This week I took on the dreaded household task of cleaning out the refrigerator. Mind you, this chore was two weeks overdue. A weird smell had started emanating out of the icebox each time the door was opened. I looked for the culprit but no one item could be identified as the cause.
I smelled the chicken. It was fine. The cottage cheese was still perfectly fresh and odor-free. Next stop, the vegetable drawer — the secret offender of funky fridge smell. On the surface, vegetables seem innocuous, but when forgotten about in the drawer produce rotten veg juice. Yuck! But alas, even the crisper was clean.
With no obvious offenders in the fridge, it was time to get down to business. The emptying of the contents commenced. From condiments to leftovers to forgotten purchased pesto and dips, it all made its way onto the counters.
I discovered my beloved pickled okra I thought I’d misplaced. A log of goat cheese and a block of aged Parmesan were waiting to be used. Today, I turned a bag of forgotten about organic carrots into an all-natural Carrot Cake. These food items were just waiting on me to lovingly turn them into a delicious treat.
As I cleaned, I jotted down all the perfectly good food we had in the fridge, yet here we had been schlepping back and forth to the store on a daily basis when we had plenty of food on hand. Funky fridge and overcrowding was keeping us from using what we already had. I vowed then and there to be more mindful of what is in the fridge. We started a list on the outside of all items we need to use in the next week.
After getting out all the food, drawers and shelves, I discovered the source of the smell. Funky fridge juice running from the top shelf all the way down the back and under the crisper drawers was to blame. It was sticky and stubborn. Scrubbing and good ol’ fashioned elbow grease finally helped me remove its tenacious grip.
After a thorough cleaning, I carefully placed the good food back in the new sparkling fridge. Each shelf was neatly arranged with easy access and full-viewing pleasure. As I stood back admiring my handiwork, I started to think about other people’s fridges. Was I the only one with funky fridge smell?
I started to get a complex about it. One of my friends has a small obsession with cleaning her microwave. Surely, her fridge is pristine. My Mom wouldn’t be caught dead with a dirty fridge. And my mother-in-law’s fridge is always full and over-flowing but never funky. So, I started to ask around.
Another friend admitted to getting fridge funk, too. We agreed our parents never had it. What are we doing so differently? Do they clean their fridges more often? Are they better at not letting food spoil? Is fridge funk a generational problem of the new millennium?
Okay, maybe I’m blowing it out of proportion. I’m sure fridge funk existed before Generation X. I just wish I knew how to stop it. But, I’ve come to accept two things about myself. My make-up bag will never be pristine and neither will my fridge. So, if you have fridge funk, don’t feel bad and if you don’t, please tell me your secret!

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