a very cute image of a dog smiling and looking into a refrigerator with a variety of foods in it. the photo is taken from inside the fridge, facing out so as to have a perspective facing the cute dog.

A+ Roundtable: What’s In Our Fridges?

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Sep 29, 2022

This was prompted, firstly, by a Slack conversation in which the team was discussing favorite foods and also what was in peoples’ fridges or what our go-to ingredients are. Secondly, this was prompted by ME specifically wanting to know what famous-cook-Kayla had in her fridge, but — joke’s on us — she was moving during this time period so the answer is…not that much!

I know that I take food pretty seriously, and so do a lot of our team members. What you’ll find in this roundtable is a largely unarranged, unbothered look into our fridges (except for Heather’s and Carmen’s fridges which are enviably organized). I asked folks to showcase some of their favorite things, if they wanted, and to tell us about their fridge setup. What unfurled were notes about the ways we organize our lives, our relationships to food, and our relationships to refrigerators and home and the ways food was intertwined with how we were raised.

Content notes: this roundtable contains discussions of food and eating, but we don’t discuss anything in terms of restrictive diets (except for things that are disability / chronic illness related or that have to do with allergies / intolerences / being vegetarian or vegan). However, if it’s not helpful for you to see content like this at this time, please do navigate away.

Thank you so much for being an A+ member, for literally feeding us, for keeping us here.

xoxo,

Nico

Shelli Nicole , Culture Editor

three photos of shelli's fridge showing the outside with photos of her loved ones, the inside with eggs, milks, whipped cream and other items for coffee, and the freezer with ice, snacks and a blender on top of the fridge

I never have a lot of things in my fridge because I do not enjoy cooking at all. I live alone and my girlfriend often comes over but even they don’t expect me to have anything inside. The only things that are consistent is wine, eggs, bacon and coffee — which is pretty much all I need to survive! I always have coffee stuff because it’s necessary, for work, to wake up, and even just to have a cup in the middle of the day. It’s always, always, ALWAYS organized though, even in the moments when it’s somewhat full (like if I am having homies over) I like to see where everything is.

I keep chips in the fridge too, usually once something is open it goes in the fridge. I get that from my mother lol. There was once a light in my fridge but when I moved in 2.5 years ago it went out and I never replaced it. I don’t really need it and I tried to buy a new bulb one time and it didn’t fit soooooo that was the end of that. My freezer has the things I need most though, ice for all my drinks and to eat and iced lollies and ice cream to have for snacks/dinner.

And that’s that! Also yes my fridge is covered in pink contact paper and yes those are cute pics of my family and friends on it and adorable notes — for me it’s what’s on the outside of the fridge that matters most I guess.

Casey , Contributor

three images of casey's fridge setup show her shelves with fresh produce and a lot of different tupperwares full of leftovers, the door of the fridge with condiments that are neatly arranged, and a third photo where casey is holding up three limes

I love food and I love to cook, so my fridge is usually quite full. (Although I do like to get it fairly empty before I do a big grocery shop to make sure I use up all the perishables I bought the last time I stocked up). I am a wimp about hot weather, but one thing I love about summer is all the amazing local produce, which you can see all over my fridge: corn on the cob, cherries, blueberries, green beans, blackberries (picked from the trail behind my house!) and more.

I usually have a couple meals worth of leftovers in the fridge, which I like to eat for lunch. On the bottom shelf in my picture are all the fixings for falafel wraps, including an unconventional tabouleh I made with kale from my garden. Although these are not at all local, one of my favorite and most used fridge staples are limes, which I’ve really gotten into under the influence of my partner’s Mexican tastes. Limes are good in baking, cooking, and for drinks! I often substitute them in recipes that call for any kind of vinegar as well as for ones that call for lemon or other citrus.

A tip for storing fresh herbs in the fridge that I originally learned from Rachel, Autostraddle’s former managing editor, is to put them in a cup of water like a bouquet of flowers. It really makes them last longer! When I don’t have a fresh garden supply of cilantro, I pretty much always have a bunch in my fridge so I use this method all the time!

Other highlights on the fridge door include at least 4 kinds of hot / chili sauce, a very Canadian gigantic bottle of organic maple syrup, and a bottle of homemade simple syrup for cocktails.

