Where Do You Keep It?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: You know I absolutely cannot resist a good clickbait headline, especially I read the ones about kitchen things.

A headline came up in my email saying: "food items you’re probably storing incorrectly."

Okay, I thought, I’ll bite! 

What food items am I storing incorrectly?

And I have to say, some of the answers were surprising.

I keep apples in the refrigerator. I keep cucumbers in the refrigerator. I keep avocados in the refrigerator. According to this article,  two of those are  wrong. Do you know which two?

I keep bread in the refrigerator. Or freezer.  Yes, I know, it makes it weird, but if I leave it on the counter it gets moldy.  The article says to keep in on the kitchen counter. I say no.

Tomatoes--I know enough to leave in a colander on the counter.

Parsley is like a bouquet, in water. Until it gets slimy.

Somebody told me once never to wash raspberries in advance. Or blueberries. And this article said never to wash anything in advance, but wait till right before you use it, because you’re washing off the protection from spoilage. Is that true?

Potatoes I keep in a drawer, or sometimes in a paper bag in the mudroom. I don’t store them with onions. Or apples. Apparently that’s a thing.

Corn on the cob, still with the husks on, that’s a pain. I usually leave it in the paper bag it came in.

Mayonnaise and peanut butter are in the refrigerator. Jelly is in the refrigerator. Soy sauce is in the refrigerator. Ketchup, too.

And there’s just nothing to do about bananas. You just have to eat them. Once you open a banana, you’re doomed, and there’s nowhere to put it. And instantly it will get fruit flies.

And what do you do with mushrooms? It seems like you have to wash them, they have dirt on them! But then they get all slimy.

Can we talk about this? 

(Oh, and hurrray-- the winner of Wanda Morris's book is Karen in Ohio! 

And Lev Rosen's winner is Flora!

Email me your addresses at hank@hankphillippiryan.com!)