The most fantastic fictional farmhouse pantry is found in Jude Deveraux’s The Mulberry Tree.

The pantry is key to the plot in the book, and she perfectly describes an old-fashioned farmhouse pantry that hasn’t been used in a long time.  It’s been tucked away unused for years in a vacant house that the main character inherits from her late husband.

Take a peek at the pantry in The Mulberry Tree:

“When she opened the door, she gasped, for it was the only room she’d seen that was what she’d imagined a farmhouse to be. At the end was a tall window with old-fashioned wooden panes in it, and below it was a stone sink set into a thick wooden slab, the top scarred from use. Beneath the top were heavy turned legs, and stored below were stone jugs and pottery crocks, the kind that were used to make pickles and sauerkraut. Both sides of the room were lined with shelves that had been painted white.

The shelves were filled with dirty, cobweb-encrusted kitchen equipment. There were old canning jars and big enamel kettles, funnels and racks to hold dripping cheesecloth bags. There were several tongs and stacks of yellowed tea towels that had nests of spiders on them. But what made Bailey’s heart nearly skip a beat was a battered old metal box, “Recipes” printed on it.

“You want me to throw all this stuff out?” the man asked, again coming up behind her. “This is the only room with things in it. The rest of the place is empty. We could take all this trash to the dump for you.”

“No!” Bailey said, then calmed herself. “No, just leave it. Clean in here but don’t throw out anything. I want to keep everything, every jar, every lid–” She reached up to touch the bail of an old Ball jar. They didn’t make jars like this one anymore. “Everything,” she said, looking at the man. “Clean it but leave it all here.”

Read more:

Read more in The Mulberry Tree by Jude Deveraux. I first read this book a few years ago, and have re-read it a few times since.  It’s got a well-earned a spot on my shelf as a comfy read, plus the wonderful pantry description, the great cooking in the book, and the likeable characters.  Highly recommend if you need an easy fast-paced read with gripping pantry details and plot.