# SHTF! What's In Your FRIDGE?



## charito (Oct 12, 2013)

The fridge - imho- is the "first line of defense" from hunger. 
Most perishable items are in the fridge, therefore the contents of your fridge are what we're supposed to use up first in a survival scenario. We usually don't realize how much food we actually have in the fridge. 
Normally, I tend to cook more than enough so there'll be left-overs, or meals that can be recycled - which saves me some effort at cooking. 
A lot of people do that in this day and age , especially busy households with working parents.

In our prepping, keep in mind....... the contents of your fridge if SHTF, can buy you time and stretch your stockpile.

*If SHTF happens NOW*, how many days will you get out of your fridge, meal-wise? What's in your fridge?

We just had our Thanksgiving Day last weekend so my fridge is really heavily laden. Left-over turkey, some ham, cooked asparagus, some cooked shrimps, unopened pack of bacon, cheeses (old cheddar block, Italian shredded, Kraft slices) lettuce, tomatoes, celery, and sweet peppers, an 18-carton and a half carton of eggs, milk and cream, maple syrup, butter, and variety of condiments, and jams, fresh apples and lemons. Just the two of us - these can give us about a week of eating!

We can extend it to more days, if we incorporate using fresh bread, fresh potatoes and yams to stretch it.
There should always be bread! Don't let it run out without having an extra loaf or two. I always have 6 in the small freezer.

The oldest and the ones to easily spoil will be the first ones to be used. In our case, it'll be the shrimps and the turkey!
The carcass of the turkey can be simmered into soups.

I think the first 48 hours of a SHTF will be so uncertain as we have to understand what's happening out there, and make contingency plans from there. Having not to worry about food will really help a lot to keep us focused on the immediate steps to be taken.

_Note: in this uncertain times, I'll make it a point to always have 2 cartons of eggs (plus some pickled eggs), 2 unopened packs of bacon, cheese slices, and some cooked ham in the fridge._


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Live outside town. Married to a farm girl. Who knows what is in there. But bet it is stuffed full at all times as are the freezers. I often tell her I fear opening it . The stuff falling out may kill me.


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

Thanks for the heads up I noticed my beer supply is running low.


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## stevekozak (Oct 4, 2015)

charito said:


> The fridge - imho- is the "first line of defense" from hunger.
> Most perishable items are in the fridge, therefore the contents of your fridge are what we're supposed to use up first in a survival scenario. We usually don't realize how much food we actually have in the fridge.
> Normally, I tend to cook more than enough so there'll be left-overs, or meals that can be recycled - which saves me some effort at cooking.
> A lot of people do that in this day and age , especially busy households with working parents.
> ...


That is a REALLY early Thanksgiving. I am curious.


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

charito said:


> ..........*If SHTF happens NOW*, how many days will you get out of your fridge, meal-wise? What's in your fridge?_........._


Depends on whether the power stays on, now, wouldn't it?


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Just made breakfast so I looked 5 dozen eggs. Lots of cheese , ham , Turkey. Avocado's, Apples Pears. 4 gallons milk 1 bottle of her wine. Plus a lot of other food. freezer side I am not opening that door. To much work stuffing it back in.


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## Big Boy in MO (Jan 22, 2018)

Back Pack Hack said:


> Depends on whether the power stays on, now, wouldn't it?


If power goes out, it would be canning time for the freezers, gennie will help ease that time crunch. If power stays on, we are good for quite a while.


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## Chiefster23 (Feb 5, 2016)

stevekozak said:


> That is a REALLY early Thanksgiving. I am curious.


Thanksgiving day in Canada, second monday in October.


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## Sasquatch (Dec 12, 2014)

The heads of my enemies. 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


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## Piratesailor (Nov 9, 2012)

Too funny SAS... 

The fridge. Huh. Well, it’s loaded up and I don’t know half of the stuff in there. Now the freezer is damn near over flowing. Wife commented she wished we had a larger freezer. I asked her what for... she said.. bodies.. and walked away. Should I be worried? 

Some of our food isn’t refrigerated like eggs and veggies we grow.


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## LUVDABACON (Jan 24, 2018)

Lots and Lots of BACON!!!!!!!!!


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

LUVDABACON said:


> Lots and Lots of BACON!!!!!!!!!


