I have a bunch of spice rubs and some jarred foods (tapenade) that have been lurking back there forever.

For the sesame seeds, I believe you can toast them to bring out the nuttiness. There is a specialty pan for this in Asian markets, with a small screen to cover it. However, any splatter guard can do. They can pop and spatter, so watch out.

Oh, all kinds of things. Molasses. Rice Vinegar. Corn Syrup. Marinated artichoke hearts. Pickled beets. Canned beans.

I use all these things but only occasionally, for certain recipes. I date the cans with a marker so I can easily see when the expiration date is, and that helps me plan to use them in a upcoming menu in the near future.

Two words . . . oat bran. Lot's of it. I am open to suggestions! I found a jar of maple syrup in a box the other day that had been there for 1.5 years. You are supposed to refrigerate after opening . . . but if it isn't maple liquor by now, I am going to try and use it up. I have yet to follow my initial inspiration and use up the garbanzo bean flour, white bean flour and soy flours I bought.

My black sesame seeds are wet now, i boiled them, like instructed. : )

My wood cookstove is on early morning, now late afternoon, it is lit again...nights are 40, days are 55-65. I suppose i should dry them on the lower heat. Low and slow toasting.

-molasses. Using that in my brown bread.

-rice vinegar. Used some of that to pickle ginger. Vinegar lasts a long time.

-hardware/grocery has many 'brown' English specialities i stopped testing a few years ago. Some tinned powdered pudding my FIL loved while visiting.

ipink, try toasting your garbanzos. If canned, rinse and dry, very dry. Then toss with a tbsp of oil. EVOO, avocado, or coconut oil. Toss with preferred spices, then onto sheet pan for 20 minutes on 350. I like the slightly crispy outer shell but still a bit tender inside. -i put a blend of dried spices in my spice grinder. -rosemary, savory, whisper of smoked chipotle and wasabi.

(taking them to a VictoriaDay beach bonfire.)

I think I have a couple of cake mixes that are likely past the use by date. I rarely use a mix but will sometimes pick them up 'for emergencies'. Then not use them. I took a jar of tartar sauce out of the pantry last night when I didn't feel like making any, and found an expiration date of Feb 4 2015, tossed that.

What I'm using up today is ham. A ham from Costco, and sale ham from the grocery store, had one in each of two refrigerators. The Costco ham suggested use by May 25th, I'm cooking that one this afternoon. The other with its use by date of June went into the freezer. My downfall is 'sale'. The price attracts me, then I can fail to keep track and actually plan a meal including it ;(

Does anyone know how long a can of Tahini is good? There is a can in my cupboard unopened I think purchased last year - I cannot find a date on that packaging anywhere, even put on reading glasses and inspected it. No date.

-canned whole tomatoes

They also keep a long time if not dented or rusty me thinks. I rarely use cans but on the island i don't have my previous season garden bounty, handy in the freezer like back in NY.

A good recipe for any off-season soups or stews is to drain the can, saving the liquid discard...freeze or fridge that good liquid. Halve the plum canned tomatoes, sprinkle with herbs and a bit of olive oil and roast in the oven, aprox 375 for half an hour or more, checking every 15. Could roast with some onions and carrots, potatoes if planning a soup.

Just put a large tinned can in the oven to roast. Tiny roma ones, just one larger that i cut in half...one a sheet pan. spread out in a single layer. Left behind 1 and 1/2 cup tomato liquor. I'll use it in something tomorrow.

Tinned has a smell i just don't like. Roasting or in a stew or chili does take care of that. A friend of mine roasts and dots them on focchia. We shall see.

Your tartar sauce, un-opened would be fine, even another year probably.

Tahini...i don't buy that anymore. Found a tin, geez it was large, a while ago and it was fine a couple years after the date, un-opened. Fresh roasted and ground is so much better. I did uncover a small jar of capers once that were total mush, not spoiled, but not worth using.

Hearts of Palm. I love hearts of palm, but I don't want to open a whole jar for myself, and no one else around here wants them. I take them out to serve to company, then have too much fresh veg and they never get opened. :( Maybe I should just open a jar for myself so they won't feel rejected...

Lots of homemade jams and jellies; lots of sauces e.g. BBQ, marinades, aioli; 19 bottles of vinegar. Taking inventory it looks like items that are regional souvenirs from trips.

Plllog, I always have HoP on hand to make a quick but favorite salad (HoP, Boston lettuce, white balsamic, EVOO).

-sardines, anchovies, all different styles, tins, jars. DH buys them and forgets he already has a dozen tins.

He loves jared artichokes, olives, h o palms but forgets they are there.

I make an artichoke pie. Very ItaianAmerican. Basically a pot pie with leeks, asparagus, and what-ever...but the artichokes are used instead of any meats. A bit of egg, not a gravy. (his b-day request every year)

oh, wow, I had a tin of tahini that lasted about 10 years. Picked it up in Tunisia and it sat forever. Tossed it eventually.

I tend to get stray staple canned goods that sit around for a while -- mostly bean and tomatoes, waiting for that "emergency" meal that never happens. Chipotle in sauce...

Tunisia, what a trip that was...i had some nutty stuff stuffed in my luggage, : )...wish i had some extra cash back then but i was a student on a budget.

