Clean your refrigerator day

I missed it: Whirlpool Corporation’s “Clean out Your Refrigerator Day.” The idea was to ensure a clean appliance for the holidays. But, I did not have time to clean out last week’s leftovers and unidentified shriveling objects (USO’s) from my refrigerator before the holidays hit: I was busy preparing for my first holiday feast, a carry-in supper.
The whole idea was to remind folks to do the job before the refrigerator fills up with holiday foods. I heard about the offical day too late to prepare the refrigerator for the holidays. I already had spent a month stockpiling holiday foods.
As soon as the grocery stores started advertising holiday foods at sale prices. I began stocking up. Why wait to pay more later? If I can, I stock up now and avoid the shock of paying for it all at once. Plus, I keep thinking of more items I needed to buy for special foods to fix for my poor, starving college kids.
I’m not worried that I missed the official day to clean out the refrigerator. I already am doing better than the 3 percent of the population (according to statistics) who never wash out their ice box. I eve clean it more often than 18 percent who only clean it twice a year.
When they were younger, cleaning the refrigerator was easy. “You two with nothing better to do than tease each other: Go clean out the refrigerator and wash the kitchen floor.” Stopped the teasing every time.
However, it is becoming harder to keep the clutter cleared out. We don’t have as many at home. Fortunately, the college-aged sons and their friends are home often enough to put a dent in the refrigerator clutter. They vacuum up food from the refrigerator, cupboard and freezer and sometimes even before it’s carried into the house from the car. I do still have my high schooler here to ensure the fridge is cleared of clutter. If I happen to slip and forget to toss out something, one of them will remind me: “Hey, Ma, have we kept this jam with the moss on top of it long enough?”
I still do have the pre-payday opportunity for cleaning: family food funds are low, so I don’t go grocery shopping. Left-over goulash and broccoli join forces to become once-in-a-lifetime dishes. Odds and ends of vegetable are consumed, milk cartons emptied and, before payday comes, the USOs hiding in shame in a back corner are exposed.
Even with the overload of Thanksgiving, I can guarantee the fridge will be cleared of clutter. After a hectic day of supervising everyone else cooking and serving a meal, I will flop into the nearest chair and tell them to keep from starving the rest of the day by nibbling leftovers.
Did I say leftovers? Not for long. After a couple of days, we will know it is time for them to be heading back to the campus by the way their voices echo when they open the refrigerator door and ask, “Is there anything to eat?” If the only answer is USOs, then we can be thankful that we have so much food that some goes to waste.


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