Yesterday afternoon I discovered that everything on our small freezer's third shelf down is thawed. Cold as in refrigerator cold, but no longer frozen. Four tenderloins and seven packages thin bone-in chops (2 per package) all need to be cooked right away. Yikes!

The decision on what to do with the tenderloins, being the best and most expensive cut, is easy. Jerry grilled two last night and will grill the other two tonight. (Our bbq grill is also having difficulties so only two will fit / cook at a time.) We'll eat part of one each evening and I'll vacuum-pack the rest to store in the fridge, which will buy us a few additional days before it goes bad. Really not a sacrifice as grilled tenderloin with steamed or stir-fried veggies makes an easy and healthy dinner.

What to do with the thin chops takes more thought: baked various ways? split pea soup? lentils? white bean soup (which we just had..)? chili?.... each option takes just one or perhaps two packages a meal and with the tenderloin, most will surely go bad before we get to them. Hhmmm... I wake this morning with a solution. We've not had my carnitas since returning to the Rio Dulce because we've not found the right cut of meat for it in Guatemala or here. I can make the chops work; this will cook them all in one day for the next evening's dinner, plus once cooked and refrigerated provides plenty of left-overs for taco or burrito lunches, and additional dinners with black beans & rice with fresh salsa, etc. Allrighty; course action decided, the next question is whether the freezer issue will rise to the middle shelf. No way we can eat more meat than this!!

The freezer issue is not a "gas" one; it a door seal problem. The door does not seal properly so over time the top shelf and thermostat gets coated with a thick layer of ice which makes the thermostat think the entire freezer is super-cold which it obviously is not. Jerry's tried all sorts of solutions, including a new latch, trying to purchase a new door seal (not available). We also had a refrigeration expert in the Rio take a look at it; nothing he could do. The freezer needs to be replaced. Not sure when that is in the budget and when we will be in a place where a replacement can be shipped in at a reasonable cost so we'll need to make due for awhile.

The best solution now is to defrost it more regularly to keep the thermostat clear of its personal ice shield. We have a cooler large enough for the remaining contents of the freezer so with a couple of large bags of ice to keep it all frozen during the defrost and re-cooling process we shouldn't loose anything else this time. However it does put a cramp on provisioning for long periods of time away from markets. I guess Jerry will have to catch fish on a more regular basis!