Something fishy

About a week and a half ago, Thomas and I were browsing through the meat section as Smith's. Usually we go to Macy's for our meat because they have the better meat prices, but we were at Smith's for breads and canned goods and stuff and just happened to notice that they had a few things on sale. We happened upon some Red Snapper that was on sale, so we bought it. I really like fish, and Thomas really enjoyed a Red Snapper dish we had while on our honeymoon cruise. When we got home we put it in the fridge, intending to eat it the next day, since that night's meal was already planned.

When the next day came, so did Tom's mom, who helped us with peach and nectarine canning all weekend. Let me tell you, canning takes up the entire kitchen...stove, oven, sink, counters...EVERYTHING!! So the red snapper didn't happen the next two days while we canned like crazy. Then the next day, I didn't feel like cooking so we went out to eat. Finally, the next day, we remember that the snapper is still in the fridge, and fish is something that you want to use up quickly. Sidenote: I'm trying to lose weight and have been working out at Gold's Gym for the past few months...to help with that, our trainer has recommended that we not eat our meals past 8:30pm so the food doesn't sit in our stomachs undigested or partially digested while we sleep. Anyway...that night it was already 7:45 when we discovered that our snapper was still in the fridge. Snapper takes a while to prepare and to cook, so at that point it was too late to start cooking it. But when we took it out of the paper wrapping, it smelled a bit fishy. Not too bad, but kinda fishy. We were afraid that the snapper would go bad in the next 24 hours, so we put it in the freezer, feeling proud of ourselves for preserving the now semi-fresh fish. Well, something we didn't think about was the fact the fish fillets were all mushed together in a giant lump when the package is all folded and rolled up, so the snapper froze that way in the freezer. When I took it out of the freezer the next day, I held a solid ice-clump of fish.

I desperately tried to thaw it by letting the fish mass sit under running cold water, but to no avail. All I got was a fleshy outside and a still-icy, rock-hard nucleus. At this point, I put the snapper in the fridge, anticipating that the cooler temperature will naturally thaw the fish without it going bad because it's still quite cold and icy. The next day, it was still as icy as before, which really frustrated me because any other kind of meat usually thaws in the fridge within a day or two. So, I thought, let's leave it in the fridge one more day to thaw completely. Next day...a little fleshier, but still frozen solid in the middle. So I let it sit in the fridge for one more day. Meanwhile, Tom and I get a nice whiff of old fish every time we open the fridge. Finally, tonight, Thomas and I take a look at the fish, which is now completely thawed out. On the downside, though, the fish smells nasty! Not only that, but while sitting in our fridge, it leaked out some yucky sticky fish juice all over the shelf. Eeeewww! Luckily, tomorrow is trash day, so we simply rewrapped the nasty disintegrating fish, wrapped it in a Smith's grocery bag, and threw it in the trash barrel.

Tom feels really bad because he HATES wasting food, and it was he who first insisted on getting the fish. As for me, I'm glad to be done with it. It's been like a burden hanging over me for the past week and a half, and now I can rest in peace (along with my nose). Moral of the story: buy fish only if you can eat it that night, or the next night AT THE LATEST!