Here I sit, on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, contemplating the contents of my fridge and freezer upon the eve of yet another evacuation.  Gee, thanks, Gustav, way to ruin the Labor Day weekend.  What to take?  What to toss?  What to cook?  I filled up several big containers (including a new lexan two-gallon tub I bought as a dough-rising container) to make block ice in the freezer.  I baked two loaves of brioche, made some fish tacos out of the mahi-mahi caught earlier this summer (didn’t want to waste THAT in a power outage), and I will shortly grill some ga nuong (chicken thighs marinated in fish sauce, lime juice, and black pepper).  I might make gumbo tomorrow morning, as we will probably head east to stay with relatives outside Mobile.  No real cajun ever shows up empty handed!

Damn that birthday chili–it has officially earned the status of hurricane jinx.  Looks like this year’s batch won’t make it after all.

Hurricane fridge & freezer tips:  throw away anything that’s marginal before you evacuate.  Take as much as possible with you in a cooler–whether you’re headed to a shelter, hotel room, or to stay with friends, supplies will come in handy and help to offset the costs of a potentially prolonged evacuation.  If you are leaving things in the freezer, put those items into a heavy-duty trash bags and return to the freezer, along with extra ice; if you experience a long outage, you can simply toss the whole bag and not suffer through the olfactory joys of cleaning a fouled fridge.

Our Lady of Prompt Succor, we need your intercession and protection….