On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 22:18:31 GMT, Frogleg > wrote:

>Would hate to live without my 'fridge (and freezer compartment).

This has been an interesting discussion. I realized I keep a lot of
things in the 'fridge that might be stored at room temperature (but
*not* in July :-)

I'm now considering the question in the light of convenience. That is,
before domestic refrigeration/freezing, a good part of each day's
meals would have to be cooked and eaten on that day. Nothing like
having a turkey sandwich in January from slices frozen in November, or
economizing on effort and expense by cooking two casserole dishes and
freezing one. Unless the food safety folk are talking through their
hats, last night's unrefrigerated pasta and meat sauce miay be dubious
as this morning's breakfast, much less lunch or dinner. Even with
canned/preserved stuff, once the container is open, many items go
'off' rather quickly.

We have whole cookbooks of 'leftover' recipes, based on the idea that
Tuesday's roast becomes Thursday's hash, and Sunday's chicken,
Wednesday's chicken salad.

It must have been *very* hard work to shop for and prepare relatively
'new' meals each day.