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Mystery Dinner
Posted By Kerri
We have a blackboard in our kitchen that lists the items in our freezer. Sounds a bit anal I know but, even though it’s a really small freezer, I’ve becoming pretty good at filling it full of stuff. We have a selection of different sized freezer bags to use in said freezer, the type that has a handy space to list what’s in the bag. Alongside the freezer bags, there are various permanent markers in the kitchen drawer for doing the listing. All sounds very organised doesn’t it? And it would be, if I remembered to write on the bags and update the chalk board.
Which is how we came to find ourselves sitting down to something we had to look up afterwards to find out what it was. I had meant to defrost the mystery bag this morning but forgot so, when Stephen got home he took the bag out of the freezer and started to slowly heat it through. Thinking it was bolognaise sauce, he put some pasta on to boil too. It smelt like bolognaise sauce to me too but then I looked at it and wondered if it might be leftover lamb rogan josh, since the texture of the meat seemed more lamb-like. It didn’t smell like curry though so we served it up with the pasta and tasted it. Not a particularly strong flavour, possibly veal? Really not sure, until I checked back through the archives and realised it was probably lamb ragu. From January.
It tasted alright and I’m sure it won’t kill us but if I’d known it was so old I wouldn’t have eaten it. Needless to say, the chalk board is all up-to-date now.
Sep 21st, 2010
We try this too, but the lovely boyfriend still refers to it as the “magic box” , because things go in and disappear. It’s quite fun to have a mystery dinner every so often.
.-= Becky´s last blog ..Jerk Pulled Pork =-.
I have absolutely no qualms with eating things like stews from the freezer that I made a year ago. That’s what freezing is for, surely? To preserve the food?
.-= Lizzie´s last blog ..Bubble Tea =-.
Back when we had a standalone freezer out in the garage, things would get left there for over a year before I threw them out. Now that we’re living in Kuching with a much smaller freezer, we “lose” things less often. But I still find suspicious, unmarked baggies every now and then.
.-= Nate @ House of Annie´s last blog ..Stir fried Pork with Long Beans =-.
I think the blackboard is a brilliant idea – haven’t really got room for one in our kitchen but I could be really anal and start a database! I have to ask what is ‘black bacon’?
.-= Helen Wright´s last blog ..Veggie options =-.
I know this game far too well. My husband is a little braver than I am and is always pulling things out and cooking accompaniments in the hope they will go together. I have tried to install the ‘marker pen by the freezer’ tactic too but it doesn’t seem to work too well. I went through a phase of putting egg whites in the freezer every time I used a recipe that used only the yolks. We ended up with hundreds and there are only so many meringues I am prepared to make! The chalk board idea is a great one that I might steal…
.-= Antonia´s last blog ..Chocolate fudge cake =-.
Too funny- I have also done this before as well! I would have thought frozen from January would still be ok though?
.-= Gourmet Chick´s last blog ..How to make lamb chops with a tomato and red onion sauce =-.
we have a similar sort of thing going on except we call it mystery pots. there’s even a whole drawer in the freezer devoted to them!
Anal? Not at all! Brilliant system.
Your dinners always look so delicious Kerri and love your posts. Sorry, don’t comment enough.
I like the term “magic box”, Becky!
I’m the complete opposite of you, Lizzie, I think six months is probably my maximum. It’s worth noting that although it was preserved from a safety perspective, there was nothing preserved about the flavour. This had a lot less flavour than the original dish.
A stand alone freezer is on the dream kitchen wishlist, Nate!
Thanks, Helen. Black bacon is a sweet cure bacon from Emmet’s butcher in Peasenhall, Suffolk. It’s lovely but has a real sweetness to it that only works in certain dishes. I love the database idea, have been meaning to do that for a while.
Yep, I’ve recently thrown out loads of egg whites, Antonia, for the very same reason! Stephen made the blackboard from a wood offcut, just painted with blackboard paint. It’s a brilliant idea, if you remember to keep it up to date!
It was okay, GC, it’s just the thought of it that makes me feel funny.
Aw, Jen, I bet you’re like Nate with the stand alone freezer thing aren’t you? Jealous!
Thanks, AC 🙂