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

Well I have 2 chest type freezers a and a refer/fridge combo and another one coming in a week.
Mine have raw chicken done up with a food saver, hamburger done the same way.
There is ham and bacon also about 20# of each, in a month it will be cold enough to leave stuff outside.
One freezer is outside and will not draw electricity for five months. 
A third of one chest is filled with meds of all sorts that are needed here plus SHTF stuff.
Some fish, vac packed and frozen commercially, I don't eat it myself. 
There is 30 pounds of butter in the freezers.
Both of our diets consist mainly of chicken and rice, that is what there is the most of in there, chicken.


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## ND_ponyexpress_ (Mar 20, 2016)

1 fridge is full of pheasants and beer, 1 fridge is full of food (we buy milk 4 gal at a time), 3rd fridge is full of juice, mt dew, and seeds. 

1 freezer is full of burger/steaks 2nd freezer is waiting to be filled with the 3 buck tags we get to use in a few weeks..


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## ActionJackson (Sep 4, 2020)

> SHTF! What's In Your FRIDGE?


In the fridge:
1) About 20 cans of sardines and kippered snacks.
2) Several bags of nuts (macadamia, sun flower seeds, walnuts, pecans, pinion nuts, and raw hemp seeds [shelled]).
3) I have a drawer full of cheese.
4) I always keep plenty of Almond/Coconut milk on hand.
5) Various other foods stuffs and condiments.
6) Two large jars of olives.
7) Two dozen free range eggs.

Freezers:
1) About 100 lbs of grass-fed ground beef.
2) 25 lbs of free range chicken.
3) About 10 lbs of fish (salmon and cod).
4) Two beef roasts.
5) Many bags of frozen veggies (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, cauliflower, kale & other leafy greens)
6) Several bags of mixed berries (blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries).
7) Maybe ten 8-packs of beef hot dogs.

Since I live alone ... this is more than enough for me. I have two boxes of #10 cans as well as 5 gallon buckets of freeze dried foods in my storage unit.


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## charito (Oct 12, 2013)

Back Pack Hack said:


> Depends on whether the power stays on, now, wouldn't it?


That's the thing: power outage.

If it's natural disaster - the power can go anytime. But if its unrest - I suppose we'll have a few days before it goes (if it does).

In case of power outage, try not to open your fridge door as often. The same rule applies that we should eat what would spoil first. 
I assume cured stuffs like bacon and ham can last longer. If it's winter - and if temperature outside is lower - then shift everything 
we can to that lower temp.


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## charito (Oct 12, 2013)

LUVDABACON said:


> Lots and Lots of BACON!!!!!!!!!


Just really curious because I have about 6 packs of bacon in the freezer right now. I got them on sale but their expiry date is December 2020. 
How long can they keep without tasting rancid?


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## charito (Oct 12, 2013)

stevekozak said:


> That is a REALLY early Thanksgiving. I am curious.


Canada. We had ours last Monday.


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## ND_ponyexpress_ (Mar 20, 2016)

charito said:


> That's the thing: power outage.
> 
> If it's natural disaster - the power can go anytime. But if its unrest - I suppose we'll have a few days before it goes (if it does).
> 
> ...


that's another joy of living in ND.... outdoor freezer and garage fridge 6-8 months out of the year.. hasn't gotten over 50 outside in 4 days... got down to 23 last night. supposed to get couple of inches of snow fri-sat.... could likely put stuff outside in coolers and will keep til april here.

wait til you southerners try to do summer in GA or AZ without A/C..


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

ND_ponyexpress_ said:


> that's another joy of living in ND.... outdoor freezer and garage fridge 6-8 months out of the year.. hasn't gotten over 50 outside in 4 days... got down to 23 last night. supposed to get couple of inches of snow fri-sat.... could likely put stuff outside in coolers and will keep til april here.
> 
> wait til you southerners try to do summer in GA or AZ without A/C..


If we do run the A/C, it is only for 2-3 hours in the afternoon and even that is only for 2-3 weeks per year. I can live without A/C in the AZ desert just fine. But then, 95 degrees here feels a whole lot different than 95 did back in Minnesota.

In terms of what is in our freezer... There is 1/2 a steer and a bunch of pork and who knows what else in the freezers. I have no idea what is in the refrigerator as I am not allowed in Mrs Inor's kitchen anymore since the last time I attempted homemade bread without Mrs Inor's help. (The aftermath of that was a bad couple of days in the Inor household.)

