When Great Steaks Go Bad

You might have noticed I haven't been blogging much this past week. It has a lot to do with no Internet (no electricity at all actually) and being preoccupied with the four inches of water laying stagnant in our basement and wine cellar. And while we don't have power yet, thanks to a newly acquired (borrowed) generator , we do have access to the Internet; I'm playing a little catch up. What I wanted to talk about is what happens when you are forced to face mother nature and the wrath she may lay to your well oiled kitchen machine. For us, thanks to Hurricane Irene, we got to find out that all you really need to survive is a grill. Or so I thought...the other thing you really, really, really need is a way to keep your precious food items stored at their appropriate temperature.

What became crystal clear during all of this is the realization that we couldn't care less about the vast majority of food in the fridge and freezer. Throwing it away as it was defrosting and beginning to turn into something unrecognizable wasn't met with even a moment of hesitation. Goodbye butter and eggs; sayonara pickles and relish;  au revoir weight watchers lunches and strawberries; auf Wiedersehen jellies, marinades and dressings; namaste cheese, milk and juices; arrivederci bacon, lettuce and mayo. Other than a sad little sigh of pity when the ice cream bit the dust, it was an unemotional act of blindly throwing the contents of two packed Jenn-Aires into giant garbage bags. I'm even looking forward to being able to scrub down the shelves before ever putting a single new thing back in there.

BUT, there was one thing we focused on with laser point precision. The steaks. We went through superhuman efforts to save those babies. Not just any steaks mind you, but glorious, gorgeous, flavorful Flannery steaks from California. These individually sealed  and vacuumed packed miracles were watched, checked and prodded every few hours to see how they were fairing. When the last of the coolness left the dark, defrosting freezer they were moved lovingly into coolers with bags and bags of ice. We ate the first ones to thaw and watched with growing dismay as the others started the slow march to room temperature. We were running out of time! And meals! When day two became day three and then into day four of still no power and no sign of relief...we came to the morbid realization that we will most likely be putting those out to the curb as well. Oh, the horror; the sadness...the anger. Such a sad, sad loss.

To lesson our mourning and say goodbye to the departed we might have to place a big ass order and throw a party celebrating life...and steak!! This will be after the power is restored of course. Until then my friends, eat well and cherish your beef.