Have you ever noticed that some items in your cupboard, once purchased for some long ago, now-unknown reason, never get used? To be sure, they will be moved from time to time, as you search for other things that you know are somewhere in the cupboard, but you’ll never fully haul them out and access the contents. Instead, in the shifting of items, they will inevitably migrate to the rear of the cupboard, where they will camp out and remain forever.
Other items in the cupboard–jars of peanut butter, cans of tomato paste, boxes of pasta, canisters of seasonings, a bag of almonds–are temporary occupants of cupboard space that get consumed and depart, creating a healthy cupboard rotation. There are always a few items that become long-term constants, however, that will be with you until the end of time. And they are misleading, too. They’ll make your cupboard look like it is full, but then when you start sifting through the items you realize there’s really nothing to eat.
For us, the two primary long-term tenants are two bottles of vinegar. The only thing that, to my limited knowledge, vinegar is used for is making pickles–which I hate. The white wine vinegar has never been opened, and the apple cider vinegar looks like it was used once. Most recipes involving vinegar–like this collection–involve using only tiny amounts of it. And that raises another question: why is vinegar sold in such big bottles? It’s as if Heinz wants its vinegar to hang out in your cupboard forever. If you matched container size to actual recipe needs, vinegar would be sold in portions no larger than the tiny liquor bottles you get on airplanes when you order a drink.
All of this raises a question of why we haven’t thrown out that big honker bottle of vinegar. That’s because I’m a big proponent of “waste not, want not” and can’t bring myself to throw out something that could conceivably be useful. Because it’s remotely possible that we could make use of the vinegar at some point, it will remain in the cupboard, stolidly occupying its space in the rear corner, until that improbable day comes.
Webner House 