The Freezer

 My grandparents had a huge chest-type freezer in their garage.  It was enormous, holding everything from meat to frozen veggies from their farm garden.  When my grandmother died and my parents retired to the farm in order to take care of my grandfather, they brought with them an upright freezer, also put in the garage.  One was to the right of the house door; the other was to the left.  Both were always full.

Mom was pretty good about keeping foods rotated so that not so that stuff got used up before it got unusable.  After Mom passed, Dad would continue to fill up the larder, usually just so there would be good foods for us to serve when the rest of the family was there.  When we departed, he would always say, "Take what you want out of the freezer."  He meant it, and we did.  Never mind that we had to literally stand on our heads to reach the bottom of the chest freezer!  One time, I realized that the stuff at the bottom had been there for YEARS, unreached.  I dug out a ton of food but hardly made a dent in what was there.  

My dad grew up hungry.  He was the last living kid of ten that were raised with him.  There wasn't enough food to help him feel full.  He never really talked about it, but all the signs were there.  For one thing, he and Mom never wasted food.  For another, Dad had a vegetable garden virtually everywhere we lived, with few exceptions.  The garden at the farm was HUGE.  Thus, two freezers in his old age.  He was supplying his family with food LONG after he had retired.  

I think I picked up some of this from Dad.  My daughter and family have been 2,000 miles away for many years, but I still find myself buying/saving foods just in case they show up here.  (For the record, only my grandchildren have been here to visit since they all moved to Seattle quite a few years ago...and then only because I keep bedrooms for them, and it puts them closer to their father and paternal grandparents.  It's crazy.  I guess I'm still in denial that my daughter will ever come home to see me.  I have to go there, but the pandemic and their circumstances have prevented that for over two years now.  It stings a lot.  At least I have been able to see the grandkids.  I adore them both!

So...what is a freezer?  It's a way to preserve things past their usefulness.  "Frozen in time" isn't a joke.  My own freezer is quite full.  A single woman, living alone, shouldn't have so much food around, but I am my father's daughter.  I'm not a food hoarder, but the pandemic has taught me to strike while the iron is hot.  If everything were to shut down, I have enough food to keep me for quite some time.  (Unless the power fails.  Then I'm in trouble!)  

I need to pare down in my food expectations.  I keep ingredients for my favored dishes, but when I make my favored dishes, they are huge enough that I have to eat them for days.  Or maybe freeze the leftovers?  Making smaller portions is out of the question.  I love food too much.  Maybe just get a bigger freezer?