Freezers and Food

Let's start with the freezer. You know... Those square things that are supposed to keep all your hoarded food cold?

I was on my way out to go shopping this morning. I wanted to go early to beat the mass of weekend shoppers--Especially with this being this weekend before Thanksgiving.

But I digress...

Before I went to the store I wanted to start a load of laundry so it would be ready for the dryer by the time I got back home. When I went out to the garage and got the washer all set up, I pulled the knob out to start it and got nothing. Hmm. Just to make sure I was in a "good spot" on the timer, I spun it all the way around and tried it again.

Nothing.

I looked at the outlet. Yep, it was plugged in. Then it occurred to me that the garage freezer was on the same circuit. "Nooo.... " a voice inside my head cried, with the sudden realization that I had used that outlet last weekend when I had the shop vac and chop saw both going and I was cutting my firewood up.

But it was true.

I opened the freezer and it was cool. Not cold--Cool. I felt around, noting the condition of the various foods that were in it. Apparently it was only now getting to the total thaw point because there was still some "frozen" in the center of some of the things that are normally soft. I went over to the circuit breaker panel and saw that the breaker had tripped. I flipped it back and heard the hum as the freezer kicked on. Even had I not decided to wash clothes I still would have found it out though because I always look in there to see how much bread I have left before I go shopping.

Most of what was in there was stuff like breads, french fries, and pot pies (Marie Callender's of course), although there were a few cuts of meat and some Tilapia filets too. I'm not worried about the fish because they are all vac-packed at the factory. The pot pies and the fries... I figure not much to go wrong there. The steak and package of ground beef I think I'll chuck out though... I don't trust em. The two whole chickens that are in there are still mostly frozen so I'll play the odds and leave em be too.

The funny thing is, the breaker never popped when I was using it last Saturday. At no time did I ever lose power on anything I was using at the time. I must have popped some time between now and then or the freezer would have been even warmer than it was I'm sure. I need to watch it like a hawk I guess to make sure it's okay.

The main reason I wanted to go to Winco Foods today was that they always have a special deal going before Thanksgiving. If you spend $50 or more, your frozen whole turkey is half their sale price, which is already cheap. For example, my 14-lb. turkey today cost me a whopping $3.02. You can't hardly beat 22 cents a lb can ya? I will never get any "post-Thanksgiving turkey unless I cook one myself. My selfish asshole of a father won't let my mom send any leftovers home with any of us so she doesn't even volunteer it. Who knows, I may go back and buy another turkey before it expires. If nothing else, I can just buy a few cases of beer to make the $50 minimum.

Anyway... The bottom line is don't assume that your "reserve" freezer is working. It pays to check up on things from time to time. Don't let "Out of sight-Out of mind" ruin your day. Or your pantry stores.