Bad Manners and Brimstone

Quote from: lowspark on April 20, 2020, 08:40:14 am

I'm having a hard time swallowing this story.

Really? A guest went into the kitchen, rummaged through the pantry and fridge, and began, not just throwing things away, but actually pouring them down the disposal, and presumably running said disposal, and no one noticed until it was a fait acompli?

I mean, I guess, if it were one or two items, but the letter makes it sound like a lot.
Something smells fishy here.

Sounds reasonable to me. I've stayed with people and the host(s) had to go out to work or run errands or dr's appt, etc leaving us alone in the house. When we used to go to Mr S's parents in the summer, Mr S and the in laws would go golfing, leaving me in the house for 3+ hours. I napped and read, not cleaned the pantry, but I certainly had time.

Ok. Makes sense. I didn't think of them being left in the house alone.

That letter made me irrationally angry. As angry as the stories of people rearranging other people's kitchen.

I was just imagining how I would feel if someone did this to me and I would be enraged. Don't touch my kitchen!! I think of all the things that would have been thrown out if it happened to me. All my looseleaf tea that I store in used tea tins with long past expiry dates stamped on them. Baking powder and soda and yeast that I sometimes buy in bulk and store in the empty box from a previous non-bulk purchase. Condiments that have bogus dates on them (really, soy sauce doesn't need an expiry). Buttermilk that keeps well past the expiry.

I would be demanding money for replacements.

I can totally see a busybody niece deciding her older/elderly aunt and uncle are too senile to take care of themselves, and tossing stuff out.
  And that might make an aunt or uncle refer to her as "a guest" instead of "a relative."

This reminded me that  Mom always put a month on packages she stored in the basement freezer.  The family joke was that we never knew what YEAR.  As a result I always label both month and year on whatever is in my freezer. I also try to keep inventory and put newer items behind older ones.

This is one of our "road to hell" [good intentions] items: periodically, I look through the freezer and write up what we have, but not all of the "we" cross things off when removing them from the freezer .  I label food with the date - and am even getting better at writing on the box what something is after the plan to make pumpkin bread backfired when that carton of orange turned out to be frozen [freshly-made] fruit just instead of pumpkin!  Was delicious [ginger, pineapple, mango, orange/apple], but not suited to making a loaf for afternoon tea!

But then we just chuck stuff in/get things out without updating the list; we're/it's a 'work-in-progress'.

With dairy, I'll try it - have just finished off an early-Jan expiry-dated creme-fraiche that was absolutely fine, and with many things I will see if there's still any flavour - if there isn't, that's a good enough reason to chuck - before assuming the date on a package is law on when an item cannot be consumed.

I have a friend whose daughter does this to her when she visits. She's in the medical field (not sure what - some sort of nurse I think) and if she sees anything at or near, or heaven forbid past! the date, she will toss it! I don't know why people can't understand the difference between Best Before and Use By. I also don't know why my friend lets her daughter get away with it.

And many of those dates are to protect manufacturers from being sued, rather than any kind of scientifically worked out definitive guidance.

We like buying from-the-producer cheeses, and they will happily tell you how to age the stuff for yourself at home.  The thought that this dried up shred of "crottin" is not edible would be anathema to French cheesemakers/mongers!

I don't know if it's true that honey is anti-bacterial/viral/fungal, or if there was still viable honey in the Egyptian tombs, but I'm prepared to believe that's true, because I'm still eating from a >10 year-old tub of honey my husband doesn't know about [the rotter ate the best part of six jars that he brought home from Ukraine, with me barely getting a look-in; Marcelle's honey is off bounds!].

I saw an TV "magazine" programme on it, and it's was a lot of 'this expert says one thing', 'this expert says the complete opposite', and 'this other person says watch out for meat/shellfish/eggs, and try the rest'.  Opinions do vary, but most food thrown away because of sell-by dates is not inedible at the point of throwing away was the majority opinion.

I mentioned this thread to a friend, and she told me how a house guest went through her fridge looking for hummus. On opening one container she found it full of a nasty sour-smelling greyish mess, which she helpfully scraped into the compost caddy and washed out the jar nicely. That was years ago, but my friend says she can never meet that person even now without having to suppress the urge to growl, 'Who threw away the sourdough starter I inherited from my mother, you bl**dy interfering cow?'

I mentioned this thread to a friend, and she told me how a house guest went through her fridge looking for hummus. On opening one container she found it full of a nasty sour-smelling greyish mess, which she helpfully scraped into the compost caddy and washed out the jar nicely. That was years ago, but my friend says she can never meet that person even now without having to suppress the urge to growl, 'Who threw away the sourdough starter I inherited from my mother, you bl**dy interfering cow?'

I certainly hope the friend did tell the eager food pitcher what she had done!    Where do these people come from who feel so free to clean out other people's refrigerators without even asking?   I think it would be impossible for me to ever be a friend to that person again.  The contents of that jar were so precious.

I mean, seriously, how hard is it to pick up the phone or just leave the item in the fridge till the person comes home and simply ask.

I found this dodgy jar in the fridge, want me to throw it out?

I don't understand taking liberties with other people's stuff no matter what it is.