Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for September 12, 2020

Yep, guy logic here. Usually though it only survives when you don’t have a spouse living with you.

My daughter and I were cleaning out my fridge and found a jar of horseradish that dated back to before my husband met me. We married in 1975, and he died in 2008…My daughter despairs of me.

I don’t get this one at all. As a single guy, I often find I have stuff that has gone out of date but I’ve never considered doing this. Is this a thing?

What I don’t understand is an expiration date on “10,000 year old Himalayan pink salt”……

If it passes the smell test, it is good.

It’s usually a “Best before:” date. So if stored properly there’s no reason not to use it some time beyond that. I don’t recommend it for medical supplies, though.

Once opened the content will decay faster due to oxygen and maybe microbes.

Arlo still has a few Bachelor habits left over from his single days.

Here’s another one for you – except for their black pepper, McCormick spices in rectangular tins are at least 25 years old!

Frugal fellow, isn’t he? How much the gastritis this induces will cost him hasn’t been factored in.

Ha! New frig arrived yesterday, while the wife was at work I sorted the expired items straight to the trash. She’ll miss maybe one or two items of the dozen or more.

The question is: What can possibly live in horseradish?

Out of date horseradish is essentially the same as fresh horseradish. Probably better.

Oh shucks people. It’s usually only a “sell by” date. I say use it if it passes the “smell test”.

Simple. He combined them because he needed both for his recipe.

Besides, garlic never dies! It is well known that 4,000-year-old Egyptian garlic preserved in jars and found in Nefertiti’s tomb was consumed by archeologists. They cooked a delicious pasta side dish for supper, Garlic and Leek Ditalini. All was well until it was discovered that the Egyptian breath mints from that same tomb had exceeded their Best Buy date by several millennia. It was tough times in the old group tent that night!

Meh, if you bought it before the date, you’re good. And of course, there’s still the “half-life” to calculate… ☺

He did not, but he tells Janis that anyway.

Ewwww! SUPER gross, Arlo!

Two negatives equal a positive.

Horseradish doesn’t go bad, just loses the tang

our bottled water has a ‘best by’ date . . .

I want to know how long one can eat hummus after the container is opened. Online sources say 4-7 days, but a friend said she three weeks. I love hummus, but since it’s just me eating it, I can’t go through a container in 4-7 days.

expiration dates are a bunch of marking crap!! when I was in the army 1969 ish they gave us old k & c rations from the early korean war (or maybe WW2) the only thing that seemed “expired” was the four cigarets and they still smoked but burned real fast. in the k rations there was cans of your food, and even a biscuit with peanut butter in a small can and nothing seemed bad even thou they were 15-20 years old

Found mustard dated 2013 and Ketchup dated 2006 when staying at an in-laws house. Threw them away and bought new for her.

Wise saying I saw many years ago somewhere on the Internet: “Beware the ketchup that fizzes.”

Expiration problem thereby eliminated in confusion.

I’ve been reading Arlo and Janis for years now, but I’m noticing lately that Jimmy’s been leaving figures incomplete and it’s bugging me. In panel 3, the cabinet floats in midair. In panel 4 Arlo is a double amputee floating through the void. Is it just me this bothers? Or am I just noticing it now? It reminds me of a comment Gary Larson made in “The Prehistory of the Far Side” where he shows a early drawing with a circular rug and how he could never draw it right so he just cut it off along with a table (IIRC) missing a leg and vowed never to do that again. I’m not criticizing the drawing skill, it just seems unfinished! (Minor rant over, feel free to ignore!)

It’s horseradish. I don’t think any germs would dare try to spoil it

Noticed that milk lasts longer in cartons than in plastic jugs.

Oh horse feathers.

When the Covid lockdown chased us all home, I was one of the few still required to work at the office. We have several floors in our skyscraper. People did NOT take stuff home from the fridge. The downtown restaurants were closed. I wanted to bring in several things for the freezer, but it was full. I moved stuff from the bottom shelf – and noticed things dated 2017 & 2015 (“Best By”). So I went thru the freezer and tossed anything [this was March 2020] with a 2018 or earlier date. I through out some of the 2019 dates, eating the rest, leaving one or two days in between (never had a problem). Then went through stuff with Apr 2020 dates or earlier. Then I began on the fridges on the other floors: cleared out the ancient stuff, ate up thru (by this time) May 2020. All of that was the freezer side of the fridge. Eventually I went thru the fridge side – amazing how many salad dressings dating back to the early 2000s. [Typically, when someone gets fired, and an executive walks them to their desk to collect their stuff, the last thing on their mind is the stuff in the fridge. Since it’s usually not marked, …] The stuff dated 2020 I left. [For awhile there were less than ten of the 300 employees on our floors, but now 20-45 (some come in, say, 2 days a week, or 3 short days a week, etc, hence 45, but only about 20 who are here basically every day).]

In normal times we eat lunch out daily at Wendys (US$3.88 for both of us daily) & also Friday, Saturday, and Sunday dinners (or bring in Chinese food for one of the three) dinner all runs us about US$ 85 for the week. Don’t eat breakfast, have late night snack as 3rd meal of the day as husband cannot deal with eating for hours after he wakes. So there is a minimal food kept in the house. Normally we food shop day to day or for 2 days (barring bad weather coming which throws all of this off).

In Mid March husband panicked and we went food shopping – I carried bags to put the food in & he grabbed off the shelves & threw in the bags (bread first, cans on top) – he rang up at self serve, taking out of the bags, & I rebagged. He “hoped” we had enough for 2 weeks – I knew we had at least a month’s worth.

Went through what we had in the pantry closet at home – how much was in there amazed me. Half gallon jar full of Bisquick – which he told me I could not use as dated 2017 – did not throw it out “in case”. I figure we still have enough corn for popcorn for a month of eating just same. While shutting off in the basement our hot water to one bathroom (took week to get parts in the mail) as it was leaking he noticed a plastic box with cans of soup & peanut butter in it. He asked me – AH HA – our emergency supplies – I had forgotten about them! I used to change out the gallon water bottles on shelf over them when I bought same for our reenactment unit when I was doing the cooking demo & that would remind me to check the canned goods. I opened the box – it has been much longer than I thought since cooked for the unit – the expiration dates were all 2005 and earlier – but we kept them “in case”.

In May ordered from Walmart here this comes from all over the country not the local store by Fed Ex. 60% of the cans were dented – I mean almost bent in half, dented. Not edible – but we did not toss out – “in case”. Have thrown out Bisquick as bought new.