Thursday 4 April 2013

Hanging my head in shame...

Yesterday Tim picked up an email from Rhiannon. Very simply, the email had as the  subject "taking out of date to a whole new level". The text read “Mum should hang her head in shame”.
Rather worried he opened up the attached photograph…

My excuse is that I have a large fridge and the Cookeen is only ever used by Tim, on Shrove Tuesday. It’s funny really because over the years we have been four or five for pancakes, as the children would be eager to share the tradition with us. This year we were down to two!
Since September Rhiannon has been living at home whilst her new home undergoing renovations.  She is a fridge fiend, meticulously searching out and throwing away anything past it’s ‘use-by’ dates, but even she missed this one!
If you are someone who has ever eaten at my table, worry not. I ALWAYS check before I feed friends.
Now family …

22 comments:

  1. How on earth did we survive before use-by dates ?!
    I do still use the principle that if it looks ok and smells right, it's probably good to eat.

    Mind you, seven years...........!!!

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  2. It would have been fit to use... It's only vegetable oil. Col

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  3. Exactly what I thought! It was wrapped in cling film so when I cleaned out the fridge didn't check the dates.

    I do clean out my fridge more often than once every 7 years... honestly!

    I could argue that I thought it would last until 2045...

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  4. Thanks for the warning, but don't worry. During my move in 2011 I found a small tin of tuna in my storage cupboard with the amazing date of 2001 on it. They say tinned food doesn't go bad, but I threw it out anyway. In my defence, the tin had fallen behind the backboard of the cupboard. Hope you are enjoying your stay in France! Martine

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    1. I'm sure the tuna would have been fine to eat, but then beware who you take advice from!

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  5. I recall berating my dear sweet 85 year old grandmother when I found loads of out of date things in her cupboards... only to return home and find much more out of date stuff in my own. And....in fact, just today, I discovered a Christmas pudding, lurking at the back of a cupboard that should have been eaten before February 2011.It's good to hear that we all do it though...not just me. Hope you are still enjoying yourself. Jx

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    1. The Christmas Pudding will be just about mature and ready to eat... if it looks a little dry... prick it all over the top and pour on a little brandy, port or sweet sherry [you could choose to do brandy and port and sweet sherry... should you wish... but don't let it get too soggy... ;-{}

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    2. I agree, the pudding would be good to eat>My preference would be with a slig or two of Cointreau!

      Like you I used to despair of my mother's fridge. Like mother, like daughter but unlike grand-daughter! ;0)

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    3. Wait until Grand-daughter is older, has less in pocket and is hungry... check the date... possibly... discard something that is probably quite edible... unlikely!

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    4. Grand-daughter and daughter are the same person. It must be too much out of date food going to my head!

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  6. There are many items where a "sell-by-date" is merely a method of ensuring turnover of stock by the manufacturer.
    Pauline bought a box of peaches from our local Co-op that had been more than halved in price...
    because they had reached their "sell-by-date"...
    they were barely ripe!
    They almost lasted a whole week!!

    To my mind this wastefully convenient method of ensuring turnover is amoral at the very least...

    Cheddar with blue mould in its cracks...
    is blue cheddar in my book...
    and it tastes good too!

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    1. The way to spot a student with too much money is to give him a tin of ravioli three years out of date and watch him throw it away....

      Shame on you, Tom! Love Mum xx ;o)

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    2. You've got two of them then? But only one who cleans out the fridge... I'll wager.

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    3. Yes, but only one is still a student!

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  7. I do not worry about out of date things generally but I do check to see what they are like. That is way over, but yes probably still OK :-) No I also would not give out of date food to friends though I agree! Have a good day. Diane

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  8. It is only just occuring to me... if it is only t'other Tim who uses it, and re-wraps it... it isn't your responsibility to check it!!

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  9. I think that the worst thing about finding food in your larder that has gone over the use-by date is that you realise that it isn't one or two years since you checked the larder or the medicine cabinet but five or six or even more. It's only your daughter's youthful age that makes her so shocked. If she was 10 or 20 years older, I'm sure it would be different!

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  10. I feel much safer coming for coffee on Monday!! ;-)

    I follow Jean's approach; if it looks, tastes, smells ok, it is ok.

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