Thatsa Lotta Pasta

[Babs Johnson]

This photo appeared in my Facebook memory the other day, from March 2012.



After my father-in-law died in late 2011, my wife and I found boxes of pasta all over the house. In bedroom closets, the garage, under beds, etc.

I consolidated all of it into one cabinet. These are not front-faced. They go way to the back of the cabinet.

I don't think pasta goes bad, but some was really old, with sell by dates of 2006, Other boxes had undecipherable codes.

We threw out the old stuff and donated the bulk of the rest to a food bank.

DW couldn't explain why he bought so much pasta other than "that's the way he is."

P.S. This would be good for National Meatball Day

 

[mom2rtk]

I imagine more than a few people will die one day years from now with piles of TP in their homes. Maybe he had issues related to some similar experience. Maybe he or his parents lived through the depression. Perhaps some concerns about food security. I know some will find this funny. But I'd never post and make fun publicly.

 

[jo-jo]

How old was he? Maybe carryover from depression era thinking.

When we were kids, you could feed a lot with a pound of pasta and plain sauce.

 

[mjkacmom]

Looks like my grandmother’s cabinets when she passed (she’d be 110 if alive). She lived through the depression and told me about it. My mom did her grocery shopping for years, with all of the coupons, the hoarding wasn’t a surprise. My grandmother never traveled, or ate out, but saved enough money to afford a live in for 15 years (COPD and osteoarthritis).

 

[Babs Johnson]

My FIL was born in Italy in 1923, and immigrated to the US in the early 1950s. He was 88.

I suppose there was a depression and food insecurity in Italy in the 1930s and during WWII.

He did very well for himself in the US and left a fairly sizeable estate to my wife, his only child. His wife died in 2008. But, yes, probably a holdover of depression era thinking.

Besides the pasta, there were about 6 101oz. tins of olive oil in the garage. And about 20 cans of Progresso Wild Mushroom & Rice soup.

And over $20,000 in cash in various places.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

My great-grandmother also lived through the Depression while raising two kids by herself. She never threw *anything* away if it could be repurposed or used in some way. When we cleaned out her apartment we found Christmas wrapping paper from decades past neatly folded and put away, balls of string, clothes from the 30s onwards, and money rolled up in little bundles and hidden *everywhere.* We found over a grand. She never trusted a bank, ever.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

Old pasta can get flour bugs in it. You’ll see them floating on top of your pasta water.

 

[lynxstch]

You could make money off of it with the shortage of dry pasta we have in our stores lately!

 

[la79al]

That's more pasta than our Walmart has had lately!

 

[LuvOrlando]

See, I saw that and was thinking it was just the Can-Can sale where you can get between 4-10 boxes for 88 cents each so like every house I was ever in and mine LOL

 

[mrodgers]

See, I saw that and was thinking it was just the Can-Can sale where you can get between 4-10 boxes for 88 cents each so like every house I was ever in and mine LOL

We have a cheap store that sells pasta for $0.69. It's good pasta. You just have to understand if you like thin spaghetti, get regular. If you like Angel Hair size, get thin spaghetti. Not sure what you do if you like the regular size stuff.

I also get my breakfast sausage there. $1.99/lb. It's $4.39/lb at Wallyworld and I don't even want to see the price at the grocery store.

 

[Mysterian]

Could have invited the DIS over for your own "Neverending Pasta". Then we'd get full too soon on breadsticks, and you'd still have tons of pasta leftover for the DIS arts and crafts party. We'll stay all week covering everything in your home with macaroni shells.