Thoughts On An Eight-Year-Old Bagel

Is it safe to eat freezer-burned food?

I ask because my refrigerator needed help after 20 faithful years (thank you, GE) and I had to take everything out of the freezer so the repairman could replace the heater assembly (in a refrigerator? yes, apparently it cycles on every 12 hours to defrost)  . . .

. . . including the last of a three bagels packed on March 29, 2014.

As long-time readers know, this is the kind of thing I enjoy.

I sent the photo to the guys who try to keep me from going off the rails.

“Don’t DO it!” they responded, as they knew I knew they would.

When I was a kid, my mother tried to get me to eat freezer-burn-afflicted food that I refused.  Now that I better know the value of a dollar, the meaning of “waste not want not,” and the power of ketchup or, in this case, fake butter, to overwhelm freezer burn, I don’t think twice in such a situation.

Even after defrosting, the bagel was rock hard, but that’s why God invented microwave ovens.

Thirty seconds later, it was soft, hot, and chewy.  (This is true of any stale baked good.  Don’t toss it — nuke it!)

I sent my guys this photo:

They responded predictably, which made me feel great, because it means they care.

That’s when I thought it would be fun to ask Google whether it’s safe to eat freezer-burned food and found the link above.  (Answer: yes.)

By which time there was this:

Shortly after which there was nothing left at all.

One should always be wary of stocks paying outsize dividends, but a smart guy I know thinks UNIT, yielding more than 10%, is misunderstood.  I bought some in my IRA.

APE suggested here three weeks ago at $1.05 last traded at $1.80, while AMC, its slightly less-preferred twin, which I suggested might be overpriced at $7.43, had dropped to $4.33.  Sooner or later, the two should converge, although the convergence could eventually be at $0, so some profit taking may be in order.