Apparently, These Things Belong in the Fridge

I thought it was pretty straight forward as to what belonged in a refrigerator, but I was seriously wrong.

I caught up with a friend today, and while we drank our iced teas and gabbed, she casually mentioned that she puts her loaves of bread in the fridge.

“You're joking,” I said to her. I have never heard of this in my life.

“I’ve always done it,” she said.

Our other friend chimed in, saying that he does it as well, adding, “Keep it cold for a cold sandwich, and if you toast it, it doesn’t matter that it was in the fridge at all.”

While I see their points, I will continue to use the bread drawer in my cupboard. But to my surprise, there are a bunch more products that some people refrigerate, and others do not.

Butter

In my opinion, butter belongs on the top shelf of the fridge. My mom, however, always kept hers on the table. I guess I assumed the rightful place for a dairy product would be the fridge but seeing how easily the butter spreads at room temperature, it has me wondering if I’ve been living my life all wrong.

Ketchup

Now, this product definitely needs to be in the refrigerator. Yet, every restaurant you go to, the ketchup is waiting for you on the table. My 10 years in the service industry showed me that restaurants will keep ketchup out all day long and refrigerate overnight. It seems like people just don’t know the right answer for this one.

Batteries

This one blew my mind. My friend told me that their grandmother used to store her batteries in the fridge. Why? Do batteries go bad in warmer conditions? Am I missing something here?

Today opened my eyes. My life has been filled with refrigerated assumptions and I find myself questioning my choices in the kitchen. My bread is staying in the cupboard, but are there other products I’m missing that should be stored in my fridge?