The text message read: "I was just in the Rockfords' pantry. It was so fresh and nice-smelling. Then I realized - they don't keep their trash in there!! Fix that!"
True, my pantry had begun to smell like old fish tails and onion skins. Taking the trash out more often didn't help. However, I really didn't want to get to the bottom of that smell, for fear I'd find something living - or dying - behind the pancake syrup.
But now the Rockfords were besting me. I hauled out the trash can - a stainless-steel bin with a foot-pedal lid designed to "contain odors." Right. I sanitized and deodorized every surface. Next, everything came out of the pantry, which was like clowns exiting a clown car. How did all that stuff fit?
I scrubbed the walls, shelves and floor until the pantry was cleaner than a nun on Sunday. As I started to put things back, I experienced what could only be described as an awakening: What is life if not making the same mistakes over and over? I asked myself, channeling Carl Jung. Perched on the verge of putting everything back like before, only neater, I heard Jung whisper: "Pssst. Maybe there's a better way?"
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I called my friend Mary Collette Rogers, a professional kitchen coach and the force behind www.everydaygoodeating.com
"I'm having a pantry attack," I said.
"Want me to come over? One question," she said. "May I videotape?" She'd been wanting to make a video on pantry organizing and was just waiting for the right subject.
Though, at the moment, my kitchen looked as if it were decorated with explosives, I said, "Sure."
The next day, Rogers, her camera person and two planet-sized lights on poles arrived. Rogers and I sorted, space-planned and labeled as the camera rolled. (Look out, YouTube!)
A well-organized pantry saves steps, time and money. You'll never again buy a jar of mustard because you didn't see the one buried behind the Shredded Wheat. To get there, Kitchen Coach Rogers offers these steps.
• Step 1. Think function. Pantries are for backup storage and infrequently used cooking appliances, like the s'mores maker. It's not so much for everyday ingredients you need while cooking. Oils and common spices belong in your cooking triangle, close to your stove and food-preparation surfaces.
• Step 2. Pull everything out. Then wipe the shelves so you move back in on a clean surface. If the space is dark, add better lighting and paint it a light color.
• Step 3. Create categories. Group like items on your counter. We had about 20 groups, labeled with sticky notes: paper goods, soups and sauces, tomato products, bread, etc. (I know this sounds sick.) Bulky and rarely used items (my bread machine) went to remote storage, such as the garage.
• Step 4. Consolidate. Corral the unwieldy. We put our water bottles, which we knock over daily like bowling pins, into a 4-inch-deep plastic bin. Snacks, which tend to sprawl, went vertically into a basket. Use containers you have before running to the store to buy stuff to hold your stuff. After editing your contents, consider whether wall-mounted wire racks, stackable shelves, Lazy Susans, clear, square bins (round ones take up more room), or wall hooks would make the space more efficient.
• Step 5. Post-It plan. Before shoving contents back willy-nilly, apply these rules. Put like with like; light stuff high, heavy stuff low, and stuff you use most in the middle; tall in back, short in front; related categories beside each other: bread next to cereal, pasta beside tomato products, dried spices next to condiments. Use Post-Its from Step 3 to label shelves. It's easier to move sticky notes around than stuff. Play with the layout until it makes sense. Allow for growth.
• Step 6. Restock then label. Move contents in and rearrange until you're satisfied. Though I thought labeling pantry shelves was compulsive, Rogers insisted it helps prevent "product migration" (when pickles want to hang out with soda). Plus she'd brought her label gun. Soon, I was hooked.
Contact Marni Jameson through www.marnijameson.com