A day in the kitchen and no dinner

[Mary]

Several days ago around bedtime, my side-by-side refrigerator/freezer began to groan and growl, softly at first and then louder and more insistently. Inspection revealed a sheet of ice on part of the back wall of the freezer and down one side, but no indication of where the water was coming from. Everything was frozen on the shelves. Shortly, the noise stopped, so we went to bed with plans to call for a repair/inspection by someone more qualified and a search of what's available and, hopefully, on sale locally.

By morning, the ice was an inch thick and the iced walls went to the bottom, stalactites were hanging from several shelves, and our plans for the day were finalized before we even had coffee.

Assembling ice chests, old towels, a bucket (in hopes that the ice would come off in hunks/sheets), a hair dryer, and various kitchen tools without points, we started . . . and five and a half hours later, we had a clean, neatly organized, quietly running machine. We also had three freshly baked loaves of bread from defrosted bread dough, a dozen aromatic biscuits from defrosted biscuits, and a garbage can with assorted items that were just not safe to save.

We did NOT have plans for dinner or a cook who was willing to enter the kitchen and cook anything.

So, taking the wisdom of "man does not live by bread alone" literally, we ordered take out savored it and the silence of our newly cleaned and organized freezer.

[Dissie]

So it all seems to be working just fine now? Or did you have the repairman come and have a looksee?

[HeatherFeather]

I had something similar happen to my freezer when I first moved in to this rental. It was awful - all my food I had just stocked in there had to go into coolers. It was such a pain and a huge mess.

GLad yours seems to be working again.

[Bergy]

Glad you had a happy ending but what an ordeal! Nice to order in once and a while!!!!

[Papa_D]

We also had three freshly baked loaves of bread from defrosted bread dough,

Now that would have been an opportunity to open a good bottle of red wine, some savory cheese and served with that freshly baked bread

[Mary]

Thanks for the sympathy, ladies. I was tuckered out yesterday but it certainly didn't kill my appetite. We had fried chicken -- a very rare treat since we stopped frying things years ago. Of course, in Texas we are obligated to have a chicken fried steak on occasion, but even that we order in a restaurant.

So far as we can tell, the freezer is freezing and the refrigerator is cooling responsibly. I can't tell you how glad I am not to be shopping for a new appliance right now. It also doesn't hurt that the losses were limited to under $30, and the freezer is still full of many dollars worth of food. Even though insurance would have covered the loss, it would be a royal pain to replace some of it. My son was worried about the "alligator" a friend gave him and some venison, and I was worried about my beef tenderloins (which are seldom priced low enough for me to buy).

On the bright side, if anyone needs a loaf of bread (or two or three) or biscuits, I have plenty. =-)

[Mary]

We also had three freshly baked loaves of bread from defrosted bread dough,

Now that would have been an opportunity to open a good bottle of red wine, some savory cheese and served with that freshly baked bread

Brilliant, Papa_D. I wish I had thought of that!