My boyfriend gave me a magnet that says “I only have a kitchen because it came with the house.” This is so true that most people I know see that magnet and say “Doh! I wish I found that for her first!”
In my kitchen, I am a stranger in a strange land. My mother was never fond of cooking, and I inherited that gene. I am, however, riveted by the Food Channel.
My confusion in the kitchen is further enhanced by my having the tallest cabinets in the county, mocking my 5’0” stature as only kitchen cabinets can. I can only reach the bottom shelves, which means that everything I eat is shoved into two tiny spaces. During my recent clean out (see my previous blogs), I found food there that I had forgotten had existed. In fact, I learned then that even canned food expires.
So here are some more things that my kitchen has taught me over the years:
Oranges do not keep for more than a week and often, if you don’t even try to remove one from the bowl, they will develop a fuzzy little mold that will slowly spread to the rest of the fruit in residence there.
Cheese will also get a fuzzy coating, but this has not precluded my consumption of the cheese. After all, isn’t mold good for cheese?
Hummus has a shelf life and it’s best not to challenge that.
You cannot keep a Lean Cuisine frozen meal in the back of your car for two hours, come home and re-freeze it, then microwave it and eat it without getting sick.
Speaking of frozen, I was surprised to learn that things cannot be frozen forever and still taste good.
It’s easier to scramble an egg in a frying pan than a wok, but if all you have is a wok, then it’s doable.
By the way, eggs last longer than I thought they would in the fridge.
Wine does turn to vinegar (or something worse, I’m afraid) if it sits for a few weeks after being opened.
Bread can petrify after a few weeks in the refrigerator. I can still toast it and eat it though.
Spaghetti sauce doesn’t last as long as eggs in the fridge. Previous jars have made it abundantly clear that if I don’t eat the entire thing within a week it will become it’s very own science experiment.
I had been told that olives last forever in the fridge, but I have since discovered that I had been misinformed.
Carrots, however, can last a very long time in there.
Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies have been able to live in my freezer for over a year but the experiment was aborted after my boyfriend discovered the stash and ate the three boxes containing the study subjects.
A good knife really does make a difference, even if you only use it to cut apples every night.