In terms of keeping things frozen in a no-power situation, we have the largest ammonium nitrate plant in the SW United States about 20 miles from where we live. If it gets bad I can easily get a couple hundred pounds of ammonium nitrate and make all the ice we would ever need.


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## OrneryOldBat (Feb 10, 2017)

Is it a problem if you have a small fridge (in addition to the main fridge) that's full of eggs and cheese? Asking for a friend.


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

> If SHTF happens NOW, how many days will you get out of your fridge, meal-wise? What's in your fridge?


It's hard to say....Assuming the power goes, the generator will kick in. If I stretch it out by using shelf stable foods as well, I think I have enough meat to last a couple weeks between the kitchen and basement fridges. I also keep many spices in there.

The big freezer has oils, bbq sauce, honey, maple syrup, powdered milk, chocolate syrup, etc.


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## ActionJackson (Sep 4, 2020)

OrneryOldBat said:


> Is it a problem if you have a small fridge (in addition to the main fridge) that's full of eggs and cheese? Asking for a friend.


I'm not sure how long eggs will keep. I eat mine so often that I've never had a store-bought egg longer than a couple of weeks.


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## charito (Oct 12, 2013)

ActionJackson said:


> I'm not sure how long eggs will keep. I eat mine so often that I've never had a store-bought egg longer than a couple of weeks.


I also have pickled eggs - got the recipe from this forum.

https://www.prepperforums.net/forum/recipes/12439-hawgs-pickled-eggs.html

They're really good and I'm now eating what is dated May 2020.
I'm packing them with lots of onions - which gets pickled with the eggs. 
I put a little Splenda with the vinegar (semi-sweet and sour). 
I use the pickling vinegar from the pickled eggs as dip for pork rinds! Pork rind and vinegar go well together especially when you eat it with the onions.
Makes a good Keto snack!


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## Chiefster23 (Feb 5, 2016)

I used to work on merchant ships and our standard storing was for 90 day supply. We would keep 3 months supply of eggs in refrigerated boxes and never had any problems. So I would say 3 months for eggs is no problem. Probably more, but 3 months for sure.


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## Zane (Aug 29, 2017)

There's not much in my fridge..I tend to keep as much as possible shelf stable. 

I do have eggs, cheese (various types), bread, juice, chocolate, cookies, meal prep meals, butter, condiments, soda, pepperoni, summer sausage, cabbage, kielbasa, apples, tortillas, and sausage thawing in there. If there was no power, I'd use up what I could. Some stuff in there is fine out for awhile. My freezer I'd be more concerned with, but mostly that's flour and stuff. Most of my meat is already canned.


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## TenMileHunter (May 20, 2017)

Election season is full of information. Make a mental note of where the democrat signs are. That’s who you raid when your fridge gets low.

TMH 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## stowlin (Apr 25, 2016)

At home our fridge will easily last us a week. I may need to run a generator to chill it once a day for about an hour. The freezer now that’s going to last us two maybe three weeks. Again gotta run the generator or cook it all.


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## Chiefster23 (Feb 5, 2016)

I’ve put a lot of thought into this subject in case of power failures. I’m thinking that I would adjust my freezer thermostats to the lowest temperature possible. Only open and remove food once per day. Run the genny maybe one hour in the morning and another hour in the evening to cool the freezers down to their extreme lowest temps possible. After shutdown cover the freezers with blankets or moving pads to provide a little additional temporary insulation. Make sure you remove the blankets while the freezers are running.

The refrigerators are a different story. I can’t pull them down below 32 degrees for obvious reasons. So it may be necessary to run the genny to cool em down 4 to 6 times per day. I’d have to play this by ear and adjust as necessary. Thoughts?


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## Alteredstate (Jul 7, 2016)

I have experimented with our refrigerator and freezer as to there operating off a generator, I have a Honda 6000 generator. I can run the entire house off it. It drinks between 3/4 gallon and 1 gallon of gas per hour. Depending on the load that i put on it. During normal power outs I run During the day when we need it and shut it off between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. when I want to. The fridge and the freezer will run for 45 minutes or so in the morning go off for a few and come back on for a few, normalize then relax to normal. The end of the story here is that you will need to run a generator every 12 hours or so to keep the refrigerator and freezer cold.if you don't have dip shits opening and closing them because of boredom. So you will spend 2 gallons of gas per day to maintain that presence until perishables run out.


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## Piratesailor (Nov 9, 2012)

Last night the Wench finally got scared about all of this...

