August 29, 2007

While the rest of you were making caramel tarts...

...John and I spent the weekend battling what the friendly folks at Orkin affectionately call "pantry pests" -- little bugs that found their way into my kitchen in a bag of pastry flour or a package of pasta -- and have made themselves quite a happy home. Four rolls of paper towels, two sponges, two bottles of 409 and a half gallon of bleach later, the shelves and drawers are clean and ready for their Monday appointment with the Orkin man, the island is a mountain of salvaged foodstuffs, and the dishwasher is poised for a week of overdrive as all of the dishes will need to be re-washed before I can put them away when the fumigation is complete. That'll teach ME to re-wrap dry goods before putting them in the pantry.

Stay tuned... my blogging by mail bounty, the chocolate caramel tart and a feature on 21st century fair food are on the 'back burner' while we banish the bugs...

16 comments:

Kelly-Jane said...

Oh no! What a pain in the neck. I'm glad to hear your livestock are no longer feasting in your cupboards.

It's good for me to see your piles of foodie items, as we don't get many of them here. I always think the packaging looks great!

Deborah said...

I hope everything is up and going again soon!! What a pain!

Peabody said...

My parents went away once when I was in my teens. They came home and those little bugs were everywhere. My mother blammed me. Years later I had to point out to her where they come from and that it had nothing to do with not closing the chip bag correctly.
For this reason I freeze my flour for 2 weeks and then put it into the cupboard.

Helene said...

Yep, those critters can get everywhere, regardless of how cautious you are..what a pain!
I hope you will be back soon and blogging crazy!

Warda said...

Hope there are no more "pets" in your cabinets Dolores.

Anonymous said...

Ack! Good luck with the whole extermination!

Glenna said...

Oh man! My condolences. What a pain in the butt.

Andreea said...

i am so happy to have discoeverd your blog - will have to link very soon (thanks for dropping by mine). oh and the bug problem, has just recently been solved in our household as well ... hope all is well again :)

african vanielje said...

aaagh! Good Luck witht he fumigator. I am slowly working my way thru your blog list. thanks for introducing me to some great new blogs

Thistlemoon said...

Wow! What a pain! Well at least ti gave you time to organize your pantry! There is a bright side to everything, right? ;)

Anonymous said...

Hi Dolores,
Have been meaning to stop by your site and now, glad I did. Love your writing. And don't worry about those little bugs. We all go through that once:) Thanks for all your king words on my blog.

Anonymous said...

ooops! I meant "kind" words :)

breadchick said...

OH NO!! I hate those things....

Hope the Orkin man came and cleared all the buggies away!!

BC said...

Now I know why Tupperware was such a big hit when it was introduced!In the book "Wife of the Chef" she writes about critters in the food when she was young. It is a hilarious good read.

marianne said...

Having had the problem several times over the years, your best bet is, as someone else mentioned, put your pastas, flour, etc. in the freezer for at least 24 hours when you bring it home from the store. I got this sound advice from our local extension service. It kills any bugs/eggs that may already be in the food when you bring it home. I also store all of those type of goods in jars or airtight containers. Haven't had any problems for years.

Good luck on getting rid of the nasty critters!

Tiffany @ Lattes And Life said...

I'm having to skip this month's DB challenge for the same reason :-( Lis told me you had dealt with this too, which is how I found this post. I HATE these nasty gross bugs!!!!