Saturday 15 December 2012

Clearing out the cupboards - or how pain and chaos lead to order and mince pies


The last time I cleared out the kitchen cupboards - really cleared them out, was the morning of the day Pink arrived - 6 1/2 yrs ago. I recall quite clearly the look of alarm on the Husband's face to see me sitting, beached whale-like on the floor, surrounded by the contents of the cupboard, furiously labelling jars. 

This, then, is the contents of the same shelves in the kitchen dresser this morning. 



The shelves which have the flour, the sugar, the pasta, the rice, the baking sundries (sundries? well, the baking powder, the vanilla, the cooking chocolate (if I haven't eaten it), the half used, dried up tubes of writing icing...), the dried fruit and the nuts. Ah yes. The nuts. It all started in my quest for ground almonds.

You see, I was going to make the mince pies today, as a distraction activity (more about that later) and having perused both Delia and Nigella for inspiration on the pastry front, I decided that I needed to add some ground almonds. Trouble was, I could only find an unopened packet, and I just KNEW there was a half used packet in there somewhere.

So back to that distraction activity. Yes, while I am most definitely not pregnant, I am trying to cope with some horrible pain in my jaw muscles which has been getting steadily worse since Sunday evening - that's a whole 6 days now. Not that I've experienced much labour, being a veteran of the general anaesthetic and emergency c-section approach to giving birth, but really, honestly, this is worse than I remember that being. I am rattling like a proverbial pill bottle - codeine, paracetamol. neurofen and a low dose of an anti-depressant which is supposed to help with the spasms - and while I've used it to take the opportunity for some lovely reflexology, spending half my time with my face in a hot water bottle is getting a little boring.

After the anti-depressant was added into the mix yesterday (one to be taken at bedtime) I did have an amazing night's sleep last night, with the consequence that I went for longer than I have been without other pain relief. This morning was pretty grim as a result, and the Husband disappeared off with the kids to do some jobs leaving me to my hot water bottle. As the pain eased, I set to, determined to take advantage of the peace and quiet and get on with the mince pies, but first I had to find the almonds.

I emptied everything out on to the floor, so the shelves looked like this. So empty and inviting.



I found 3 open packets of raisins. 2 of pine nuts. 3 of flaked almonds.Several bags of plain flour at various stages of emptiness. 2 bottles of vanilla extract.  I also found the open pack of ground almonds I knew was in there. And a second unopened bag. The shame.

Then it was all out so I had to get it back. reader, I rationalised. I ordered. Where once there were 3 opened bags of raisins, now there is one. Jars have been filled, and don't tell anyone, but I actually threw out a tub of glace cherries which contained 5 little fruit and was so passed the use by date that even I had to admit defeat.

And then I put it all back in the cupboard. Amazing.




And did you want to know about the mince pies? Well, may be tomorrow. Here's a sneak preview:



11 comments:

  1. Poor you, that sounds horrible - is it tooth-related? I had an abscess a week or two after D was born, and think it was possibly more painful than giving birth.. Cupboard clearout must have been a good distraction and deeply satisfying. My food cupboard is a disaster, but like you, know I've got that half bag of almonds I need...just not sure where. Christmas tree mince pies look delicious x

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    1. :-) it's not tooth related - i went to the dentist who xrayed me and apparently I have a misaligned jaw and the muscles have gone into spasm. Never been a problem before but it's blimmin painful and I've just found out that the hospital haven't received my referral yet...

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    2. Flip, R - hope they can see you quickly - is it likely to be this week?

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    3. not sure - am on for some mega phone calls today to try and get it sorted. Also going to see an osteopath/acupuncturist to see if she can do something.

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  2. You're very brave to attempt an emptying of the cupboards. I won't say that I never do it but I am very good at putting it off. But the mincies do look good. Hope you're feeling better soon.

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    1. Thanks Phil - jaw is finally feeling a little better - but think that#s the extra strength pain killers I got from the doctor - I had to cry but it was worth it!

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  3. That sounds horrible but I bet you smile every time you open that cupboard now..if your painful jaw lets you. The joy of a tidy, ordered cupboard with no nasties lurking should not be underestimated.

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    1. Do you know, it is blissful being able to find what I want without scrabbling round at the back. I don't think it will last long - it's probably only lasted this long because I haven't felt up to much baking - but if it can stay like that for Christmas I'll be well pleased :-)

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  4. I hope you're feeling better RJ? That sounds awful x

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    1. It's been pretty crap, but the drugs do work now so all is better-ish. Acupuncture helped and I managed to strop my way to a hospital appointment tomorrow :-)

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