenji (log)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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oh boy, forgot to even talk about all the crystal and silver I also "collect", luckily, I DO have once a month luncheon for lots of ladies, which allows me to use parts of it...and I too have freezers and refrigs...plural. Obviously, I have "issues"! I need to get to know people like you all, I am considered VERY odd where I am, due to my desire to use real plates, etc., over paper! And, to love cooking!

Why am I feeling I have to apologize because I like cooking from scratch?

:wub:

You have, indeed, found your people. Welcome home!

Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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I feel your pain!

HPIM3985.JPG

These are just the ones that have not yet been opened.

How about a honey collection?

Garlic jelly (left front). I am FASCINATED by the notion of garlic jelly. What's it like?

Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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I feel your pain!

HPIM3985.JPG

These are just the ones that have not yet been opened.

How about a honey collection?

Garlic jelly (left front). I am FASCINATED by the notion of garlic jelly. What's it like?

It is a sweet/savory flavor that is great with strong cheeses and with some of the saltier patés and terrines.

To my taste some of the latter are a bit to salty to really appreciate the meats/fowl, etc., but the addition of a tiny dollop of this jelly seems (again, to my taste) reduces the saltiness and enhances the flavor of the base.

Somewhere in there is a pepper/garlic jam that I also like with cheeses.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Sugar. Granulated sugar, brown sugar, dark brown sugar, organic brown sugar, confectioner's sugar, burnt sugar, superfine sugar, muscovado sugar, honey, molasses, maple syrup, sorghum, sanding sugar, corn syrup.

And I'm on a diet.

Edited by Lindacakes (log)

I like to bake nice things. And then I eat them. Then I can bake some more.

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@andiesenji Fanstastic! I bow before the master. :)

@abadoozy sure! How do you happen to have that many geese in a fridge?

Grace

Grace Piper, host of Fearless Cooking

www.fearlesscooking.tv

My eGullet Blog: What I ate for one week Nov. 2010

Subscribe to my 5 minute video podcast through iTunes, just search for Fearless Cooking

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It's good to know I'm among friends! I have three full size refrigerators and a chest freezer. Six shelving units in the garage filled to bursting with anything and everything that doesn't need to be refrigerated and another in the greenhouse that one holds empty canning jars and my collection of terra cotta pots, and seed trays, but that's a different story.

I also have a huge lazy susan full of spices and another full of flours, sugars, oils and chocolate. I also have at least five sets of everyday dishes and two of china, three sets of flatware and one of silver. And barware. We don't even drink, but we have tons.

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Sugar. Granulated sugar, brown sugar, dark brown sugar, organic brown sugar, confectioner's sugar, burnt sugar, superfine sugar, muscovado sugar, honey, molasses, maple syrup, sorghum, sanding sugar, corn syrup.

And I'm on a diet.

Ditto &etc., and I'm a diabetic.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Honey.

Cant go to the cupboard now to check them all, but definitely hoarded 'just in case'.

The only one anyone is allowed to use is the desert honey.

From memory: tupelo, manuka, bush, orange flower, clover, mesquite, grapefruit flower, sunflower, 'mixed wildflower' aka desert honey, white honey.

"You dont know everything in the world! You just know how to read!" -an ah-hah! moment for 6-yr old Miss O.

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I shop at CostCo, so I buy a lot of things in bulk but the items I have to have a large stock of include chocolate (10kg of Ghiradelli chocolate chips, 8kg Valrohna, and 20 pounds of raw cacao I imported from Natural Zing), sugar (about 20kg), glucose (5kg), and flours (5 - 10kg of various types of flour).

Since I order a lot from the net I tend to buy bulk so I have about 15 types of beans in 2.5kg packs, umpteen bottles of different types of oils and vinegar's, and spices -- I can't count that high.

It's not hoarding if you need it, right? :raz::biggrin:

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Sugar. Granulated sugar, brown sugar, dark brown sugar, organic brown sugar, confectioner's sugar, burnt sugar, superfine sugar, muscovado sugar, honey, molasses, maple syrup, sorghum, sanding sugar, corn syrup.

And I'm on a diet.

Ditto &etc., and I'm a diabetic.

Add in some turbinado, demerera, panela, palm sugar, swedish AND belgian pearl sugars, lt & dk muscovado, golden syrup, sub caster for superfine and include the 4 lbs of brown and white sugar cubes that just got delivered from amazon.com yesterday and I guess you could say I'm a hoarder. It's a hazy memory but I think I ordered some sugar from Rancho Gordo this week-end, too.

I go through phases and am finally working my way through all the different kinds of honey I've amassed by bringing a bottle to work for use in my afternoon tea (I also hoard my leftover raw sugar packets from the coffee station in my desk drawer even though I bought a box of the stuff that I also keep there - eek!). Had to stop buying so many different varieties of salt because I'll never get around to using them all.

eta: I acknowledge my sugar packet vice as hoarding but the rest I always just thought of as a well-stocked pantry LOL! At what point do you consider the line crossed? 15 varieties of honey or 15 jars of the same?

