Your oldest food

'Fess up -- your oldest food. What is the oldest thing in your pantry that you meant to use but didn't AND IT'S STILL SITTING THERE YEARS LATER.

Here's my list:

A can of asparagus spears -- 3 years old
Envelopes for sauces that I mean to make -- expired 2006
Can of pureed pumpkin that is rusting on the top -- 2004

My friends' lists:

Martin Searle
Disappointingly little, as I live with a 'use by date' obsession freak. I'm for ever rescuing bits of food from being thrown out, on the grounds that I reckon that if you can scrape most of the mould off, and it doesn't smell TOO bad, it's still edible. So the worst i can find is a rather old packet of Ryvita berry bars, and a very old jar of Walkerswood jerk seasoning, which must have been forgotten about, as we've bought and used several jars since.

Eileen Tuuri
Gaah! Do herbs count? Most of our foodstuffs were sacrificed to the US/Canada border patrol gods in our move to BC - very strict about that - but my herb/spice cabinet snuck through unscathed, and it includes some rosemary I harvested and dried from my garden in San Jose before daughter was born...and she's now 15. Other than that...probably a can of local Oregon Coast salmon that came up with us upon our move in 2005 but has yet to be breached.

Laura Harding Howard
Shredded and pickled red cabbage in a jar (2.5 years), squeezy burger relish unopened in pantry (in pantry for nearly 3 years) and a mummified pack of sundried tomatoes that's so old they would probably have to be rehydrated a little before biting into them (I'll throw those away now, shall I?)