Thursday, July 27, 2006

Not quite a total disaster...

So I came home from work and really, all I wanted was a drink. Just a small iced beverage. So as I opened the outside freezer to retrieve the ice, I noticed something wrong. The frozen water bottles weren’t frozen. The roast wasn’t iced over. The boneless chicken breasts were soft and the bag of frozen mangos was bloated, ready to explode.

The freezer coils were iced over so badly that they weren’t working properly. My husband and I proceeded to toss out the bad, refrigerate the defrosted, and rearrange the inside freezer to accommodate that which was still frozen. The turkey wouldn’t fit anywhere, so got put into a ice chest with ice and ice packs. As my husband dragged the freezer out to the driveway for defrosting, I was shoving ruined chicken avoglemeno down the disposal in dismay. But wait…there’s more. The drain decided at that exact moment to become plugged. Churned chicken water came bubbling up from the disposal side, mucky liquid spewed from the overflow valve, and the big sink began filling up. Like they say, when it rains it pours.

So I switched places with my husband, wielding a hose and spraying down the icy interior of the freezer, while he got the pipe wrench and appropriate tools to allow the drain to function properly. After what seemed like a lifetime, success was achieved on both levels. My son returned from work and moved the freezer back into place, drain pipes were reinstalled, sinks were cleaned, and…finally, I got that icy cold drink. Needless to say, I added some alcohol to the beverage!

Of course, I was left with what to do with the defrosted items. Being tired, and after 8pm, I dragged out the crock pot, threw in the roast, and a large jar of tomatillo salsa and let the puppy run all night. I woke up this morning, shredded the beef, and tomorrow I am making enchiladas. Now, I literally threw the meat in, disgusted as I was, and I really didn’t add anything but a jar of the green salsa. How easy was that? A can of olives, some Mexican or sharp cheddar cheese, tortillas, and I will have enough enchiladas to feed 10. Good thing, too, as my brother and his family are coming to town and we are spending the weekend cleaning out my dad’s house in preparation for putting it on the market, a real task.

5 comments:

Fran said...

Sorry you had such a mess. You made the best of it. Proves the old addage, when life gives you defrosted roast--make enchiladas! Great idea, btw. I've done that with a jar of salsa & chicken breasts.

Anonymous said...

So what time should I be there for dinner?

I think under the circumstances you did the best you could!

Anonymous said...

What an ordeal. It sounds like it was so stressful. I'm sorry you had to go through that.

Anonymous said...

It's just life and you deal with it. Only a very few seem to deal with it with your grace and positive attitudes. If I can get past my kitchen disaster and travel to Seattle in time, I'd love to try my weak skills on the black pearl challenge. Such a great suggestion from a comment and you ran with it.
I'm betting the enchiladas were terrific and what a story to remember the times with.

Ellen said...

Ugh. I've been through the disaster part before when PG&E was off and I had to toss EVERYTHING--no power to rescue anything in the crockpot! I hope the drink was a good one!