Those Famous Last Words...

Of course it snowed...well for perhaps 90 minutes, then stopped. By early evening yesterday much it had cleared but we were left with wet roads and paths that will have frozen overnight and will take time to thaw out.

I had my calorific value of food yesterday and yet still never got around to having my Liver and Bacon meal...now I may just decide to try and get myself in gear and eat it for lunch. It has to be used and has gone passed its date but I don't throw food out and as I may have said I ate some fish on Sunday night, probably passed its date and certainly had defrosted and been in the fridge for a few days...

But I cooked it well so it was piping hot, got rid of the breaded coating(OK it was burned)but I wanted to be sure the fish was cooked, haddock or cod, I have no idea. I had a wholemeal bap and some tomato ketchup with the fish(two pieces)it was fine...nothing wasted.

I cannot always go by smell(as that is one sense I have trouble with)but I go by common sense, how something looks and feels. Best before dates I tend to ignore. I was eating porridge the other day probably a year passed its best...it was fine. The other day I ate cereal six months passed its date, again it was fine. Sell by dates are usually only for rotation of stock in a supermarket and the so the only one that you need to be a little more careful  with are use by dates but even then a day or so over won't harm and again if it is something that is going to be cooked. But you can refreeze or put many foods back into the fridge if you have cooked something and followed directions which will buy you some extra time...

My house is so cold that the carton of milk I opened has been out of the fridge in a bedroom next to the kettle to make teas and coffees for days...It has not turned sour. And when I think about it many homes in years gone by did not have a fridge or a freezer.

They are relatively new inventions and follow on from the delivery of ice by an ice man which was placed in an ice box...and some homes(only the wealthy)because of movies and America being seen as more advanced gadget wise I tend to associate this with that country. But in the the UK there were some who had a kind of building that was used as a kind building for the storing of ice. I saw a programme on tv perhaps six months ago and yes they were called Ice Houses.

In my early childhood we did not have a fridge. Here it was only cupboards and a pantry with a heavy stone slab shelf.

But in very recent years(why it took so long for the penny to drop, I have no idea)it gets that cold in winter and with a concrete path running alongside the house which really never ever warms up at all as it rarely sees sunlight, there have been times where you can put items there to keep the temperature low if you run out of space indoors...

And I have all my cupboards and pantry filled with plenty of tinned/boxed items plus booze, bottled water and softdrinks. The fridge/freezer with plenty of fresh and/or good quality food(fish/meat)that has been reduced and my food store in the dining room with lots of goods/toiletries(soap, shaving cream, razors, toilet/kitchen rolls and house hold cleaning items all with long dates on them to keep me going. To try and free up money for paying the utility bills and new bedroom tax etc...coming in or in case my income reduces still further or stops.

Then I can shop less often...

If I make it to the live music show on the town tonight(and the band does weather allowing)they are celebrating someone's birthday and putting on a bit of a buffet so free food is available and that will save me some money and make my own food go that little bit further.

I don't know why but it always seems colder during the day indoors than through the night...so a mug of coffee and the thought of my meal later will help warm me up a bit.