On Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:20:45 -0800, SteveB wrote:

> My wife and mother in law (I see where my wife got it) have the idea that if
> you put something in the refrigerator, there is no such thing as shelf life.
>
> "Well, it's been in the refrigerator," is the common answer to "Is this
> good?"
>
> I finally made a rule that if you can't tell me when it was cooked, I won't
> eat it................ Oh, I cooked that last week some time ..............
> Was it Thursday, or the Thursday before .........
>
> I'm telling you, we went through the Clorox wipes thing after she saw it on
> Oprah, and wiped down everything in the kitchen if so much as a fly landed
> on anything in the kitchen including the ceiling, but she will leave chicken
> to thaw from 7 AM to 4 PM in the sink at 70 F.
>
> I need to get ahold of Oprah and have her do a show on shelf life and
> kitchen safety foods.
>
> I mean, it can have brown mold on it, be unrecognizable, and she will still
> say, "I don't understand it. It's been in the refrigerator."
>
> Help me out. I've tried explaining it. Some good sites that I could send to
> her friends, and they could forward to her (she won't believe it if it comes
> from me, but her friends and Oprah are Goddesses).
>
> Steve

would something from the u.s.d.a. help?

<http://www.foodsafety.gov/~fsg/f01chart.html>

they're pretty conservative (to my way of thinking), but at least she can't
say you're making this stuff up.

your pal,
blake