Spring Thaw

I finally cooked enough of the items in the freezers to empty the chest freezer overnight and defrost it. Under the ice build-up, the inside was remarkably clean. I washed it with a slightly soapy solution and wiped it dry. The gaskets around the lid were moldy, probably because the lid couldn't fit tight when there was ice build-up. I wiped them down and applied a diluted bleach solution.

When returning items to the freezer, I got organized. I found some empty plastic shoeboxes in a closet. I washed and dried them thoroughly. Into each box went one kind of meat. Chicken, fish, lamb chops, and pork chops (I'm not kosher) each got their own box. A piece of masking tape with the name of the item and date on the lid later, they were stacked neatly at the bottom.

There has been this shoe rack sitting in the hall, taking up space. I decided to set aside some things to donate, including this little shelf. Halfway to the pile, I realized it was the shelf insert to the freezer, turned upside down! Just sitting in the hall, with random stuff piled on it. Grr. I washed that, too, and it now holds all the uncategorized items like single servings to take for lunch.

When I turned the freezer back on, I left it on a lower setting as it began to cool. It turns out that it holds -5ºF at this lower setting, so I'm going to leave it there and save a little electricity.

The kitchen freezer has never been as disorganized, but it is now much easier to see exactly what is available. There is almost no duplication of items. Most important, there is still at least two weeks' worth of food. Papa Smurf gets nervous if the stockpile runs low. I think it's a leftover tradition from the Depression and WWII. When food was scarce due to rationing or became otherwise unavailable, you tended to stock up on it when it was available. It seems he and my mom never outgrew that habit.