Challenge - Day 27: "Inside Your Fridge"

Inside my fridge, what a jungle. I endeavor to keep it neat and organized but I don't often succeed. We have some staples - milk, eggs, butter, deli meats, cheese, Fage split-cup 0% Greek yogurt -- that rotate all the time. Then there are things that live there that only get used occasionally, like beef, chicken and mushroom demi-glase, finely chopped ginger in a tube, a jar of cilantro cooking base and Redi Whip in a can (I know, it expires.) I try to keep all these things on the top shelf so I can find them when I need them. The second shelf is supposed to hold things like, deli meats, tortillas, cheese and bread that needs refrigerating. I say "supposed to" because I have one of those husbands who opens the door and sticks whatever is in his hand in the first place he sees, which is usually on the second shelf. It doesn't matter where he picked it up from when he first opened the door, it goes back wherever his eyes spot a space. So I am constantly rearranging things. On top of it I have to endure his teasing me about being obsessive when he is standing with the refrigerator door open, calling across the house to ask me where something is and I can tell him, exactly, without getting anywhere near. 

Eggs and fresh meats go on the third shelf and the bottom one is reserved for containers of leftovers. Fresh fruits and vegetables obviously go in the drawers. That's as far as my organization goes because, when it comes to the shelves on the door, I'm hopeless. Condiments and jellies have lives of their own which they live, unharrassed, in my refrigerator. I'm convinced they reproduce, thriving in the cold, dark environment. No matter how many times I clear those shelves to make some room, throwing away old bottles of cocktail sauce or horseradish, the next time I need a space I can't find any. I have to turn a bottle of spicy mustard sideways and move the mint jelly down so the stoneground mustard I just used to make a vinaigrette will fit back where I swore I just took it from.

As I write this I can smell the marvelous aroma of beef short ribs, slowly braising in the oven in a sauce of red wine, onions, garlic, herbs and beef stock. I can tell you one more thing about my refrigerator, there won't be any leftovers of this dish in there tonight. 

Thanks for stopping by today; wish you could be here for dinner.