Sa'iyda Shabazz , Writer

three pictures of sai's fridge showing on the left the inside of the fridge itself and the fruits, snacks and other items for the week, then the freezer with everyone's different ice creams, and then a close up of the incredibly important cherry cokes

I’m sharing my beginning of the week fridge vs the end of the week. Usually I do my weekly grocery shopping on Sunday or Monday to make sure that my kiddo has all the snackies/lunch he’s going to need. Usually that means there’s fruit like blueberries and grapes on the shelves and apples in the drawer. He also likes cucumbers, mini bell peppers, and sugar snap peas, which are also in the drawers. My partner has to have almond butter and hummus for her midday snack/lunch/breakfasts. No one eats eggs, but I buy them in case I want to make cookies. The brown bags are our Hello Fresh meals for the week; I love to cook and these eliminate the stress of deciding what to eat every day.

Beverages are always an important item in the fridge: my morning orange juice, my partner’s sparkling water, the Snapple I like to have during the day, and most importantly for me, my beloved Cherry Cokes. We also have a Brita because the other humans in the house drink a lot of water. You can’t see the ever present apple juice, but it’s there.

The freezer is full of frozen veggies and fruit. There’s meat in the back, and my reusable ice cubes because I hate when ice melts in your drink. Ice cream is an important staple in our house, everyone likes different flavors: chocolate chip for the kiddo, Rocky Road for my love, and Neopolitan for me. There are also popsicles that my kid loves and quick snacks for me like pizza rolls and soft pretzels.

Heather Hogan , Senior Writer + Editor

heather's very neatly arranged fridge is seen here in two pictures showing kombucha, craft beer, condiments, fresh fruits, lots and lots of gatorade, jam, an unopened canister of cinnamon rolls and various hot sauces

My refrigerator is full of electrolytes! Because I have POTS! And if I don’t stay hydrated as heck, there will be no blood in my head/brain, and I will pass out and/or forget how to be a person. It’s also full of many other kinds of drinks, such as fizzy water (my favorite!), kombucha and cold brew (because me and my wife are lesbians!), craft beer (alcohol-full for my wife and non-alcoholic for me!), and various kinds of milks because my wife likes a different kind of milk for her coffee, for her cereal, for her oatmeal, for mashed potatoes, etc. Usually there’s a lot more jams in here, but we haven’t been to any little jam places lately, so we’re just whittling down what we have. One of my favorite things going on in my fridge right now are the eight bottles of hot sauce. I have always been a Tobasco girl, just the way I was raised down South, but I have expanded my palette to include all sorts of spicy splashes these days. Today I picked up something called BLUEBERRY GHOST PEPPER, which I have heard will blow my eyeballs out of their sockets. Can’t wait! What flavor Gatorade Zero will I chase it with? Who knows! There’s plenty to choose from!

Riese , Editorial

riese's neatly organized fridge showing on the left various milks, green juices, hello fresh bags, in the center a freezer full of trader joe's items, and on the right the fridge door full of salad dressings, condiments, and maple syrup

Honestly I do enjoy cooking but I hate having a dirty kitchen and I also *hate* having to clean the kitchen so therefore “how much cleanup will this require” is my primary concern when I approach the preparation of a meal. I go through phases where I’ll be trying to cook exciting things every day, phases where I cook the same thing every day, and phases where I just need accessible stuff I can make with minimal effort because my only goal is to prevent myself from ordering postmates. That is the kind of phase I am in right now because we’ve been in a Heat Wave and so I am trying to avoid spending too much time in a hot kitchen.

I have fruit and cheese that I usually snack on during the day (along with nuts & crackers) and obviously too many different kinds of milk. Oat milk for cereal? A different kind of milk to drink while eating a brownie? Cream for coffee? IDK. I’ve got a little container for candy, another for unused fast food sauce packets for when I am in a desperate situation (like running out of ketchup!!!), another for juices and another for seltzer. Eggs for breakfast, bread for toast, condiments, salad dressing. Mixed greens, avocado and tomatoes to make a salad to go with whatever lazy entree I’m pulling out of the freezer, almost entirely garnered from Trader Joe’s, like a pizza or some sort of seafood. (The Trader Joe’s tilapia actually slaps I highly recommend!)

