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Twice a year I do a HUGE shopping excursion to restock the pantry and deep freeze. Generally I do one in March or April, depending on when Easter falls; because there are some really good sales at that time of year. The second one comes right before Thanksgiving; again the same reason... tons of great sale prices. This is when I hit up the sales and re-stock my baking supplies. You can usually find sugar, butter, flour and a wide array of other baking ingredients at low prices.

Let's Start With The Deep Freeze

Well, as you can see my deep freeze is running low. Last season we were unlucky when deer hunting, so no 75-pounds worth of venison for the year in this house. That also meant no venison jerky, no venison chili... oh, the list could go on and on. I already informed my husband... one deer is good... two is better.
(I do have more food in my other refrigerator/freezer, but this is my main go-to freezer)

Since it's too early in the year/season for the trip to the meat market, I will be watching the sales' papers this coming week and picking up a few things until my scheduled trip. That's a long time if you think about it. Eight more weeks until Thanksgiving and the sales don't really get into high gear until about two weeks prior. So I have six weeks worth of meats to stock up on as I can.

We have a Polish-American meat market about ten miles from where I currently live and this place has the best walk-in cooler for buying meats. You actually walk into a cooler room which is about 25'x25'. There is a butcher on staff to cut meats for you on demand and they sell some of the greatest local meats that I have found. The have bundles you buy and if you catch the right butcher on staff, he will let you substitute certain meats. For example, I am not too fond of ground chuck, so he will let me substitute ground round (keeping the price in check and comparable).

The meats they offer are incredible. From lamb chops to venison back strap. In the cooler they also have made fresh daily barrels of sauerkraut and pickles. Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about. They also grind up their own secret recipe Polish, breakfast and Italian sausages. DELECTABLE!

On To The Pantry

Excuse the disastrous mess you see below. I haven't been able to keep up with the organization of this area of my home. Some days it's just easier to shut the door when I am hectic and crazy busy with the garden and herbs. Plus canning season is here and I have been getting the tomatoes ready for marinara sauce and salsa. But I definitely need to organize this walk-in pantry before I start the sauces and canning.

So on my agenda for this coming week/end is to get into the pantry and organize, take a complete inventory and prepare my list for the upcoming holiday season and sales. It's not a big area to work in, but I have done it before and will do it again.

Plus I will be buying some large 5-gallon buckets (food grade) to start storing my flour and sugar in. I used to have some but... well, I lost them in a move years ago. They're expensive but so worth the money.

So there you have it... my messy pantry and my empty freezer.