Refrigerator

If you lost power after recent storms, you may have been debating what to do about the food in your refrigerator and freezer.It's a question of assessing the damage using standard food safety guidelines and common sense.Food starts to spoil when the temperature rises above 40 degrees. After food warms to that temperature, you have just two hours in which you can either return it to cold conditions or cook it.In the fridge, produce will survive most power failures, but dairy products should be discarded if they smell or taste sour.

The refrigerator started "chirping" about three months ago. In the early days, I lived with it. It was an occasional chirp, not too irritating, something to keep the parakeet company.I wanted to believe the chirping would go away. That the fridge would heal itself. But it only got worse. The refrigerator chirped when its door was open, or closed. And, worst of all, it chirped at night. A high, piercing call, somewhat like the wail of a smoke detector. It woke me up.I sought amateur help. I looked for a repair manual that assumed all you knew about your refrigerator was its name.

1908: Happy Mother's Day1911: Women's Civic League of Baltimore begins meeting1913: First refrigerator for the home

POLICE LOG* Savage: 8300 block of Pleasant Chase: Someone entered a house under construction through an unlocked garage and took a refrigerator last Thursday, police said.

POLICE LOG* Ellicott City: 8100 block of Elko Drive: A refrigerator was reported stolen Monday from a house under construction, police said.

To prevent bread dough from rising too rapidly in warm weather, cover and set it to rise in the refrigerator for about 8 to 12 hours before shaping into loaves.-- Cole's Cooking A to Z

Many Americans make meals out of leftovers from their meals. And while everyone knows to refrigerate perishables, not everyone is taking all the proper steps to ensure the next-day food is safe, according to the Institute of Food Technologists , a nonprofit society of food science professionals from academia, government and industry. The group definitely supports leftovers, and even says some foods actually taste better the next day, such as those with spices, because the flavors have time to meld.

If your power is still out you'll need to take care with the food in your refrigerator. Here are some tips from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on how to prevent foodborne illnesses. If the Power Goes Out: Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. A refrigerator will keep food cold for about 4 hours if you keep the door closed. A full freezer will keep its temperature for about 48 hours (24 hours if half-full) If the power is out for an extended period of time, buy dry or block ice to keep the refrigerator as cold as possible.

OUR TOPIC TODAY, on Breakthroughs in Medicine, is: New Hope From Dog Spit.I have here some very exciting scientific correspondence from William B. Yancey, who is a medical doctor and therefore legally allowed to (1) park anywhere; (2) give shots; (3) tell people to get naked; and (4) make scientific observations.Dr. Yancey wrote to me about an observation regarding his Labrador retriever, who is named Refrigerator. Refrigerator recently underwent hip surgery; in preparation for the operation, the veterinarian shaved his hindquarters.

LUFKIN, TEXAS -- The last few days, we have had a cat on the roof, a snake in the swimming pool and something -- I'll never know what -- under the refrigerator.Good thing I have eight dogs. Just one or two would have been terribly overworked, attending to all of that.The cat -- my wife's yellow boy cat named Bob because of his bobbed tail -- finally came down off the roof after she spent a half hour or so calling to him.This was early in the morning, and she was standing out in the yard in her night gown.