Nico Hall , Team Writer

three photos of nico's fridge and contents. center shows their recent grocery shop haul with eggs, produce and hummus along with various unlabeled jars of liquids. then there is a close-up photo of anchor bar buffalo sauce and another close up photo of paint rollers in plastic bags

So, we cook a lot because it’s more affordable (and healthful maybe) but I ALSO usually try to avoid grocery shopping too often because I am really pressed for time and it takes too much time in my opinion. My girlfriend and I will typically meal plan a little (envision what we want to make, look up recipes) and then I’ll do a big shop to last us a couple weeks, aside from maybe running out for more eggs or because we’re out of vinegar or something.

Our fridge was actually the basement fridge of the people who used to live in our home, so it’s never really been like, clean-clean. I tried my best once we moved it upstairs (we asked the movers to help us when we moved in) and it’s been what it is since. We’re currently in our like, taco phase of the meal planning, which means we will keep coming up with different taco configurations until we run out of tortillas, then I am making a pommes anna this weekend, most of which is not in the fridge because that just means thinly sliced potatoes in a cast iron with lots of butter, but there is dill in there for it because we are intentionally letting the dill patch in our garden go to seed right now. I want those dill flowers! They’re hard to find! Also not depicted is the amaranth we’re still able to harvest regularly from the garden, or the hubbard squashes (also from the garden) I have curing in our (recently renovated thanks to my girlfriend, Sadie!) small storage room. After the pommes anna, I’m making an asparagus pasta, so we also have asparagus in the fridge for that along with romaine for salads. I can’t live without eggs, so we always have eggs and if we do not have eggs that means things are getting stressful.

There are also always a variety of unlabeled liquids and items in jars, whether that’s a lemon simple leftover from when Sadie made candied lemon peels, homemade cold brew (cheaper to brew at home!), or homemade fridge pickles (alas I think the last of summer cucumber season might have passed, though). We also have evidence of my lactose intolerance in some goat yogurt, and some of Sadie’s beers hanging out and the ever-present, all important jar of mayonnaise (we love mayonnaise — don’t laugh).

I’ve chosen to show you the last of the various Buffalo sauces my sister actually MAILED ME from Buffalo. I’ll clearly have to restock soon. Every couple of weeks, I’ll get a craving for Buffalo sauce, and then will usually have several Buffalo sauce meals in a row (with Sadie abstaining because she thinks it’s gross).

Finally, in the picture on the right, you might notice some paint rollers in plastic baggies. Sadie tells me this is so that she does not have to wash them between days of priming and painting. So, that’s a neat little trick if you need it! On the fridge itself are various playful magnets and a number of photos and drawings that hold meaning for us, that remind us of friends and loved ones and good times.

Valerie Anne , Writer

three images of valerie's fridge showing a stack of fake meats, hello fresh bags, hummus and oat milk, the outside of her fridge with the magnets she made out of stickers, and the fridge door which contains candle holders for condiment packets

Confession: While I didn’t go so far as to CLEAN my fridge for you before taking these photos, I did cheat a little and threw away a Chinese food container that probably just had little rice-shaped rocks in it by now, and a bag of clementines that were simply not orange anymore. In my defense, they were deep in the back and I forgot about them entirely. Also, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you, my refrigerator is smaller than your average icebox because I live in New York and that’s just how it goes sometimes. Lucky for me, I live alone now, and even though I cook a little more than I did back when I had roommates, I still rarely have a full fridge, because I know myself and the less fresh food I have the less likely I am to waste it. Instead, as you can tell, my freezer is jam-packed, and I rely on Hello Fresh, whose bags fit nicely into my one unused crisper. The other crisper is full of onions from the time I ordered two (2) onions and got two pounds delivered instead. Things in my fridge that just make sense: candle holders being used for things like take-out condiments and vegetable concentrate packets because I can’t throw pretty containers away, a wide variety of fake meats and real cheeses, lots of frozen spinach (because anemia), and plant-based butter sitting on TOP of the butter dish instead of inside it where it belongs. Oh also, the 97 stickers my indecisive ass turned into magnets so I didn’t have to pick a permanent location for them.

ashni mehta , Team Writer

ashni showing a jar of lime pickle, and the condiment drawer they talk about as well as a fridge with produce front and center and a brightly colored container of just egg

Technically, my partner and I share the fridge — but in practice, this fridge is 90% mine. I love fresh produce, and while a good chunk of what I buy this time of year lives on my counter, you can see some of this week’s produce hanging out on shelves. (Things that are not in the fridge but that I still keep around as staples: tomatoes, potatoes, avocados, shallots, onions, garlic, and scallions).

