Recently she moved home and gifted me two carrier bag loads of stuff from her kitchen cupboards that she didn't have space for in her new kitchen. It was mostly jars and packets, dry soup mixes, herbs and spices, various jars and bottles of condiments, the majority of which were unopened, but out of date by between 2 and 5 years. Needless to say I binned most of it.
This morning I realised I had completely run out of white pepper and DH is very partial to white pepper on his roast dinner so I asked my mum if she had any she could bring when we picked her up for lunch. She said she did and would bring it.
The jar was open and half full, with no proper lid, just the sprinkling cap with the little holes in it. She handed it to me and said 'I don't use white pepper often so it might be a bit old, but it looks fine.'
I narrowed my eyes and said 'how old? How old are we talking exactly mum?'
She looked sheepish and mumbled that she wasn't sure.
Guess. Just guess what the 'best before' date was on this jar of pepper.