Peeking at My Pantry

Lydia, of the Perfect Pantry blog, has set forth an invitation for people to share photos of our pantries. So, here is a glimpse at my various pantry areas, not including my refrigerator. Above shows where most of my spices are located, to the right of my stove on a three-tier rack and in a drawer.

To the left of my stove, in a cupboard, I store most of my vinegars, oils, etc.

And here is my actual pantry, with roll out drawers where most of my dry goods are stored. The top shelf has a lot of my Mexican ingredients: dry hot peppers, herbs/spices, corn husks, etc. Below that are some of my grains and at least a dozen varieties of beans/legumes. The drawer below that contains canned goods, dried fruit, jams, and a big orange bowl packed with sea vegetables. The drawer below that, not pictured, contains teas and baking items like baking powder, cocoa powder, etc. I store all of my nuts and flours and some of my grains in the freezer or refrigerator, and I have at least a dozen varieties of each.

Here is the shelf in the corner where I keep potted herbs. On the counter I present the items I purchased this week at my local farmer's market. It's Florida, so we always have lots of fresh produce available, even in the winter. After taking the photo, I placed some of these items in pretty bowls, which are now on display on my counters, while others have been stored in my refrigerator.

Added March 9: This is unconventional, but I am adding two additional photos of my pantry. Above is my pantry drawer with my teas and baking products. One the thing I like about this drawer is that the boxes of tea are easy to read and see. So I can see at a quick glance what I have. But the best feature is the wire basket. I hold all of my most-used baking products in it:

When I am doing baking, I simply remove from my pantry the wire basket that holds my most-used baking products. Everything is at my fingertips on my counter and clean-up is easy. It's a fantastic system, if I do say so myself!