I think most people store their produce in crisper drawers (which makes sense, it’s what they’re designed for), but I prefer to keep produce and herbs and anything else that’ll spoil fast front and center, so that I can see it every time I open the fridge. If I don’t see it, I forget about it. This helps me cut down on food waste and also frees up my crisper drawer for other things, like condiments! We have a whole condiment drawer because sometimes you just have more dips, sauces, and dressings than you know what to do with! Our condiment drawer is currently full, so overflow condiments live in the shelves on the side of our fridge.

My partner and I buy two different kinds of sliced bread, because we’re picky (I like bread with seeds, they can’t stand it). They keep theirs in the fridge while I keep mine in the freezer. I’m very good at storing leftovers, mostly because I hate throwing things out. We’ll pop leftovers in regular tupperware, leftover takeout quart containers, or even repurposed yogurt jars covered with IKEA stretchy jar covers. I also did forget to cook some mung beans after I finished sprouting them so they are hanging out in the fridge currently as well!

Our freezer is kind of a disaster. We have three drawers in it, but no organization of any kind. Frozen meat lives on top of ice cream, which is tucked around frozen veggies from last year’s CSA harvest that if we’re being honest, no one is going to eat anyway. We’ve usually got a few frozen Trader Joe’s things in there, just because they make easy meals and also because they taste good.

Vanessa Friedman , Community Editor

two images of vanessa's fridge depicting what's on her shelves as well as what is in her door. on her shelves are various milks, diet coke, produce and a brita. in her door are beer and wine, various condiments

This prompt sort of overwhelmed me because my fridge has been in an “aspirational” moment for a while now — I love to cook and I love to eat, but I’ve been having some ongoing health issues that have made what I can and can’t eat kind of confusing, and it’s been bumming me out. Also, my girlfriend and I moved in together at the beginning of the year and are currently planning another move, so everything feels like “In our new house, we’ll [insert aspirational organizational system here],” including the fridge. All of which is to say — I don’t think my fridge is exactly set up the way I’d love to have it now, but it is what it is.

A typical scenario for me in my fridge is a lot of fresh produce, almond or oat milk for me, half and half for my girlfriend, some wine and beer, some cheese and meat, at least two dozen eggs, and maybe some meat or some fish (we keep a lot of that in the freezer). Oh, and as you’ll see on my top shelf, my vaginal probiotics, obviously. I guess that’s what’s going on in our fridge now, though it feels less organized than usual to me. We also keep a LOT of condiments and I’m constantly trying to get rid of stuff that is either expired or clearly not something we’re using anymore or a bottle that has like, three squirts of mayo left in it. I used to drink Diet Coke religiously so that’s in there too, though lately it’s been upsetting my stomach so you won’t find it there anymore. And I love canning and preserving things, so you’ll often find hand-labeled jars filled with bourbon brined berries or pickled green tomatoes, etc etc. We had a jar of pickled magnolia petals on the top shelf for like four months but to be honest they were a disgusting failed experiment and I eventually threw them out, which is hard for me because I hate to admit defeat, but c’est la vie.

In my ideal world I always have ingredients on hand to make miso soup, some kind of fresh fish/veggie/rice scenario, a really good grilled cheese sandwich, a delicious egg breakfast, and, in the summer, the ingredients for the best meal of all: toast, mayo, and a super ripe tomato from the garden! BUT as of right now gluten has been making me feel ill, dairy has been making me feel ill, nightshades have been making me feel ill, eggs have been making me feel ill, and I don’t really know how to feed myself the way I’m used to, so the way my fridge is set up may have to change dramatically over the coming months, a thought that frankly fills me with dread and fear. I don’t want any feedback or help making a diagnosis by the way, I have some doctors appointments set up, I just thought I’d be really real with y’all in this prompt, and that’s what’s up with me and my fridge right now! OKAY THAT WAS PROBABLY MORE INFO THAN THIS PROMPT CALLED FOR, BYE!!!

