It was time to put away the yummy peaches. I washed the jars carefully in some warm, soapy water (they come out of the canning kettle sticky), and set them on a towel to dry. Then, I went to my really nice pantry closet, renovated by CoolGuy when we first moved into this house. He took the "coat" closet in the front entry and added some great corner shelves in part of it. After all, coats are not a big priority here in the desert. I have a few, but I don't use them too often. So, I have a place for jackets, and the ironing board, but I also have some deep shelves that I can use as a pantry, since our kitchen cupboard space is quite limited.
Well, I had to rearrange things in there, as I haven't done so for quite a while. I pulled everything out and in the process, I picked up a can of tomato soup that...rattled. Yes, it was very light and, when I gave it a shake, it rattled. (I've watched too much T.V. --my first reaction was that I'd gotten someone's diamond necklace in a soup can by mistake.) Then, I noticed that the bottom had a little stain on it.
Next, I checked the "best used by" date. Ooh. July 2005. Eeeew. In side the can, I found the most extreme version of "condensed" soup ever to be found in a can.
It is very light weight, totally devoid of any moisture what-so-ever. Hmmm...I found one more can of tomato soup that was also purchased the year I moved to Las Vegas. It went into the trash. I didn't even want to look inside. It was still "liquid" and sealed up tightly. But, I don't want to know anymore about it. The can that contained the little rock of tomato soup has a teeny hole in the bottom. I cleaned a small, dark circle of dried tomato off the shelf where it had sat, for a very, very, long time.
Then, I looked over every other food container in the pantry closet, and reorganized it according to "best used by" dates so that no other cans of food will sit unnoticed for 10 years. My peaches are in their own section. They're harder to overlook, so I'm not worried that I'll leave a bottle untouched for ten years. Heh...
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