If you've ever read this delightful book by Laura Joffe Numeroff (I love her name!), you'll have an idea of how my evening has gone. If you haven't read it, it's the story of a simple act (a little boy giving a visiting moose a muffin to eat) that turns into a big mess: the muffins need jam, you have to go to the store for more, the moose needs a sweater since it's cold outside, the loose button on the sweater reminds him of his grandmother and sock puppets, which leads to sewing and painting, a puppet show, and a big mess. My simple act started like this: "Gosh, I need to get rid of some of these old jars of sauce in the refrigerator. Hon, can I just throw them away instead of dumping and recycling them?" No, I couldn't (Jack is a recycling kinda guy). As I found more and more items that needed tossing, Jack began to dump and rinse. The recycle bin was full, so he brought the second, empty one into the kitchen. The fridge was way yuckier than I remembered, so I began wiping the shelves. That wasn't a good idea; it just made a mess with the soapy water. So I emptied the shelves and took them out. And the holders in the door. So, till I was through, the kitchen rug was sticky and soaked, the floor needed swept and washed, along with the counter tops and kitchen sink. *sigh* Who needed a relaxing night anyway?
Ta daaaa! Sparkly clean!
Let's play "I Spy"....I spy with my little eye...Pepto Bismol beside the two kinds of hot sauce, two types of parmesan cheese (the boys like the soap-powder kind), three kinds of mustard, olives, milk and wine. WINE?! How'd THAT get in there?! ; )
Eggs, leftovers (that cappuccino mousse torte again!), salsa, fat free half & half, low fat coconut milk, cheeses, some berries and veggies. Oh, and Pelligrino and wine. More wine?! That must be Jack's.
It turned out to be productive after all. The fridge is now free of all toxins and antibiotics-in-the-making; the bag of absolutely unidentifiable brown liquid in the veggie drawer by the fuzzy jalapeño, and the carton of heavy cream from a recipe in March (did I make that chocolate souffle stuff that long ago?!) that was a solid block of...something. Like my Dad always said, "A little mold won't hurt you, Ter, just cut it off!" Thank goodness, Dad!