Anya Richkind ,

three images of anya's fridge, one showing the inside, the other the door and the last the outside with their seasonal produce wheel and part of their collection of fridge magnets from her and her partner's travels. inside the fridge are various milks, fresh produce, avocadoes, a brita, cans, homemade caramels and a giant jug of maple syrup

So, I grew up in a household where the fridge was, in my opinion, often pretty bare. (My parents didn’t like having too much stuff in there because it was stressful I guess, even though our house wasn’t particularly neat outside of the fridge, either…) My partner, on the other hand, grew up in a household where the fridge was packed to the brim, AND there was another fridge in the basement, ever so slightly less packed. So I think our current fridge is right in between those two: not quite packed to the brim, but still, I think, like pretty darn packed. These pictures show what I would consider our fridge at nearly its emptiest (coincidentally I just placed a grocery delivery order so it will soon be not as empty), which as you can see is really, uh, not that empty.

I don’t like our actual fridge (it’s such an old model that it is no longer sold! lol) but I actually have extremely fond feelings towards the contents of our fridge, mostly because we buy what I consider… fun things! You will see on the bottom shelf a container of “fresh spirulina” that we were talked/lightly peer-pressured into buying at the farmers’ market this weekend. Do I know what you make with that? No! Am I excited to try and probably make something that tastes weird but is ultimately edible? Yes! The bottom shelf contains a lot of beverages that we have picked up at random places we visit — ciders, Italian lemonade, god only knows what. I guess as I grow older, the more important it feels to have fun and find joy quite literally as frequently as possible, including every time I open the fridge. I love seeing signs of our life together in the fridge — the garlic miso paste from Momo’s (incredible) that we are never without; the huge bag of apples because Jess wants to make a pie (this happens every year at the start of Fall); the caramels we made in the top right corner wrapped in shiny rainbow bags!

I’m also including a photo of the outside top of our fridge. We have the wheel so we know what’s in season at any particular time, the NFL thing because Jess is doing fantasy football and somehow that means Yahoo sent us that magnet, and finally, my favorite part of the fridge… our TACKY MAGNETS!! We (try to) get one in every place we visit and I love the juxtaposition of the world’s stupidest magnets arranged more neatly than anything in our fridge. lol!
One thing I remember from growing up is that we rarely had juice in the fridge. We had milk, but juice was considered sort of a special treat because of sugar or something. Now, I not only have juice in the fridge, but also so many delicious treats that make me happy every time I see them. Thank you fridge!

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya , Managing Editor

a single photo of kayla's mostly bare fridge with a beer, butter, a V8, cheerwine sodas, blueberries and yes, pickled bologna

I realize this photo of my fridge is probably shocking given my reputation for being a home cook and domestic dyke, but I am moving and have been in the process of moving for what feels simultaneously like 15 minutes and 15 years. Everything in my life right now is hectic, disorganized, and chaotic. So, yes, all that’s in my fridge is: Cheerwine, Trulys, a beer from a brewery in a small mountain town in North Carolina that my girlfriend and I brought back from our last anniversary trip, two things of blackberries that were BOGO at Publix and will be my snack while I unbox boxes today, a thing of butter that I’m going to attempt to move between Miami and Orlando without it melting, one can of V8 that I think I bought for Bloody Marys at some point, and yes, the most precious cargo, a large plastic tub of pickled bologna. The pickled bologna will be riding shotgun with me in the car today as we follow the moving truck from Miami to Orlando. It has already had an exciting journey, originating in northern Michigan which is one of the few places where you can buy pickled bologna easily and traveling in my girlfriend’s checked luggage when she flew back to Florida from Michigan and I parted ways to go to a writing workshop in Portland. Unbeknownst to me until I saw my girlfriend tweet about it, despite being sealed the pickled bologna tub made all of her clothes smell like, well, pickled bologna when she returned home. So, yes, this pickled bologna has traveled across various state lines and in various forms of transportation. Even when my fridge is at its fullest, it is the shining star.

viv , Art Director

a photo of viv's fridge which is empty except for a head of romaine, a single beer, two avocadoes and a jar of something

This is a wild photo but I don’t buy groceries unless the fridge is *completely* empty … and we are getting there! When I do buy groceries, it’s difficult to buy much because I also hate clutter, food waste, and have the dietary restrictions of a hipster Asian granny (vegetarian, lactose intolerant). I’m genetically predisposed to diabetes so I don’t keep snacks or frozen goods since they are usually processed and contain a lot of hidden sugars (the freezer is completely, blessedly, empty). Instead, I lean towards warm, savory, and flavorful dishes with lots of colors like red, green, and yellow. Even though I’m an excellent home cook, I can’t be bothered when I usually eat by myself, so I end up eating out a lot. In the morning I take an oat milk flat white at my corner café with a vegan pastry and buy a fresh baguette that I’ll eat later with olive oil and the avocados and lettuce in the fridge. On my street I rotate dinners between Sudanese, Vietnamese, Turkish, Thai, and Ethiopian casual eateries and get an extremely delicious veggie meal that is actually 2 servings and is less than 10 dollars. That beer isn’t even mine because alcohol gives me heartburn.

