Examining the Store-Closet, Cellar & Such ~ Odds and Ends Series

"Second. Examine the store-closet,

and see if there is a proper supply of all articles needed there."

~ Catharine Beecher & Harriet Stowe, The New Housekeeper's Manual, 1873

Welcome to the fourth installment of our monthly home maintenance series where we attempt to follow some old fashioned Victorian Era advice. This step involved checking our pantry supply of inventory and preparing a monthly grocery list based on our findings. You can print our "Essential List for a Stocked Pantry" here if you are interested. Once this was completed, we moved on to the following instructions.

"Third. Go to the cellar {or pantry}, and see if the salted provision, vegetables, pickles, vinegar, and all other articles stored in the cellar are in proper order, and examine all the preserves and jellies."

• We checked our supply of canned goods to make sure all the lids were still properly sealed. We inspected our ferments to make sure that none were ready to be consumed or refrigerated. We  went through our brewing extracts and infusing tinctures to see if any were ready to be strained and bottled (we also gave them a nice shake to help with the macerating process). You may also need to restock your cleaning closet which was shared in our last post.
• This is a great time to organize and straighten up your pantry (here is a complete set of pantry labels should you like to make a project out of it)! You will want to make sure all your goods are straightened nicely in rows with the contents legible for convenience. Remove any items that are expired, etc. 
• This is also your opportunity to do some fall food preservation preparations which you will find here: Canning Day Checklist ~ Six Ways to Plan and Prepare.

"Fifth. See if there is a supply of dish-towels, dish-cloths, bags, holders, floor-cloths, dust-cloths, wrapping-paper, twine, lamp-wicks, and all other articles needed in kitchen work."

• We went over our supply of dish-towels and retired the spent ones into our rag bin. Other household supplies were written on our monthly list to be purchased (such as additional dish-cloths).
• We also went through our aluminum foil, parchment paper, plastic wraps and plastic bag section to make sure we had adequate inventory of those disposal items (we don't purchase paper towels or napkins as we use cloth but that would be included in this area if you do).

"Sixth. Count over the spoons, knives, and forks, and examine all the various household utensils, to see what needs replacing and what should be repaired."
~ Catharine Beecher & Harriet Stowe, The New Housekeeper's Manual, 1873

• In this last step, we chose to organize our utensils, silverware and such. Instructions for how we straighten up these items is found in detail here.

Although some of these measures don't have the same meaning to us as it did in the 1800's, I went through the motions just the same to be in touch with my Victorian Era self (although forgive me for not counting the spoons as Ms. Beecher had recommended!). The simple weird reason for following her advice as close as possible is that homemaking is a hobby of mine and I enjoy it!

Here is what we have accomplished thus far on our "Odds and Ends" Monthly Home Maintenance Series (note that some steps were placed together and altered to make for modern day needs):

Complete Steps in Series:

Step #1 ~ What Needs to Be Done in Your Home?
Step #2 ~ Restocking the Cleaning Closet
Step #2, 3, 5, 6 ~ Examining the Store-Closet, Pantry, Cellar and Such
Step #4 ~ Examining the "Table Linens"
Step #4 ~ Examining the "Bed Linens"
Step #7 Examining the Toolbox and/or "Junk Drawer"

Checklist for Preparing Your Own Maintenance:

"Odds and Ends" Monthly Home Maintenance ~ Printable Checklist

Are you ready to begin your monthly home maintenance?

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Homestead Barn Hop, Amaze Me Monday, Monday's Musings, Marriage Monday, Titus 2sdays, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Make Bake Create, Wise Woman Link Up, Wow Us Wednesdays, Wildcrafting Wednesday, The Scoop, Coffee and Conversation, Whatever You Wish Wednesdays, So Much at Home, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Hearts for Home Thursdays, Growing in Grace Thursdays, Home Acre Hop, From the Farm Blog Hop, Farmgirl Friday, Front Porch Friday Blog Hop, Simple Meals Friday, Cultivate Nourishing, Simply Natural Saturdays and Clever Chicks Blog Hop. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. Jars pictured at the top of the post are these: 5 liter Fido jars.