Reason # one to label jars

In my freezer I have, among other things, frozen yellow tomato puree from my garden tomatoes.

Today, I reached for a jar of the yellow tomato puree to make a sauce for my penne with anchovies.

Well, I also have frozen pureed pumpkin from my garden in the freezer.

Yep, that's what I did--picked the wrong jar, didn't find out until it was defrosted and ready to go.

My wife told me I would.

Thomas, try not labelling and be colorblind at the same time like me and see where it gets you!

Pumpkin and anchovies... Eeeewwwwwww... a strike-out all the way around, as I like neither.

Pumpkin and anchovies... Eeeewwwwwww... a strike-out all the way around, as I like neither.

I like each, but certainly not together!

What's wrong with them, Robert?

Pumpkin and anchovies... Eeeewwwwwww... a strike-out all the way around, as I like neither.

I like each, but certainly not together!
What's wrong with them, Robert?

Why not, Thomas? Think savory pumpkin soup seasoned with some smokey cumin and maybe a touch of paprika. A few anchovies melted into the mix wouldn't be half bad ... but what do I know ... I'm colorblind.

Pumpkin and anchovies... Eeeewwwwwww... a strike-out all the way around, as I like neither.

I like each, but certainly not together!

What's wrong with them, Robert?

I have never liked the taste of pumpkin, and the very smell of anchovies makes me want to bring back up what I most recently ate!

Pumpkin and anchovies... Eeeewwwwwww... a strike-out all the way around, as I like neither.

I like each, but certainly not together!
What's wrong with them, Robert?

I have never liked the taste of pumpkin, and the very smell of anchovies makes me want to bring back up what I most recently ate!

Anchovies are insidious as they sneak into many recipes without our even knowing about it. The most prominent example is Worchestershire sauce which itself is an ingredient in many recipes. I'm sure it's a conspiracy.

Seeing little anchovies on pizza or spying one elsewhere also does not appeal to me, but as an ingredient they seem to disappear and add a salty backbone. Perhaps I'm schizoid, but I will cook with them, although I won't usually eat them if I can recognize them.

Thomas - I did the same thing a few weeks ago, only I had freezer bags: one was leftover greens (Swiss chard, Romaine, Escarole) that I set aside for a batch of Beans & Greens soup; the other was asparagus. So I made a pot of Beans & Asparagus soup. It wasn't bad, but hard to eat with a spoon.

Thomas - I did the same thing a few weeks ago, only I had freezer bags: one was leftover greens (Swiss chard, Romaine, Escarole) that I set aside for a batch of Beans & Greens soup; the other was asparagus. So I made a pot of Beans & Asparagus soup. It wasn't bad, but hard to eat with a spoon.

Howie,

You should have tried to eat it with a spork!!!

LOL

I try to take a finger full of an ingredient before I add it to the pot. Checking for spoilage, as well as the kind of mistake you made.

How about cilantro and flat leaf parsley? I made that mistake once, now I always chew a leaf before using. Even though I can differentiate with a sniff, it's just easier to pop a leaf in my mouth, just to be sure.

I try to take a finger full of an ingredient before I add it to the pot. Checking for spoilage, as well as the kind of mistake you made.

How about cilantro and flat leaf parsley? I made that mistake once, now I always chew a leaf before using. Even though I can differentiate with a sniff, it's just easier to pop a leaf in my mouth, just to be sure.

John,

In this case, I left the frozen jar in a stainless steel pan on the kitchen counter to defrost while I wrote at the computer (stainless assimilates room temperature easily and therefore is a faster medium for defrosting naturally). By the time I needed to use what I thought was a jar of pureed yellow tomato, I had wasted too much time to recoup my losses.

I ate something else. Luckily, the standard poodle loves pumpkin, so he had a snack.