Food Storage - Toilet Paper, Pickles, and Mormons -

When I first married, Feb. 16, 1978, I proudly displayed my trousseau at our wedding reception. There was the tricot quilt hand quilted by my mother-in-law, a picnic quilt tied by my mother, another pink quilt with delicate stitching from my grandmother. As well, the display included the hide-a-bed couch my mom and I picked up at Deseret Industries and stripped and reupholstered and the table my husband refinished for our kitchen and the four chairs he stained and varnished to match the table. On that table was a setting of Pfaltzgraff stoneware dishes I had purchased as our every day dishes, with silverware, and the gorgeous and simple china - white with a silver ring, a center of light gray, with a tiny lavender violet in the center. My father had purchased this in Japan during the Korean War, gave it to his mother, who gave it to me. Sitting with the china was the crystal I had earned when depositing money in my checking account that year and another set of special-silverware.
Lastly, there was an old-fashioned metal flower cart filled with smaller things - dish cloths hand stitched or printed, an apron or two, and jars and jars of fruits and vegetables my mother and I had canned that previous summer and autumn. Of all things displayed, these home-canned goods were the most unique, and yet, most well-understood items on display. These jars included - tomatoes, peaches, pickles, apple sauce, and zucchini-pineapple (shredded zucchini mixed with pineapple juice and canned - a disaster and later the bottles were emptied, washed, and put to a better purpose). I had to show that I was prepared for married life - Mormon woman married life.

Over and over again these past few weeks I've been reminded of the Mormon scriptures, If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." (D&C 38:30)

Through the years I've canned - pickling green beans, beets, and carrots, cucumbers, bottling grape juice, making berry and apricot jams and jellies, as well as preserving tomatoes, peaches, apples, apricots, pears, even dried beans, with garden-picked raspberries being my favorite, and still a comfort food. Having a row of 12 quarts of fresh out of the canner peaches, listening to the jars pop as they seal, brings a sense of pride and comfort and security.

As a new wife I was so proud of not only the home-canned foods in my pantry, but finding space in our first apartment for a "fruit" or storage room. A pantry a little larger than a closet was where my home-canned goods rested all sparkly and proud, along with store bought cans of beans (green and black and pinto), soups, tuna, and boxes of cereals and crackers, and bags of flour and sugar, as well as seasonings and spices, and the non-perishables of paper towels, tissues, diapers. I could shop in my own store any time I wanted.
And our first major purchase? Of course, a small Sears upright freezer, that I could load with the goods not necessarily cannable - green peas, corn, shredded zucchini, meats, breads, anything bought on sale that was perishable if not frozen, including green peppers diced and ready for cooking.

As the years went on, gardening was more fun than canning, and yet there was the "be prepared" mantra of my youth not far from my mind.

Several years into my marriage we moved from Brigham City, Utah to Sheffield, Alabama, and of course we took that fruit room with us, which included the bottles and cans and boxes and bundles that kept us confident we could weather a storm. And when moving only 10 miles away, from Sheffield to Florence, we looked for a home that had a room we could use specifically for storage - and the movers noticed, even asking, "What is it with you folks from Utah bringing a room full of food with you whenever you move?" As great a teaching moment this could have been, I laughed, and pointed to the garage workroom that would be fine for storage. We moved back to Utah a few years later, this time giving away most of the items in the room, except for our precious dry-canned wheat (even now I have some dated "'80").

Fast forward to 2004, newly remarried, no storage, no freezer. Building a kitchen pantry takes time, and every time I bought, I bought 2, and soon we had a small room that was beginning to look respectable. Shortly after, when finding one more thing to freeze, and not having the space, we too bought our first major purchase - a freezer. Over the years I've filled that freezer with fresh tomatoes in plastic bags, fresh pesto with basil from the garden, fresh diced peaches, berries, and bananas for smoothies, and meals upon meals for those days I come home and cannot cook or it's Scott's day to cook! And to this day I have to smile when, upon getting a Costco card and buying our first 24 pack of toilet paper and case of bottled water, Scott, with tears in his eyes, said, "Now, this is what I've been preparing for."

This winter Scott and I decided we'd use up our storage from December to the end of March, emptying the freezer and shelves, so when case goods came on sale we could start fresh, donating to the food bank what we hadn't used. We did it! All that was left were some now-precious home-canned peaches, beans, seasonings, and frozen grated zucchini and corn.
A week prior to leaving on vacation (March 3), I suggested we beginning restocking our "storage room" with a few items. So off Scott went to Costco and the local grocery store, bottled water, vinegar, oil, canned vegetables, broths, as well as toilet paper, hydrogen peroxide, lotion, contact solution, and Lysol wipes all found their place on our shelves.
Needless to say, when the sky fell 2 months ago, well, we didn't panic. Nor did our Ukrainian guest, when following Scott into the room just beyond the laundry room to get a light bulb, was surprised to see our "stock pile." He had plenty of questions, and I'm sure he had a story to tell his family back in the Ukraine.

PS - It's been nearly 3 weeks since we've bought groceries. Again, I decided to see if we could live on what we have. I've fed 4 people dinners and Scott and I breakfasts and lunches, eating out once, on what we've had in our refrigerator, freezer, and food storage. I'm ready to fill the fridge, but we did it!

And this -
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/03/stockpile-food-my-garage/608290/?fbclid=IwAR29NbCVjGlnGZ6rbUfYp3zqJayVYPopvCvHmbYBNEIq8OZxNyRqIfz154A