She leaned over to me, in bed and said....

We need to go to the liquor store.. we don’t have enough wine. 

Man.. now the S will HTF.


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## charito (Oct 12, 2013)

Piratesailor said:


> Last night the Wench finally got scared about all of this...
> 
> She leaned over to me, in bed and said....
> 
> ...


:vs_laugh:


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## charito (Oct 12, 2013)

stowlin said:


> At home our fridge will easily last us a week. I may need to run a generator to chill it once a day for about an hour. The freezer now that's going to last us two maybe three weeks. Again gotta run the generator or cook it all.


Are you out of power now?


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## stevekozak (Oct 4, 2015)

ActionJackson said:


> In the fridge:
> 1) About 20 cans of sardines and kippered snacks.
> 2) Several bags of nuts (macadamia, sun flower seeds, walnuts, pecans, pinion nuts, and raw hemp seeds [shelled]).
> 3) I have a drawer full of cheese.
> ...


I missed this bit the first time I read this thread. I am so curious about why you keep your sardines and kipper snacks in the fridge? These are shelf-stable items and I am not sure I would want to eat them that cold. Please advise. lain::vs_worry:


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

stevekozak said:


> I missed this bit the first time I read this thread. I am so curious about why you keep your sardines and kipper snacks in the fridge? These are shelf-stable items and I am not sure I would want to eat them that cold. Please advise. lain::vs_worry:


Shelf-stable goods typically last longer when they're chilled, or frozen if they can be. And having a fridge or freezer full is more energy efficient than an half-full one. So if one obtains something that requires refrigeration, shelf-stable items can be removed to make room for it.


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## stevekozak (Oct 4, 2015)

Back Pack Hack said:


> Shelf-stable goods typically last longer when they're chilled, or frozen if they can be. And having a fridge or freezer full is more energy efficient than an half-full one. So if one obtains something that requires refrigeration, shelf-stable items can be removed to make room for it.


Is it good for these foods to be warm, then cold, then warm, then cold again (in keeping with your put them in there to keep fridge full, and take them out when you want to put something else in theory)? Both of the items mentioned are going to last for years just sitting in a cabinet. I wonder if Jackson has a different reason for it? Maybe he likes his fish snack cold. I used to hang out with some Russkies that liked cold pickled herring (which made me gag) with vodka. I skipped the herring and doubled up on the vodka.


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

stevekozak said:


> Is it good for these foods to be warm, then cold, then warm, then cold again (in keeping with your put them in there to keep fridge full, and take them out when you want to put something else in theory)? Both of the items mentioned are going to last for years just sitting in a cabinet. I wonder if Jackson has a different reason for it? Maybe he likes his fish snack cold. I used to hang out with some Russkies that liked cold pickled herring (which made me gag) with vodka. I skipped the herring and doubled up on the vodka.


Who says they're removed 180 times a year and put back in another 180 times a year?

Buy it, put it in the fridge. Years from now, take it out to make room for a good deal you got on some perishables. When room is freed up a week or so later, put it back in and it stays there for years.


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

stevekozak said:


> Is it good for these foods to be warm, then cold, then warm, then cold again (in keeping with your put them in there to keep fridge full, and take them out when you want to put something else in theory)? Both of the items mentioned are going to last for years just sitting in a cabinet. I wonder if Jackson has a different reason for it? Maybe he likes his fish snack cold. I used to hang out with some Russkies that liked cold pickled herring (which made me gag) with vodka. I skipped the herring and doubled up on the vodka.


I've heard not to do that with coffee.



> Should you put coffee in the freezer?
> Daily coffee drinkers should keep their coffee in the pantry, not the freezer or refrigerator. While it's important to keep your grounds or beans somewhere cool, the fridge or freezer will create too much moisture in the package. ... The National Coffee Association says you can store coffee up to one month this way.Mar 24, 2015


Why You Shouldn't Store Your Daily Coffee In The Freezer | HuffPost ...www.huffpost.com › entry › store-coffee-freezer_n_6923..


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## stowlin (Apr 25, 2016)

charito said:


> Are you out of power now?


No it would be the case if power was gone indefinitely.


