Food storage solutions.

[hippywife]

There are a few things I was having problems storing for very long, one is ginger and the other flat leaf parsley. I even read an ATK on the different methods they tried for storing ginger, but I've accidentally found one that works.

I have an old vintage bread box like this:



I keep potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, shallots, garlic and ginger in it for a really long time without any problems. Weeks and weeks, into months, the ginger, shallots and garlic keep so well.

As far as Italian flat leaf parsley goes, another accident came out of my laziness. LOL I find it keeps better loosely wrapped in the plastic produce bag on the door of the fridge rather than in the crisper. Also lasts for weeks and weeks.

I wanted to share these with you all just in case anyone else needed them. Anyone else have any solutions they've found to classic food storage problems?

:hi:

[japple]

1. Thanks for the tips, HW. I usually put ginger in the freezer, which

ruins the texture of it, but not the taste. Nice to know about parsley. Wonder if that would work for cilantro?

[hippywife]

2. You're welcome.

I don't wrap it or anything (the ginger) just throw it in there with everything else.

I've not tried the cilantro yet as I haven't bought any for a while, sadly. ;) I need to try that, too.

:hi:

[grasswire]

3. that's what I do for parsley, too

I keep it in the plastic bag, stored upright in the fridge door tucked in among the condiment bottles.

And I also throw ginger in the freezer but it's not my favorite thing to do.

I love your vintage kitchen things. I recall that the other day you mentioned a vintage cannister. Do you find much at tag sales 'round there?

[hippywife]

4. Most of the things I find

at work. When people pass away, their families tend not to want all the stuff they leave behind. Sometimes they leave behind good stuff. Other things I've bought at goodwill.com or etsy.com. :hi:

[grasswire]

6. you know there's a market for vintage kitchen things, right?

I've been buying/selling them for about ten years when I find things at estate sales etc.

Just FYI -- and you can find those of us who are obsessed with the hunt over on the antiques & collectibles forum. :-)

[hippywife]

7. Yep.

I'm part of it. :rofl: I love vintage things of all stripes and have some vintage kitchen stuff and some ladies hats, and some Roseville pottery, etc.

And I know about that forum. You were the folks that got me sucked into goodwill.com for a while there. ;)

[pengillian101]

11. You love ladies hats? Me too!

When I was a divorcee living alone, my furniture and all decor was everything very old and to my liking. I've always loved antiquey stuff. Man, I loved that place.

I had a small wall decorated very fun. Set up an old wood ironing board, draped my Grandmother's crocheted tablecloth over it and put a kerosene lantern on each end with some candles in candle-holders in the middle. Hung a big beveled-edge mirror over it and surrounded it with my cutesy vintage hats and gloves hung willy nilly! Wish I had a pic to share! Use your mind's eye.

:hi:

[pengillian101]

12. Oh, I forgot to say...

There were a few more things on that ironing board - looked kinda like this (minus that pretty redhead in the mirror).



:hi:

[trud]

15. pengillian101

What great stuff!

[NMDemDist2]

5. don't keep you potatoes with your onions

makes them rot is what I read and if sure made a difference in how long stuff lasted when i separated them

wonder how the bread box deals with it :shrug:

also if your cheese grows green mold it's cuz you touch it with your hands, our oils do something, but since I've been relentless about not touching the cheese, no more green growth

and BTW, i love that bread box :hi:

[hippywife]

8. I don't seem to have that problem.

But then I try not to buy too many potatoes at a time and use them up quickly. I did know about the cheese.

I think the bread box is just a cool, dark place and that's why it works so well. :shrug:

:hi:

[Tesha]

9. Basil keeps almost forever...

if you snip the stems and put the bunch in a glass of water.
I've still got some from my garden from September!

uncut onions and garlic live on my counter
and ginger? nothing works for long, so I buy what I need and try to use it all because we don't like it frozen
I wonder if it can be perserved???

[hippywife]

10. I'm telling you...

store that ginger in a cool dark place similar to the bread box I'm using and it will last a really long time. Or I suppose you could skin and process it to the form you normally use it, put it in a jar and refrigerate it. You know, kinda like the jars of minced garlic in the store?

:hi:

[Tesha]

13. cool and dark...

and a little air can circulate...

that's the one thing I didn't design into our kitchen!!! ;-)


Maybe... peal and slice and put in wine? mmm sherry? I use sherry in stirfrys...
I'd love to have "fresh" on hand all the time.

[japple]

14. I don't use ginger that often since I live by myself and only cook

for the family once a week, but I do love it and have recently become hooked on ginger chews candy, which are probably not good for my dental work. I found a method for making candied ginger on teh google. It's from Joy of Cooking and I think I'm going to try it soon.

http://www.ochef.com/829.htm

[trud]

16. pie cabinet?

This makes me wonder if a pie cabinet would work for storing more stuff.