~patches~ wrote:

> Joseph Littleshoes wrote:
>
> > In any hot, humid southern hemisphere envinroment where it is now
> summer
> > i would refrigerate. In the northern hemisphere it is less
> necessary.
>
> Isn't that the truth about the northern hemisphere. We're getting a
> dose of the white stuff with frigid winds. My kitchen cupboards are
> on
> outside walls. The corner cupboard in the kitchen could almost double
>
> as a fridge in the winter leading us to suspect the previous owners
> were
> negligent in installing insulation. It's going to be a pain tearing
> those walls apart but for energy savings, we are going to. The nice
> thing about these cold temps is when you are having a large crowd, you
>
> can put things like pop on the porch to stay cold and save fridge
> space.
>

Growing up in the mountains of Oregon we had several cabinets in the
kitchen that had slates and wire for the back wall, specifically
designed to let air in to circulate.

In the winter it was used as a refrigerator and in the summer it was
used for cooling fresh bread and other baked goods.

By the time i was 10 we got electricity and indoor plumbing, me mum
still shudders at the though of a wood burning stove. I once gave her a
small, cast iron, old salesman's sample of a state of the art wood
burning cooking stove from about 1890, thinking it would be a bit of
nostalgia for her, it promptly went into a back closet where i do not
think it has emerged since.
---
JL