Fridge saga

Choosing a new fridge wasn't easy from afar but I thought the hard part was over when I chose the Fisher & Paykel E372BRT4 fridge/freezer. After waiting for almost two weeks the fridge that was delivered and installed was the earlier T3 model. Another 5 days of emails, checking specifications and power usage ensued before I was passed on to the Invercargill appliance store that supplied the unit and, with great customer service, they agreed that the T4 model needed to be sent over. It arrived last Thursday and I'm now the owner of a Energy Star fridge/freezer and know a lot more about refrigeration than I did a month ago!

I also discovered that specifications can be very misleading and it was impossible to find out the actual (ie useable) size of the freezer compartment despite trawling through websites and manuals! The external spec is 123L but the serial number plate on the fridge says that the internal size is only 65L with the compressor unit taking up the rest. The space is better organised than the old freezer but it's not that much bigger. If I have to buy another fridge/freezer before I die then I'll definitely be taking a trip to town to check them out in the flesh!

This weekend I've rearranged some furniture and found homes for the displaced articles that used to live in the corner where I've put the new fridge. I had thought of buying another matching pantry from Mitre 10 but then have the hassle of freight and trying to match one bought 4½ years ago. Jed thought that food would go mouldy if I used my old fridge as a storage cabinet so I was pondering how I could get make some holes without wrecking it too much. On closer inspection I saw that the door seals just pulled out of their grooves and now there's adequate ventilation - how easy is that!! The old fridge has now been repurposed to hold bulk sugar, flour and all my herbs and spices.

Beats taking it to landfill

The freezer size of my new fridge/freezer wasn't the only thing to catch me out. A new Fresh-Up drink in 500ml cans appeared in-store a month or so ago and the thought of a sparkling feijoa drink appealed during the hot weather so I bought one.

It certainly was thirst-quenching and had a lovely feijoa smell and taste. It wasn't until I washed the can that I saw how much sugar there was in the can - a whopping 51.8g (over 10tsp)! And one of the other brands has 69g (almost 14tsp) sugar in their 500ml can. Back to tap water for me!!