Edited by natasha1270 (log)
"The main thing to remember about Italian food is that when you put your groceries in the car, the quality of your dinner has already been decided." – Mario Batali
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Add in some turbinado, demerera, panela, palm sugar, swedish AND belgian pearl sugars, lt & dk muscovado, golden syrup, sub caster for superfine and include the 4 lbs of brown and white sugar cubes that just got delivered from amazon.com yesterday and I guess you could say I'm a hoarder. It's a hazy memory but I think I ordered some sugar from Rancho Gordo this week-end, too.

eta: I acknowledge my sugar packet vice as hoarding but the rest I always just thought of as a well-stocked pantry LOL! At what point do you consider the line crossed? 15 varieties of honey or 15 jars of the same?

How about some Jaggery?

HPIM3986.JPG

I guess this does look a bit like hoarding but it was on sale (99¢ for each 2.2lb. 1kg. loaf) so I bought five last December. One has been grated down to a nubbin.

Another sugar is rapadura, which seems to be very popular in Australia and after I got my Thermomix31 and joined a forum, I bought a bag of it. It seems to be quite similar to the sugar sold by Rancho Gordo.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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With all this sugar, why do I still have treacle and cane syrup on my shopping list? Maybe I should add some jaggery in there for good measure? I don't think your jaggery supply is hoarding, in my family we call that having 'back-ups' and 'back-ups to the back-ups'!

"The main thing to remember about Italian food is that when you put your groceries in the car, the quality of your dinner has already been decided." – Mario Batali
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Natasha, I missed your comment about honey.

Possibly hoarding could be a problem if you had an excessive number of the same type of honey - but if you use a lot and daily, this is simply being prudent. - You wouldn't want to run out at a critical time, would you?

I've got several types of honey because I like the different flavors. I cook with honey so I buy big containers from Blum Ranch because I like to support small, local businesses.

I have a lot of sorghum because my family in Kentucky still grows and processes it and sends me at least a gallon each year. Free! :wub:

Have you ever noticed that some things you get for free taste better than similar things for which you paid?

I've been watching the TLC Channel "Extreme Couponing" shows and their supplies put mine to shame.

Some have very large families but not all do. I rather think that some of these people have tipped over the line into hoarding. But who am I to judge! :huh:

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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@abadoozy sure! How do you happen to have that many geese in a fridge?

They were on sale for $1.99/lb. I don't know what I'm going to do with them (though I have ideas!) but I had to have 'em.

One is already confit, I'm thinking of roasting a second, and the other two will end up either as more confit or sausage, depending on how much I like the first round of confit.

And stock. I had no clue what I'm going to do with goose stock, but heck if I'm going to throw those carcasses away.

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It's funny you mention the couponing show becuase I was just mentioning to someone that I had seen one of those shows and someone had filled practically their entire driveway with boxes of cereal for some ridiculously low price. I was astounded but then they also mentioned that they were donating it all to a local food charity which was great to hear about.

"The main thing to remember about Italian food is that when you put your groceries in the car, the quality of your dinner has already been decided." – Mario Batali
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Fat.

I don't have an exceptional quantity or variety of purchased oils and fats (olive oil, sesame oil, canola oil, butter and lard), but nearly every time I cook some animal product that involves skimming or draining fat, I invariably save the fat in some container in the fridge. Sometimes I even use it.

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I don't bake much--diabetic, too--but I have almost 2 gallons of vanilla steeping in the cupboard. It makes great presents. (And I use it in my Greek yogurt--a spoonful of vanilla and a couple packets of sweetener. Add some strawberries, and you have a great breakfast that doesn't make my sugar go up.)

sparrowgrass
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I don't bake much--diabetic, too--but I have almost 2 gallons of vanilla steeping in the cupboard. It makes great presents. (And I use it in my Greek yogurt--a spoonful of vanilla and a couple packets of sweetener. Add some strawberries, and you have a great breakfast that doesn't make my sugar go up.)

That's definitely not hoarding. That is being frugal as well as exhibiting generosity to those who are on the receiving end of the presents.

I have multiple batches "working" - mostly in quart jars but two are 1 1/2 quart - that I started about two months apart. That way when I use one up or distribute it as gifts, I have another coming along soon, and usually mature enough to use.

I now have a batch made with some very old extra anejo 100% blue agave tequila that was a gift I received several year ago and as I don't drink, decided I could get some use out of it this way.

I have since been told what it probably cost (not by the giver) and have felt a mild twinge of guilt about that, but really, if someone is going to give me something with no strings, why wouldn't I use it the way I wish?

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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