We've been fortunate to have missed the snow and ice that much of the rest of the country is experiencing. It hasn't even been that cold -- only in the forties. But yesterday was dark and gloomy and looked just like this first picture till about four, at which time there was a bit of sunlight showing on the eastern mountains. A perfect day to tackle one of my least favorite jobs -- cleaning out the refrigerator.
With Christmas coming up and all the big holiday meals, it seemed wise to clear out all the dibs and dabs -- the multiple jars of pickles, the remnants of preserves and jams, the olives with a fluffy white blanket of mold at the top of the jar. . . not to mention the several jars that seemed to contain laboratory experiments gone horribly wrong. Condiments out of control. . .
I'd already dealt with all the viable leftovers by making what turned out to be an excellent, soup with broth from the Thanksgiving turkey remnants, throwing in a bit of chili, a bit of spaghetti sauce, some gravy, garbanzo beans, rice, carrots, onions, garlic, a jar of tomatoes, and some leftover roasted green beans and peppers. A lot of Moroccan seasoning and it turned out a terrific soup -- never to be repeated, alas, since it's unlikely I'd have that precise combination of leftovers on hand..
Back to the refrigerator -- it took several hours, hauling out all those jars, pulling out and washing the shelves and drawers, and then trying to reposition them correctly. Our refrigerator is in the pantry, wedged in rather tightly, and it's complicated getting its various components in and out -- it required a lot of yelling and bad language on my part (no one was home but me and William (who's deaf) and the kittehs (who went upstairs to be away from the crazy woman.)
But at last it was done -- clean and more or less organized -- and I could enjoy a brief feeling of virtue. I'm sure that there are those among you whose refrigerators are always clean and never over-crowded, who have a system in place that prevents the kind of yuckiness I dealt with yesterday. I don't think I could manage that -- it would require throwing away still edible food. I seem to prefer hoarding that food till it is no longer edible and then throwing it away.
The pantry shelves are next . . .
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