Frozen Food Anyone?

We had a bit of a cold snap here this past week. It got more than a little frosty (-20ish C ) and while I am in a new place I was also out of my home during much of the cold weather and neglected my food storage situation.  I have been using a covered porch that has been closed in as additional storage and a mud room. The room was pretty much just as cold as outside but not as exposed to the elements. I should have known better but alas I did not and much of my food froze.

50lbs of potatoes, 25lbs of apples, 8 squash and two cases of rootbeer were frozen virtually solid when I got back home this weekend. The squash I piled into my deep freeze which was rather empty anyway but I didn’t know what to do with the potatoes. So I brought them inside and started to go through them. I salvaged maybe 15 lbs that were able to be put back into storage. Surprisingly the apples fared fairly well and only a few were made into apple sauce which was quickly eaten. The rootbeer was thick slush and seems to have recovered nicely. The onions and beets didn’t seem to be affected at all and fortunately carrots where in the bottom of my fridge. Rotten carrots are gross!

After I cleaned up the food storage situation and placed a space heater in the room I realized that I didn’t want to try and heat the outdoors all winter. So begrudgingly I made the trip up to my local hardware store where I purchased two bags of insulation. I then proceeded to insulate my little porch which has now become a room. It was amazing how fast it warmed up. Within the space of an hour I could have taken my shoes off and not lost a toe. Insulation is pretty spiffy stuff if full of noxious chemicals. I did manage to find one that had 70% post-consumer recycled content but still wasn’t feeling 100% about my impulse emergency purchase.

So I managed to screw up my winter storage this year as most of what should be stored energy free is now resting in my freezer. I was super close to being able to unplug the thing for the year but now it is rather full of squash and salmon. I keep telling myself I will cook and can the salmon but the truth is I don’t trust my abilities in that department and would hate to waste so much fish. Maybe I should do a practice run…..