Sunday 7 November 2010

Decisions...

Once upon a time I was a normal housewife. You know one of those with a washing machine, dishwasher and refrigerator. From time to time I even had a lovely girl who did the housework too!

This week has delivered a new challenge. About three days ago the  refrigerator stopped working. There I was running the engine, to charge the batteries and cool the fridge, when the old girl(engine) started to work really hard and emitted a  blood-curdling squeal from somewhere in the bowels of the boat. Before TBH could yell I had the thing turned off and we looked horrified at each other.

My first thoughts are total catastrophe, I know it's boring but I always think the worst. TBH was convinced that it was the refrigerator. We had trouble a couple of years ago with the compressor and he was adamant that it had finally seized.We let the engine cool right down, switched the refrigerator off, restarted the engine and no squeal. Turned the refrigerator on, 1000 dying cats in the bowels again...

We are anchored in a lovely quiet spot, enjoying the solitude. We had to make a decision would we go back to town, buy ice and order a new part or be hardcore and live on the edge, sans cold box? What a choice. Well when I tell you that I have spent the last three days cooking up a storm you'll realise that we decided to stay here. The refrigerator stayed cold for about three days so I have been using up the perishable food as quickly as possible.

It's been a bit of a challenge! The meat went first and we have dined superbly every day..the finale yesterday was roast pork, roast potatoes and Brussel sprouts followed by lemon cheesecake. The bacon and hard cheese have turned into an assortment of flans and this morning I have been using up the fast liquefying butter by making fruitcakes with a good long shelf life.I have managed to use most of the ricotta and cream cheese but so far am fighting a losing battle with the yogurt and sour cream. Actually just had a thought, I can do dauphinoise potatoes tonight that'll use the sour cream up!

So the next few days we will be into pizza's and all those lovely lentil dishes that use no refrigerated ingredients. Then it will be back to civilization again and see if we can repair the fridge. Wish us luck!

Do I miss the past life of domestic ease? I'm not telling!

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