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My Annual Pantry Cleanout Looks Different This Year
Because I’m also preparing it for post-pandemic life
Lately, I’ve had an unsettling feeling as the realization that neither a new year nor a new administration likely means any significant changes to our daily lives, at least for several more months.
I can’t help but think of this time a year ago when I was looking forward to a party we’d planned. I didn’t know it was the last one we’d host for so long. When I look back at what I cherish and miss the most about what we did during pre-pandemic life, gatherings small and large are high on the list.
My kitchen still sees a lot of action these days, even if it’s just our family of four, but I must admit that there are piles of folded laundry on the kitchen table nearly as often as there are meals. No one is enthusiastic about putting them away.
Perhaps we can all agree that it’s a lot easier to motivate to clean when we anticipate that other people are coming over.
Our last party, pre-pandemic, was a potluck. In what I hoped would be a fun way to help my friends discover more plant-based meals they enjoy, I asked everyone to bring a favorite dish and copies of the recipe they made. I bought prizes. And plenty of wine.
About two dozen of my friends came, along with some of their husbands and kids and a friend of a friend.
We ate and talked. We drank and laughed. Then we all voted. The grand prize was a box of brownie mix and a can of black beans. I explained it was the perfect way to make the world’s easiest two-ingredient brownies: purée the beans (including their liquid) and combine with the mix. Bake.
I invited everyone to try the brownies I made as an example. The winner who took these ingredients home was thrilled. The runner-ups received other pantry staples I assured them were not just for vegans. No one went home hungry.
At the end of the night, there were piles of dirty silverware and plates by the sink and wine glasses scattered throughout the house. I couldn’t wait to host the next one in the spring, or summer at the latest.
It didn’t happen.
