The inventory

There are things I have a tendency to impulse-buy: glossy magazines (food or fashion, or fashion with food pages - these are the best), shoes and food, especially when it's something that I have never tried. Quite a lot of things, really. A few days ago, I read Ilva's entry about farro alla caprese and I was instantly intrigued. I love spelt but have never tasted the whole grain, I just know it as flour or cereal. Later in the day, I went to the supermarket and there they were: spelt grains in 1kg-bags, quietly sitting on the shelf next to the semolina on my shopping list. Waiting for me to walk by. Instinctively, I reached out and - lowered my hand again. There is so much food in my cupboards, all waiting to be used. I promised myself then and there that I was not going to buy the spelt grains or any other larger item not immediately needed until I had not used up a good part of my stocks. I'm afraid that otherwise, things will go off and I will end up having to throw them away and I'd hate that. I'm very serious about my resolution, so last night, I raised an inventory. Here's what I got:

1. In the kitchen cupboard

- 0.5kg coarse polenta
- 0.5kg fine polenta
- 8 flour tortillas
- several half-used packets of pasta, different shapes, normal and wholewheat
- some parboiled rice
- some risotto rice
- 1 kg perfume rice
- 1kg semolina
- a box of mini-meringues
- 800g bulgur
- 500g quinoa
- 500g amaranth
- some black eyed beans
- some soissons beans

2. In the "larder"

- a glass of avjar, a kind of vegetable purée from Yougoslavia
- tinned artichoke hearts
- tinned artichoke bases
- tinned sweetcorn
- one large tin of chopped tomatoes
- tinned tuna
- tinned white beans

3. In the freezer

- two salmon steaks
- finnish rye bread
- fresh, rolled-out pasta dough
- a packet of mangetout
- some spinach
- ravioli with ricotta filling
- a large bottle of swedish vodka.

I'm bad, am I not? Some things, like the vodka (keeps forever) or the risotto rice (not having any would worry me) are fine. But what about the beans? Three different kinds, tinned and dried! What was I thinking? Nobody loves pulses that much! And the amaranth? I bought it in a health shop-frenzy but unfortunately it turned out that I don't like it very much. Now what? Sell it on ebay?

I will have to be inventive, because all this food has to go. I drew up a list and pinned it onto the refrigerator door. There is no way out this time. The good thing is: once the "larder" (a drawer in the chest of drawers in the hall) is empty, I will have more space for glossies and shoes.