My Vietnamese family operates on a scarcity mentality and I grew up with a fridge that was always in disrepair and packed with things that were old and nasty. The way meats were stored was especially heinous and undoubtedly led me down the vegetal path. When my family immigrated we landed in an undeveloped Southern California suburb with no money and no walkable stores so I ate the same pho soup from the same pot at home every single day until I was 13. Eating out was considered a treat and that always meant fast food perhaps twice a year. I think the lack of control I had over my diet as a kid and my itinerant lifestyle keeps my fridge empty, but I enjoy food very much and eat very well!

Carmen Phillips , Former Editor-in-Chief

carmen's immaculately organized fridge situation is seen here in two photos, the one on the left showing the main inside of the fridge where fresh fruit is the star, along with peppers a brita, a couple of beers and diet cokes and oat milk, then the fridge door shows off no condiments, but goya products instead

So the first thing that pops into my head when I see these photos is how many ziplock plastic bags are in my fridge (I’ve been trying to break myself off of the habit for a while, but reusable bags are expensive and so gaining a stockpile of what I need is a slow process).

This photo was taken on Saturday after my weekly farmer’s market haul. I go to Eastern Market (which is kinda randomly largest open air market in the country? And also a Detroit institution) every Saturday, June through November. It’s easily my favorite part of living here, the market is so large that it doubles as a neighborhood, the mural art that covers all the streets coming in and out of the market are breathtaking and I love that years after it’s become a “tourist attraction” it’s still filled with Black families buying food for the week, air that smells warm with barbecue, and Black students practicing their instruments for spare change (I could do with less white 20-somethings who are there to drink beer and get loud, but that’s for another time). I have my favorite regular vendors, the women who sell the “good tomatoes” and the family who sells the “good corn.” A sweet nerd who always slides in an extra green pepper into my bag. The Black girl with the banging nails who grows her eggplant on an empty lot in the city. This is home, but we’re here to talk about my fridge.

This week I picked up: green onions, cilantro — which I don’t think you can grow in Michigan? But I don’t ask questions —, broccoli, cherry tomatoes in two colors, honey crisp apples, grapes (I don’t remember the variety, but they are delish and taste like wine), Roma tomatoes, a variety of bell peppers, and then in the drawers, covered in paper towels to help with keeping out moisture, corn, eggplant, cucumber, and zucchini. Whew deep breath! Ok.

It’s a lot of food for someone who’s always at work with little free time to make something out of it! Cooking (and really, baking) has always been one of my go-to mental health practices, but finding space to take care of those needs is a huge challenge and not one I always succeed at! So I buy with hopeful intentions, use what I can, and then whatever is left over at the end of the week I take inventory, before it starts all over again! Usually I can throw a lot of leftover produce into some pie crust (either savory or sweet, depending on what I’m working with) and go from there.

Last thing! Famously I hate condiments, which seemed to entertain all my co-workers and a lot of you, so I did include a picture of my refrigerator door. As you’ll see, no ketchup or mustard to be found. Technically BBQ could be considered a condiment? But I use it as a glaze for grilling things. And the last shelf is very clearly Goya, because I’m Puerto Rican and si es Goya, tiene que ser bueno (propaganda works).

COMMENT

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Comments

Vanessa

September 29, 2022 at 10:35 am

i love this so much more than i even thought i would when i received the prompt. to me, this is so much more intimate than anything we’ve ever shared about sex or breakups or love or even our firsts… food is so important to me, and (as i mentioned in my response) i’ve been having such a hard time feeding myself lately, but this is like… idk it’s really beautiful! also i want viv’s baguette lunch right now tyvm.