Well, tonight was bread night--maple oat bran yeast bread and banana oat bran quick bread.

lpink, I have bananas that need to be something. I keep trying, but I just don't like the texture of bananas, so they always end up in baked goods.

Right now I have several cans of sardines, although I like them I forget to use them up, and I have more lentils than anyone should ever keep on hand, I need to use some of those up. I also have Arborio rice, jasmine rice, black forbidden rice, brown rice, white rice, sushi rice and some basmati. I need to use up some rice, that's certain.

I'm pretty good about using pantry goods, now that I actually have a pantry where I can see everything.

Annie

This weekend I unearthed a few jars of heirloom tomatoes from 2009 and some chili sauce from 2011. Seals were good...no rust. They were a little faded. My first thought was, "But what if I neeeeed them. What if it's a bad tomato year and I don't get enough to do chili sauce?They're still better than storebought. " Bah. I have six jars of bright chili sauce and a two dozen or so jars of tomatoes left. I tossed 'em.

And I found a can of sweetened condensed milk best by date 2012 so I made brownies with a cheesecake-ey topping.

I've been getting much better about cleaning out the pantry and donating to the food bank. And ordering smaller quantities of herbs and spices. Still trying to figure out why I had two 1-ounce bags of Penzey's marjoram, lol.

Well, I'm too ashamed to list what's lurking at the back of my shelves......

I have too much rice as well. I bought a bunch, and then found a bunch. I am slowly getting my kitchen better organized. My friend came to visit me and helped me set up a cupboard and bakers rack in my dining room for storing kitchen things. My kitchen is tiny, but now that I have a little prep. cart in there and the other two storage units in the dining room, it has gotten a lot better. Plus my landlady is letting me set up some storage shelves in the cavernous basement of my apt. house. She's a gem. I can store my canning jars down there! I'm having to clean out my mom's pantry as well. I take all the healthy things back to my house, because I know my dad will never eat them, particularly on his own if I don't fix them for him.

I have a number of things put there by my adult children who intend to make a specific meal while visiting... and don't. When I cleaned out the pantry this winter I found at least 5 jars of artichokes of various forms. There were cans of beans, and spaghetti sauces; and Faro, chia seeds, and quinoa all of which I quite like. Faro has been the most interesting since it's been around since the beginning of time but I had never even heard of until DD made a side dish with it.

Nothing. I'm an inventory control nut. If something sits too long in the pantry, I either toss it or give it away. Years ago, when BJs and Costco first arrived, I would stock up on stuff that would last for years. What happened was that I ran out of room for things that I normally used. Being a house husband, I'm constantly watching for lingering artifacts in the kitchen. Don't sit too long, I'll toss you out with the extra boxes of salt!

I'm like Islay - too ashamed to list them, but a lot of them I cannot even see. By pantry, I mean the pantry at the far side of the kitchen plus the cabinets above my washer and dryer. I have to use a step ladder to get to those cabinets, and so that is where items may languish for a while. Things in the pantry get used frequently, as they are easier to get to. In the back cabinets I have sardines, smoked oysters, eggplant makdous, hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, and various marinades. I should not buy marinades because I pretty much always make my own and never get around to using the prepared ones. I buy a lot of things at the Japanese markets that don't get used right away, plus a few things from the Lebanese market such as couscous, which do not keep that long. I have quite a collection of rice and bean noodles that I plan to use for Pad Thai, which I do not make as often as I would like, but I will sometimes add them to soups just to use them.

These are just the things I am NOT too ashamed to list!

This was an odd one...and why i needed to scrub and discard and clean the cupboard shelves...(vacation home)

Sea salts, kosher salt, some crazy himalayan rock salts gift. Those big chunks that we are to grate to the table, yawn. I do like the various salts and subtle flavors, sorta. Maldon has a nice flake feel when crushed.

But this was in my cupboard...two chunks of rock salt in a puddle of water. All my salts were full of water. Salts ability to absorb is amazing. The big box of kosher in a tight bag was fine, obviously. The cupboard was a damp mess.

Years past i have left the cupboard doors open....last year we forgot.

Are those actually CREATURES in the salt water? Or just residue? I didn't think salt attracted anything in particular, but now I'm wondering...

Annie

Looks like creatures to me too! YIKES!

: ) It is dried things. Last season it lived on the kitchen breakfast table, probably under some wildflowers that dried out. Then into the cupboard for the winter. (visitors are always picking flowers/foliage on hikes to look up once returning). Surprised how much moisture it took on. No lid. Dry here for coastal. No real bug troubles or field mice.

Hygroscopic.
From Wikipedia:

Hygroscopy is the ability of a substance to attract and hold water molecules from the surrounding environment. This is achieved through either absorption or adsorption
with the absorbing or adsorbing substance becoming physically changed
somewhat. This could be by an increase in volume, boiling point,
viscosity or other physical characteristic of the substance, as water
molecules can become suspended between the substance's molecules in the
process.

Hygroscopic substances include cellulose fibers (such as cotton and paper), sugar, caramel, honey, glycerol, ethanol, methanol, diesel fuel, sulfuric acid, methamphetamine, many fertilizer chemicals, many salts (including table salt), and a wide variety of other substances.

LOL! Looking at the picture, I was thinking dried wildflowers, but I never thought that would actually be it. I think I've seen too many soggy flowers. ;)