Careful measurement with thermometers of varying reliability revealed that the fridge was 10-15 degrees warmer than it ought to be, even at the coldest setting. I called repairmen, but none could come for a whole week. What would become of my Thanksgiving feast supplies? Then Grandpa O came to the rescue. He offered to give us a new refrigerator as an early Christmas gift.
We did some research and some shopping. In the meantime, we relied on our extra freezer. It kept the turkey safe, and provided buckets of ice to keep the refrigerator a bit cooler. A couple of things spoiled, but most stayed in good shape. I took the two and a half gallons of curdled milk and tried my hand at making cheese. It was mostly done before I poured it out of the jugs, actually, so it was pretty easy. We were having a sunny cold snap, so I chilled the cheese outside. I served this Queso Mostly-Fresco with tacos one day, and everyone ate it.
Finally we chose a new fridge, with delivery promised . . . on Wednesday. The same day the repairman would have come. We kept drinking juice and buying one gallon of milk at a time, and didn't eat breakfast cereal for over a week. When D2 came home from school every day, he asked if the new refrigerator had arrived. When the big day came, he helped me move things out of the old one. The delivery men had it all set up before lunch time, and said we could use it right away. It was so beautiful and clean, it almost seemed like a shame to put things inside. But we did, quickly. The boys were thrilled to come home to a new refrigerator, to have milk in the house again. Have you ever heard small children being excited about a major appliance? While dismaying, this was a good gratitude-building experience.
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