The Fridge

This morning there was the "Fridge Episode".  I can explain.  When you live alone food does not pile up in your fridge too quickly, so there is quite a bit of time in between sortings out.  Things can get pushed unnoticed into the back corners where they live and brew and create their own colonies, complete with schools and department stores!  Really, it's true! lol  If you have 6 people living in the house, not as much is left over from dinner, so there is not as much "old food" to put away and get pushed into the recesses as "newer old food"  is added.  And anyway, with more groceries needed for more people there is just not room for very much "old food", so the sorting through has to happen more often.  For me, the sorting usually happens only every several months and in general involves suiting up in a hazmat suit---complete with gas mask.  I'm kidding.  Though at times I wish I at least had the gas mask!  Today's "adventure" was just such a time.  Most times the "old food" doesn't smell too awful--mostly just like slightly fermented food or like mold---which has a rather dusty smell.  Not bad really.  But once in a while, like today, there is a particularly bad combination of ingredients that just reeks.  No, REEKS.  I did not realize it, but I had some leftover soup in the dark recesses of my fridge that had been there--dare I say it?--since the end of April.  I sincerely did not remember that it was there.  But when I ventured in, there it was lying in wait for me.  Do you have any idea how bad white chicken chili smells after 3 months?  It didn't even have the courtesy to grow mold, so that there would be the dusty smell!  Oh no!  It just had to brew and ferment in there until it came up with the winner of the blue ribbon in the "Worst Smell In The Fridge" category!  It was one of those odors that lingers on and on in the air even after the offending "food"( I use that term loosely here!) has been thrown out.  So Nasty!  None of the other science experiments, aka "old food", aka leftovers in the fridge this morning came even close to that one.  Needless to say, there was bleach poured into both wash and rinse water---not only to kill germs, but in hopes of expunging my kitchen of that awful smell.  It worked pretty well---or maybe it just burned my nose hairs enough so I now only smell bleach.  I'm not sure which, but at least I don't smell that "old food" smell any longer.  But good did come out of this adventure.  My fridge now has lots of room (to begin the process all over! lol), and what is in there is edible.  The sinks are sparkling after being filled with bleach water (I have porcelain sinks).  And I now have cupboards full of clean bowls (with which to fill with "old food" to put back in the fridge! lol).  Such fun on a Thursday morning!  =)