With negative temperatures last week, we were prompted to empty our upright freezer, temporarily. The ice monster had accumulated an over abundance of frost on its coils, limiting the storage capacity and efficiency. Claire emptied the frozen vegetable, bread, meat, and assorted containers of leftovers into laundry baskets and set them outside in God’s ice box. She then filled the freezer with bowls of hot water, closed the door, and periodically cleaned up the unwanted pools of frost that heaped on the freezer floor. After a day of thawing, Rusty accepted the job of sorting, composting, organizing, and eating the freezer goodies.
The most valuable content returned to the clean shelves was a baggie of pepper seeds from Italy awaiting a spring planting. The strangest item was a frozen weasel wanted by our taxidermist friend from Punxsutawney. A few compostables included unlabeled broth cubes and homemade coffee ice cream, whereas the majority of the inventory equaled weeks of soups, casseroles, and steaks. Even a hidden chunk of cheese made for a tasty pizza over the frigid weekend.
We appreciate the twenty-first century convenience of keeping food cold and/or frozen, but lately Rusty is investigating sustainable cold storage systems from his Father’s time. Grandpa Russ recalls the only “refrigerator” they had in the house was an oak cabinet with chunks of ice cut out of their pond insulated with sawdust. He also had an ice house where ice was stored year round. His spring house was used for cooling food, primarily milk.
Rusty dreams of using these techniques for the future, but presently he hopes to eat up the freezer food and travel over to the taxidermist.
The most valuable content returned to the clean shelves was a baggie of pepper seeds from Italy awaiting a spring planting. The strangest item was a frozen weasel wanted by our taxidermist friend from Punxsutawney. A few compostables included unlabeled broth cubes and homemade coffee ice cream, whereas the majority of the inventory equaled weeks of soups, casseroles, and steaks. Even a hidden chunk of cheese made for a tasty pizza over the frigid weekend.
We appreciate the twenty-first century convenience of keeping food cold and/or frozen, but lately Rusty is investigating sustainable cold storage systems from his Father’s time. Grandpa Russ recalls the only “refrigerator” they had in the house was an oak cabinet with chunks of ice cut out of their pond insulated with sawdust. He also had an ice house where ice was stored year round. His spring house was used for cooling food, primarily milk.
Rusty dreams of using these techniques for the future, but presently he hopes to eat up the freezer food and travel over to the taxidermist.
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