Mid-Winter Check of Supplies Put By

It's hard to believe our winter is halfway over already.  I know it's strange behavior, but each year after the garden harvest and all the preserving and canning is done, I'm hesitant to actually use the bounty stored for fear it will all be gone by mid-winter!

Happily, that's not the case this year, nor is it any other year despite my (unfounded) apprehension.

I just made an inventory of pantry shelves and freezers and found we're not close to running out of anything at this point.

Onions, both yellow and red, are holding out well even though I use A LOT of them in everyday cooking.

The bulbs of garlic are still plentiful, too.  They may not be purdy, but they are firm, keeping well and full of flavor.  Plus, they do their job of keeping vampires away.

Not only do we still a few eating apples left, but also plenty of the less flavorful varieties for cooking and baking.  This corner of the root cellar shows just some of the boxes.  Jars of applesauce will last until a new batch is made at the end of this coming season.

In recent years, the only jams I've been making are blueberry, my fave, and strawberry which is Papa Pea's choice.  I thought I might have to make another canner load of blueberry jam from berries in the freezer, but at this point I think not.

There are probably more containers of smooshed strawberries in the freezer than we need.  We use them primarily in fruit smoothies, but in the cold weather fruit smoothies aren't appreciated as much as other times of the year.

All veggies, both in the root cellar and freezer are still in good supply.  Who knew I'd get such a good harvest of cauliflower when I struggled so much with the plants last season.  The green shell peas will probably disappear first as they always do.  We love 'em, but I'd never be able to grow enough for a family larger than the two of us.

I didn't grow any squash this past season because of lack of space and because dear husband isn't crazy about it.  However, I do have an ample supply of pureed pumpkin (which is technically a squash) available which Papa Pea will gladly eat when made into a pie or baked goodie.

After making my mid-winter check, I feel confident I can delve into the supply of all things yummy (eat with abandon, we will!) and we'll not starve in any way shape or form before another gardening season starts presenting us with more good food.

How're your pantry shelves looking?  Anything you wish you had more of?  An over-abundance of anything the poultry or other animals are going to be happy to see come their way?