JennifersLost Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 My mother hates, hates, hates to throw things away. She has been known to keep condiments and leftovers well past their due date and everyone in the family checks the dates on everything in the fridge when we visit. We're visiting now and yesterday I noticed the Thyme jar out on the counter after dinner and thought - that looks just like the one she had when we were kids. I looked closer - the price on the jar (a full-sized one) was 49 cents! I know darn well that today that would be $5.00 to $6.00. I said, "Mom - have you had that since I was a kid?" She looked a little sheepish and said, "I think that was my mother's." I nearly keeled over - her mother died in the 1950's!!!! None of us had any bad effects from eating it, but seriously.....that is not right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Confiscate the jar. And buy her a new one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Country Mouse Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 I have never heard of antique spices before! Looks like you know what to get her for Christmas :). (I am thinking Penzey's spice rack here, not just a jar of thyme.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 I think it's about "thyme" to get rid of that... :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellyndria Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 I'm kinda :lol:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 It probably just tasted like dessicated leaves. Oooh, yummy. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 LOL!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 I think it's about "thyme" to get rid of that... :lol: :lol::lol::lol: Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 I think my MIL has spices that old. And I'm pretty sure I've eaten them. :glare: What I can't figure out is if she's been keeping them on the shelf unused all this time, why add them to the soup *now*? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melora in NC Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Love it! Tonight at dinner my ds was carrying on about how he wanted french fries with curry -- something he saw on an English travel video. He is infamous for being Convinced he loves various foods, getting me to make them, and then immediately deciding he does Not like them at All. So I dug out my jar of curry powder from the back of a cabinet. I can't remember Ever making curry -- I know that jar must be 15-20 years old! Ds took a couple sniffs and now I am off the hook for curry fries, anyway. Which probably isn't a good reason to have ancient spices, but I put the jar back in the cabinet... you never know when it might come in handy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimm Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 My mother insists that her mother still has the same original box of ziplock bags that she first bought when they first came out on the market. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amys Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 My mom thinks expiration dates are an overly cautious suggestion, only. I once ate yogurt from her fridge that had actual MOLD in it--do you know how old an unopened yogurt has to be to grow a clump of MOLD? I don't even want to know--but I don't eat yogurt at her house anymore! Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meet me in paris Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Okay, you win! My mother fed us 2 year old hummus when we were there last month, and I thought that was bad! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 I think it's about "thyme" to get rid of that... What I can't figure out is if she's been keeping them on the shelf unused all this time, why add them to the soup *now*? :lol::lol::lol: A clip that those in this thread could probably appreciate (from the movie "Mother", mother [Debbie Reynolds] feeding her son [Albert Brooks] a huge hunk of frozen cheese that is years old)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Frankweiler Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 I think you take the cake as far as past their prime ingredients. My parents sound like your mom--we've learned to check expiration dates at their house too. A couple years ago we found a bottle of salad dressing that expired during the Bush Administration--the first one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 :eek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennifersLost Posted August 10, 2010 Author Share Posted August 10, 2010 I swear I WILL NOT resemble my mother in this. It's hysterical that other people have had mothers who hold onto things a little too long. Actually, come to think of it, before my MIL passed away she used to pull out things from the pantry too that were 10 years past their sell by date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 It probably just tasted like dessicated leaves. Oooh, yummy. LOL. My thought exactly! I actually dumped a jar of something the other day. Can't remember what it was but I hadn't used it in some time so I thought I'd smell it to see how old it was. Smelled like dirty sticks! :ack2: Cinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 I think it's about "thyme" to get rid of that... :lol: :smilielol5::smilielol5: This sounds like something that my mom would do. She definitely has the spices from my childhood, but she doesn't cook any more. The last time I was at their house I saw a bottle of brandy that was about 1/4 full...it has been like that since I was about 8 years old. I'm now 40! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2jjka Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 I won't drink bottled water at my inlaws anymore. They just refill their bottles...without washing them. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 I won't drink bottled water at my inlaws anymore. They just refill their bottles...without washing them. :tongue_smilie: Ewwww--that's just gross! Cinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 That is hilarious....and a little scary about the condiments! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katiebug_1976 Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 I think it's about "thyme" to get rid of that... :lol: :iagree::lol::lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gooblink Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 I think it's about "thyme" to get rid of that... :lol: :lol: "Sage" advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 LOL! I was helping an older lady organize her kitchen a few weeks ago. She had 5 bottles of oregano in her cabinet. The oldest had one of those purple stamps that said 29 cents. I tried to talk her into keeping only the newest. I lost that battle. Ugh. The oldest stuff didn't even have a smell anymore. Ick. Ick. Ick. OP, sorry your mom tried to poison you. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 This will so be me when I'm older. Maybe I'd better warn my dd's to keep their eye on me in the kitchen in a few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melora in NC Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Okay, you win! My mother fed us 2 year old hummus when we were there last month, and I thought that was bad! :lol: I'm pretty sure, judging by the responses, that I Do win! However, I Would draw the line at old hummus -- mine is homemade and quite fresh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 My mother brings old food to my house. :glare: My kids have learned to politely thank Grandma and wait until she leaves to check the date. If it's not old (which is RARE) they can have it. If it's expired, I toss it. About a week ago she brought a can of refrigerator biscuits (which my dh loves for some odd reason) to dinner, and they were actually in the oven before I thought to check the date. I "accidentally" left them in a couple extra minutes. We survived but I could sure tell they were stale. I didn't finish mine but no one else seemed to notice. (They were outdated in May.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenC3 Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 I was just at my il's very nice house on the lake when I pulled out a bag of Tostitos to snack on. I put one in my mouth and gagged. I looked at the date and it was Aug 6 which was the next day...2009! Ugh! It was so nasty and they do this ALL.THE.TIME. My il's always have old food around. What's funny is they have loads of cocktail parties so I always assume the chips are fresh, but no they just keep serving then up and no one eats them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Who knew? You really can save thyme in a bottle! :D Might be time to do an expiration date check on everything in her cabinets. I wonder if they even had date codes on them 60 years ago. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpnick in nc Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 When I was in graduate school, our lab inherited a refrigerator (for food) from a moving lab. We had the job of emptying the other lab's food. This was around 2002; there were at least seven jars of strawberry preserves with expiriation dates ranging back to 1985. The building we were in was built in the 90's, so someone actually moved at least a couple of the jars from the old building to the new one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 I see she's in cahoots with my MIL. :glare: We've had the very same problem.....multiple "thymes" over the years. I figure I'm just eating food seasoned with dust. The spice has long since decayed away. Diane W. married for 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 :lol::lol::lol::lol: I have tears coming out of my eyes! We have experience with family members who cannot throw food away, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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