June, July, August

Refreshed!

It really started in May.  The fridge expired 3/4 of the way through that month and whizzed hot death breath into a chamber specifically designed to keep things cool, cold actually.  No matter. Poor thing had alerted us of its trend toward giving up with louder and louder churning noises that sometimes startled us awake in the night.  Plan A was that we ordered a new fridge when the old one was still able to make noise.  Plan B was that we created an icebox by removing the bottom drawers, filling them with block ice and setting them on the top shelf.  Plan B was a genius move since Plan A told us delivery of the new one would be three weeks away.  That was May.

We are delighted with the new fridge.  It's cold and virtually silent.  It arrived just before we had to be away for a full week (ice boxes need restocking with fresh ice every three to four days). The amazing thing is that in spite of its newness and excellent performance, this new fridge needs to be cleaned from time to time, just like the old one.  June, July and August were enough to send the crisper dangerously close to being a rotter.  So soap and water and some focused cleaning turned the clock back to nearly-brand-new to say nothing of the creative dinner evolving from the now-or-never condition of found items in the rotter drawer.  Whadaya say?  Three months is too long or too short a time it put a fridge on your "get to do today?"

Clean-Out-the-Crisper, Full-Circle Salad

Tired mushrooms, softening pepper, yellow carrots and
 half a beet found this spring over-wintered in the garden,
broccoli stalks, arugula gleaned  when one of the garden beds
was cleaned up  and fresh eggs from the girls.   Left over chicken (not shown)

I'm not a cook.  But I do cook. Most of the time it's fun.  And it's always part of the Things I get to do today, so I look for ways to be creative--most of the time. Sometimes I just look for ways to get my husband and myself fed. Not to be overlooked are those moments when the great cycles of life all converge:  "no food" in the house, meal time, fridge needs cleaning out.  Ever happen at your house?

Full-Meal Deal

This galactic converging slammed into my kitchen the other night.  We had Clean-Out-the-Crisper, Full-Circle Salad.  You immediately get emptying the fridge drawer onto the kitchen counter.  The salad also included bits of chicken and hard-boiled eggs. Not knowing which came first, I included the full circle.