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I read this article as it popped up on my “suggestions to share” feed on Buffer this week and it made me smile: What you should keep in your pantry or fridge or freezer. Mainly because it made me think about our Miele fridge. Is it wrong to love a fridge? Following my post on Valentine’s day I am guessing you are aware how much I love our fridge. Nothing gives me greater pleasure these days than cleaning it out just before refilling it with fresh fruit and then seeing it fully stocked and ready to be attacked by the family. I say attacked. No such thing happens to it. It is to be admired and stroked and handled gently at all times.
Told you I possibly loved it a bit too much. And may well need to get out more. But it is six feet of shiny amazingness. Okay, I will stop, and get to the point.
I have been wondering about my fridge essentials after reading that article, and actually the “not so essentials” of which there are many. Like fluff. What even is marshmallow fluff? We have pots of the stuff. And films. We have films in our fridge. I don’t even know if Mr B has a working film camera anymore, but I am too scared to throw away the film.
Doing this post did also highlight to me that I may need to be more vigilant with my clearing out and the pot of Brandy Butter with a use by date of Boxing Day has probably outstayed its welcome.
First of all. Eggs. We always have eggs in there. I know, don’t start about not keeping eggs in the fridge but I don’t have anywhere else to keep them. Our work surfaces are covered in gadgets and if I leave out the eggs I have a tendency to knock them off the work surface. So they live in the fridge. One of the most versatile foods, a meal in minutes, or part of something bigger like waffles or cake or waffled cake. We always have at least a dozen in the fridge
Ditto milk. We recently got a milkman after he knocked on the door and said he was starting up a round locally. Same price as the supermarket and I thought, what the heck, let’s support this chap. Delivered twice a week, in the same plastic bottles we would get in a supermarket but I don’t have to lug them home. I could have them delivered in glass bottles if I wanted and oh I so want to, but they are slightly more expensive. There is always milk in this house though. The idea of having no milk is enough to make me shudder. Either for the endless cuppas, a warming hot chocolate, or a bowl of late night cereal, we always need a plentiful supply of milk.
Fresh pasta. I adore fresh pasta. We even have a pasta machine but it means the whole kitchen gets covered in flour and as Mr B is rolling it out and keeping the layers separate every tea towel gets used so the pasta maker stays in the box. Fresh pasta though is relatively cheap and one of my favourite lazy dinners. Either just boiled with butter and fresh pepper (I am salivating now) or with a jar or ready made tomato sauce tipped over it (which is youngest teen’s dinner of choice if she is left to her own devices). Mr B would turn it into a mean carbonara, so there is always a bag of fresh pasta in there.
Talking of Mr B I asked him what his fridge essential would be and he smiled. “Lime pickle of course”. Silly me. Of course it is. He loves the stuff and whilst it his one thing, there are in fact eight jars of it in our fridge at the moment. Eight. All opened. All on the go and not to be removed and thrown away if they pass their best before date without his express permission. It was the one thing he asked his parents to bring back from India a few years ago. And is often the one thing he will buy if we go to Borough Market or venture to a farmer’s market. This is just the selection I could find on the front of a shelf:
I hate the stuff.
Lastly would be cheese. Any and all kinds of cheese. including a bag of ready grated which J puts on everything, including Christmas dinner. Cheese is another great snack food, that with a couple of crackers and an apple is one of my favourite TV snacks. Cheese on toast is something you can never go wrong with either. And a bit of grated cheese on to top of some reheated leftovers can give it a real lift.
This list though does confirm that I am not very foodie. I am thinking maybe there should be some as yet unknown to me Japanese ingredient that it THE must have. Or some home made pesto maybe?
How about yours? What would your fridge essentials be?