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## ActionJackson (Sep 4, 2020)

stevekozak said:


> I missed this bit the first time I read this thread. I am so curious about why you keep your sardines and kipper snacks in the fridge? These are shelf-stable items and I am not sure I would want to eat them that cold. Please advise. lain::vs_worry:


I'm probably wrong but I sense that keeping canned goods cold will give them a longer shelf life. I'm actually not a big fan of sardines or kippered snacks but realize that they have good, nutritional value. I keep them as a back-up to my regularly eaten supply of food.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

Piratesailor said:


> Last night the Wench finally got scared about all of this...
> 
> She leaned over to me, in bed and said....
> 
> ...


:vs_laugh::vs_laugh::vs_laugh:


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

stevekozak said:


> Is it good for these foods to be warm, then cold, then warm, then cold again (in keeping with your put them in there to keep fridge full, and take them out when you want to put something else in theory)? Both of the items mentioned are going to last for years just sitting in a cabinet. I wonder if Jackson has a different reason for it? Maybe he likes his fish snack cold. I used to hang out with some Russkies that liked cold pickled herring (which made me gag) with vodka. I skipped the herring and doubled up on the vodka.


Hey, I grew up on pickled herring, put those pieces on a piece of hardtack and yumm yumm.

Even today I buy Vita Pickled Herring and eat it, hard part is finding the hardtack.

I have canned herring, sardines and mackerel stored, all of it is in oil no water, other than what is in the house is now frozen in a shelter.

All of it is for SHTF if needed, just eat the house stored stuff.

I hate fresh water fish, only the ones from the ocean I can stomach.

My grandparents came from Northern Scandinavia in the 1800's brought their food preferences with them and I still do some of them.


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

SOCOM42 said:


> Hey, I grew up on pickled herring, put those pieces on a piece of hardtack and yumm yumm.
> 
> Even today I buy Vita Pickled Herring and eat it, hard part is finding the hardtack.
> 
> ...


 @SOCOM42 nothing like fresh wild brook trout, with some wild leeks and morels.

I do like silds, have a bunch in my stores. But more of tuna


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

Mad Trapper said:


> @SOCOM42 nothing like fresh wild brook trout, with some wild leeks and morels.
> 
> I do like silds, have a bunch in my stores. But more of tuna


I as a kid went camping with my father around 1951, he was an eagle scout and a scoutmaster of troop 47 in this state in the 30's.

We caught brook trout and did them up for supper right there, sorry to say they sucked.

We caught more the following day and brought them home, grandmother and mother loved them, they sucked then too.

Around the same time frame we caught northern pike and large mouth bass on the lake I now live next to.

Did them up also, and they sucked just like the others, it is just my pallet, nothing I can do about it.

I can stand tuna but not a fan of it, now haddock I like, and smoked white fish.

Use to like to go to the Jewish market and pull pickled herring out of the wooden barrels weighed what we wanted out.

The hood rats caused the market and the Jewish bakeries all located close together to close.

The rats left the muzslime market, Haddads, alone, they offer halal meats and fowl, know the owner, a muzslime,

went to elementary school with my brother, brother then went to the richest private school for high school, later became a doctor.


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## stevekozak (Oct 4, 2015)

Mad Trapper said:


> @SOCOM42 nothing like fresh wild brook trout, with some wild leeks and morels.
> 
> I do like silds, have a bunch in my stores. But more of tuna


Few things better than fresh pan-fried brook trout!!! Tasty tasty tasty!!!


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

stevekozak said:


> Few things better than fresh pan-fried brook trout!!! Tasty tasty tasty!!!


Sorry I just don't like them, not even the smell of them cooking, nothing I can do about it, I tried 70 years ago.

I listed what I do like including the pickled herring.

As they say to each their own. :tango_face_wink:


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## stevekozak (Oct 4, 2015)

SOCOM42 said:


> Sorry I just don't like them, not even the smell of them cooking, nothing I can do about it, I tried 70 years ago.
> 
> I listed what I do like including the pickled herring.
> 
> As they say to each their own. :tango_face_wink:


I will leave the pickled herring to you. I will continue to drink the vodka, though. I will share with Back Pack Hack, as it seems he is having a bad old time. I only buy the good stuff. Maybe one of his boxes of Twinkies was bad or something.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

stevekozak said:


> I will leave the pickled herring to you. I will continue to drink the vodka, though. I will share with Back Pack Hack, as it seems he is having a bad old time. I only buy the good stuff. Maybe one of his boxes of Twinkies was bad or something.


Sounds like a deal, I have a couple of cases of Stoli put away and few of Smirnoff, and I don't drink.

We all have different taste in all things, may be a good thing.


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