The Neighborhood Pantry

Have you ever been in the middle of making dinner or mixing up a batch of cookies and you realize that you are one item short? This happens at my house every once in a while. You would think that I would learn to review the recipe and see if I have all the ingredients before I start, but I don't. This is where the neighborhood pantry comes in handy. Who wants to make a mad dash to the grocery store when you are in the middle of cooking or baking? Who wants to have to load up their kids to make this mad dash? In my neighborhood, there is just this unwritten rule that if you are short something you call a neighbor and ask if they have what you are missing.

For example, just the other day my neighbor, Deb, was making roast for dinner. She needed to get the roast in the oven early and she was short one can of pop with sugar. Her five boys had drunk all of the sugar pop and all that was left was diet pop. Diet pop does not work in her roast recipe. So, Deb calls me and asks if I have any. I replied, "Sure, come on over. I have a can of Dr. Pepper". She makes the mad dash across two backyards to my house for the can of pop instead of making the mad dash to the grocery store.

A few weeks ago, I start to make brownies for Cara's third grade class at 8:00 P.M. (making brownies at that time of night is a whole post for another day) and I am short one egg. Instead of making the mad dash to the grocery store with 4 kids in tow, I send Cara two houses down the street to Nicole's for an egg.

Off and on in our neighborhood, you may see children carrying tupperware containers or measuring cups with ingredients in them home to their mothers. We may be missing an egg, a cup of sugar, a stick of margarine, mayo, or who knows what else. But, someone else in the neighborhood is sure to have that one item for you if you ask.

Remember it never hurts to ask a neighbor for that one missing ingredient before making the mad dash to the grocery store.

Take care,
Michelle