Desperation, coupled with the prospect of a new year and the expectation of resolutions, can be a powerful motivator. With all that in mind, the Accidental Locavore decided to tackle the black-hole of forgotten food, otherwise known as the freezer. The goals were simple, open the door, see what was in there, decide if it was still edible/worth saving and try (desperately) to make order out of frozen chaos.
Because of recent Charcutepalooza challenges requiring the use of large areas in a small freezer, I’ve spent the past few months rearranging the deck chairs, so to speak, but have not tackled the larger issues. The recent addition of a gift of three containers of puff pastry, while welcome, also presented its own set of challenges (note to self: two of them could happily go upstate, where there’s not a holiday big enough to get me to clear out that freezer).
What I found:
- 3 frozen pizzas
- 2 Indian dinners
- Banana leaves
- 3 containers of pine nuts
- Duck rilettes
- Fois gras
- 3 containers of puff pastry
- Mushroom risotto hors d’oeuvres
- 3 kinds of ravioli
- Gnocchi
- Cod fillet
- Part of a small bottle of sake
- 2 bags Chinese pork dumplings
- Banana bread
- Baguette
- 3 Bagels
- 3 kinds of bacon
- Pork skin
- 2 kinds of Italian sausage
- 2 batches of pesto
- Coq au vin (tossed)
- Corn
- 2 bags artichoke hearts
- Rice
- Ground pork
- Duck
- Duck leg confit
- Pork sausage
- Duck livers
- 2 types cooking chocolate
- Kafir lime leaves
- The ginger I was looking for yesterday…
- Thai chiles
- Hangar steak (tossed)
- 8 ice packs
- Bag of chimichurri rice
- 2 small containers of split pea soup
- Bag of meatless meatballs
The verdict: took an hour. Not sure if it looks any better, however I do know what’s in there (lots of duck & pork) and (vaguely) where it is. Have shelves for meat, veggies, pasta, puff pastry, bread etc. Put the small stuff and ice packs in the door, added the pesto to the shelf with the pasta. Took some of the bacon and the ground pork out to thaw to make albondigas for Frank for dinner tonight. Heated the mushroom risotto hors d’oeuvres and brought them to Zhu Zhu’s amazing New Year’s Eve dinner.
What’s in your freezer?
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the albondigas sounds great except for that bit,gas.might do well this weekend.
That’s exactly what I did (see the second photo), remove everything, check to see if it was still good and then put it back with like items. True confession, I spent a LOT more time thinking/worrying about it than it took to clean it (only about 1/2 hour). Well worth the time!
What a great start to the New Year! I don’t have the ambition, but I should. My freezer is stuffed with lots of leftovers and home-made soups. Problem is I know something is in there, but it is difficult to find without taking out half the stuff in the search.
great pictures — especially the middle one!
I wish my freezer were that big…