Laugh Lines

A Proper Burial

Something is very special about having friends who can enter my house and feel like they are at home, just like the cute little plaque that says, "Mi casa es su casa." It is wonderful to have such a close friendship that I really don't care if they walk into my storage room, or drop by on a whim and use my restroom before I can run and clean it. The final test, however, is allowing them free reign in my refrigerator.

Every woman has nightmares about the things she could discover in that large kitchen appliance. The takeout boxes that were the perfect Sunday evening snack are now growing amazing science experiments. Some of the finest plastic containers store the early stages of a new medical breakthrough. Bread turns another color and milk gets those funny lumps. Some things are pushed so far back into the recesses of this electric monster that they become unidentifiable.

A large collection of rotting past meals exists in my kitchen for two main reasons. The first is my busy life. I eat out on Monday, and do the healthy thing of eating only half my lunch and saving the other half for later. This cuts down on the calories and would eventually save me a lot of money by creating two meals from one. By Tuesday, however, I have forgotten to take those leftovers for lunch. I go out to eat Tuesday and bring home another food group’s representation in a second styrofoam box. I think you can see how a busy schedule can eventually create a confusing collection of multi-cultural tidbits garnished with uniquely colored fungi.

The second major reason my refrigerator becomes a bacteria collection is a holiday. I always tend to cook way too much, just in case an entire platoon of hungry soldiers would arrive and need to be fed. I also make those unique family favorites that others may not appreciate as much as my out of state family would. Consequently, voluminous amounts of leftovers suddenly fill the fridge. I plan to freeze some for later, but that only creates frozen dead leftovers for later garbage pickups.

I used to think that it was just part of a single's life to have groceries go bad in the fridge. Then I found out that even large families with hungry kids have the same delightful experience. We can all relate to the trauma of a friend offering to get something from our fridge, and being afraid of what she may find. We all have to give those mystery food items in our fridge a proper burial!

Pam and Kathy’s Tips for Refrigerator Storage

Write the date on top of takeout containers, and pitch after two days.
Divide large portions of leftovers into smaller sealed bags to label and freeze.
Buy smaller portions that may have been cheaper in bulk, but would go bad before you could finish them.
Avoid placing food items in open containers that could spill, leak or cause the food to get stale quickly.
Share a meal with your neighbor, or take extras to share with co-workers at lunch.
Sometimes it is best to walk away from the restaurant without a to-go box.