"storage" news and stories

How long will your peanut, cashew and almond butter last on the shelf?

Knowing which oils need to be refrigerated can save you hassle -- and money -- as we approach the warmer months of the year.

I'm always looking for better (and better-looking) ways to keep organized in the kitchen. I dig my plastic boxes for dried goods, but they were so cheap that I just hope there's nothing toxic in the plastic. What I'd love is a collection of square glass that's easy to use while looking wonderful ... like the amazing storage cabinet that The Kitchn found over at Living etc., which you can see above.

Each of those handled jars is shaped like a scoop on the other end so you can pour the contents wherever you wish, or scoop out of the dish directly. The round lids at the bottom -- they're spice jars. Pretty handy, right? Well, only if you have lots of cash to burn. The Kitchn hunted down the source of this beautiful thing, and they are pricey. Like, smaller versions with 6 scoops range from £235.00 to £275.00, while cabinets like the one pictured run from £321.00 to £419.00 at http://www.ellaskitchencompany.com. Shipping adds on £90 to £110 if you live in the states. I should've known -- anything that looks that good comes at a price!

It's quite out of my price range, but if any of you happen to grab one, please post pictures somewhere so I can go green with adoring envy!

I don't know about you, but every time I buy a bottle of wine, I wonder where I will store it. I have a modest wine storage unit, and I often think back to the day when I stepped into a house for sale and saw a large wine cellar, protected by a gorgeous wrought iron door. To have such storage -- that would be divine.

I imagine if you have $30K to burn, you're probably not worrying about wine storage, but for the cool factor alone, why not look into an ultra-cool spiral wine cellar that opens up right in your kitchen floor? Just imagine -- while you're tending to guests and preparing their meal, you mention a wine. In a blink, you open a hatch, and climb down a stairwell encased by a number of bottles of wine. You pick your beloved grape, and climb up with the desired bottle.

You would be the coolest house on the block, that's for sure!

{via The Kitchn]

Alright, Slashfoodies. I have another strange occurrence for you to explain, one that makes the butterscotch cookie mishap seem like nothing -- one that makes me wonder if I've stepped into the kitchen version of the Twilight Zone.

Above, you can check out a slightly blurry (sorry!) picture of my freezer. Since I recently roasted up a chicken, I also made myself some delicious stock. The other day, I got to packaging it for the freezer, and threw most of it into three zip lock bags. I stacked them on the base of my freezer, as shown, so that they could freeze flat and then be moved around.

A day later, the bottom bag was hard as a rock, and the other two were merely very cold and jiggly -- no ice. Confused, I rejigged the setup -- the bottom went on the top, and the door was closed. When I checked again, the new bottom one was now frozen, and the other two were jiggly. Aggravated, I took the picture you see above, and then rearranged a bit and moved one of the bags up to the second shelf. As of now, the one jiggly bag is starting to slush and freeze.

What on earth could cause this? It sure isn't thawing -- the rest of the inhabitants are solid. It's not over or under-packing the freezer, because I've done similar before in emptier and more full freezers.

Please solve this mystery and save my sanity!