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- Nico
  
  September 29, 2022 at 10:47 am
  
  It is SO intimate, you’re right. Thank you so much for being so open and what you shared Vanessa 💜💜💜
  
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- viv
  
  September 30, 2022 at 7:31 am
  
  Bless you 🙏
  
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- Riese
  
  October 4, 2022 at 8:10 pm
  
  same!
  
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- Zephr
  
  October 6, 2022 at 12:52 pm
  
  And I got so much more out of reading this than I thought. Thanks, all!
  
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Dkc2017

September 29, 2022 at 10:50 am

I envy the sight of beautifully organized condiments.

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KatieRainyDay

September 29, 2022 at 12:01 pm

I love this so, so much, Vanessa is right it’s so intimate. Also I love the idea of turning. stickers into fridge magnets! Our old place the fridge was in a wooden cupboard so I don’t have any magnets, but this has unleashed me.

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KatieRainyDay

September 29, 2022 at 12:02 pm

also, what if there was one of those group autostraddle reader photo shoots (very excited for the autumn one) off this idea? It made me want to show off my fridge!

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- Ker
  
  September 30, 2022 at 6:41 am
  
  Yes! Seconded!
  
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Sa'iyda Shabazz

September 29, 2022 at 1:15 pm

everyone has such beautifully organized fridges and i am envious! not enough to actually do anything about mine, but ya know. i’m so grateful for these opportunities to get to know everyone a little better in an atypical kind of way.

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biensurmacherie

September 29, 2022 at 1:53 pm

Aw, thanks for sharing, everybody! I didn’t think there’d be that much variation in people’s fridges but there’s tons!

Vanessa, I hope you feel better soon ❤️

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- Vanessa
  
  October 3, 2022 at 10:21 am
  
  thank you <3 <3 <3
  
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Casey

September 29, 2022 at 2:16 pm

I am astounded at people who have organized and/or enoty fridges!! Who knew othe humans could be so different than me!

Also, Heather you keep bananas in the fridge?? Don’t they go brown?

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- Casey
  
  September 29, 2022 at 2:17 pm
  
  Oops *empty, obviously
  
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- Heather Hogan
  
  September 30, 2022 at 4:30 am
  
  Oh! The fridge actually slows the banana ripening process! So if they get as ripe as you want them to be but you haven’t had a chance to use them yet, you can just pop ‘em in the fridge until you’re ready to smoothie them to smithereens!
  
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  - Riese
    
    October 4, 2022 at 8:17 pm
    
    i do this too and do the same thing with avocados
    
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Ker

September 30, 2022 at 6:44 am

I love all of this, but especially the glamour shot of the item from Kalustyan’s. Wandering around there makes me unbelievably happy!

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Caitlin

September 30, 2022 at 3:47 pm

the inside of my fridge, eh, she’s mostly beverages and aspirational produce, but the outside is a beautiful and ever-evolving collage of photos, art from preschoolers at work, and various reminders from physical mail that leave my brain the second i magnet them to the fridge

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Miranda

October 1, 2022 at 7:27 pm

Wow this timing my long distance friend group chat just had this chat after one friend moved and was like got a bigger fridge what do y’all even have in yours
Loved learning about everyone in this way and getting ideas!

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Rachel W.

October 2, 2022 at 2:01 am

Friends…. I’m 36 yo and sitting here with my mouth gaping bc I didn’t even consider that I could shop for two weeks at a time.

Which makes me sound dumb but most of my adult life has involved being poor and or having a miniscule fridge.

Our current fridge is still half the size of a standard American one (can’t change it, thanks Ikea kitchen layout) but if we plan and check dates carefully I feel like this is doable and dear lord would it be nice to not have to squeeze it in the schedule every week.

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- Nico
  
  October 4, 2022 at 8:37 pm
  
  This isn’t about intelligence at all! Also, full disclousure, I think part of my shopping this way is influenced by being paid 1x a month, so by the time payday rolls around (once every month), we’ve been getting creative for a minute! It’s definitely a different way of budgeting than when I got paid twice a month and I don’t always do a good job with it. But yes! Stretching shopping trips so that I can shop every 2 or 1.5 weeks is a bit of a time saver if it’s possible and I think with planning around major meals and a kind of meal plan that uses most perishable items first, it can work. I do utilize a lot of frozen veggies, though, so if you have limited freezer space, it might be harder!
  
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