OK. Let me tell you what I did. I sat down to blog about my outing to The Walmarts this morning and how I felt like Al Bundy parading around through the store with nothing but a toilet plunger and a box of coffee. I even tweeted about it like a total twit because I’m just now trying to figure out the whole twitter thing and its codes and weird symbols since I think that ALL famous bloggers must tweet. So I planned out my little diddy and then got distracted making a big pot of soup for lunch and had to take the kids to the pool. (And I mean literally TAKE THE KIDS TO THE POOL. That’s not a Bundyism for potty humor.) So I brought my little notebook and pen to the pool and wrote out what I wanted to say and even giggled a little to myself. When I came back to the computer this afternoon to put it all together and find a picture of Ol’ Al in the internet, I flat out deflated like the brand-new-piece-of-crap-nearly-made-my-kids-pass-out-from-blowing-up-because-I-don’t-have-an-air-pump-like-a-GOOD-mom “sun lounger” I bought just YESTERDAY at the The Walmarts. Who would’ve thought there would be such a treasure trove of websites, pictures, videos, Facebook pages and OTHER BLOGS dedicated to the iconic ’90s character. Nuh-uh. No way. I cannot do some tired old thing that has been done before if I expect people to read what I have to say. So I’ll just tell you about my soup, OK? I’m still keeping my original title though because I still think it is clever and looks really nice and symmetrical with all the dots in it.

I have this super awesome really great recipe for Spicy Vegetable Soup. Like every other soup, I make it in a big pot. And it is delicious, and there is A LOT in THE POT. In typical fashion, I failed to plan ahead and prepare for what I would do with the leftovers. See, I have a new kitchen now with about half of what I had back at the old house. I took a big POT, yet a leftover container I did NOT. So when I went to save the leftovers, I swear to God, I heard my mom’s voice in my head warning me of all the dangers of putting metal into the refrigerator. Unlike my mom though, I have the internet at my fingertips and decided to Google her old wives tale. (Nobody tell her I said anything about her on the internet especially that I used the words OLD and TALE/TAIL when referring to her, OK? She’ll just get all flustered.)

Here’s what I found on answers.yahoo.com:

Does storing food in pots and pans in the refrigerator poison the food?

ANSWERS:

• No. But do not cook acid foods like apples or tomatoes in aluminum pots. The aluminum leaches out into the food and aluminum is found in the plaques in the brains of alzheimer’s patients. I don’t want to take any chances.
• Only if it’s stored in aluminum. Stainless steel or enamel is ok
• i do not like to store food which is cooked always make it fresh……….or make in small quantities
• I always store my food in the pots and pans I cook it in because I always lose my Tupperware tops! haha
  Eat your soup!

So OBVIOUSLY I am not the only person that has heard this and the questioner sounds like a really smart girl who used proper spelling and punctuation and all. The answer givers just talked about bad things that happen to people’s brains and I’m all like, “There are TOMATOES in that soup!” And what about the ones who said not to worry? They don’t have any vested interest in the health and well-being of this girl! Who’s to say they are not some crazy sadists that surf the net looking for people to poison?? So I went to Facebook. Where else?!

Here’s how the thread went (I’m going to block out their names so they won’t be embarrassed to be friends with me) :

My status update: I just made a giant pot of delicious soup & forgot that I no longer have a big container to store it in the fridge. I don’t want to go back to The WalMarts today to get one. Can I just put some foil over it and put the whole pot into the fridge? (YES I googled it & NOW I’m confused. I don’t want to die from veg soup poisoning. That would be an embarrassing death)

Friend #1: I did a gumbo a few weeks ago and I didn’t have a container that would hold it all so I kept it in that pot and covered it with foil…we ate off it again. I’m not dead yet…LOL!

Me: Also, I’m sitting here waiting on an answer. I can’t bring the kids to the pool until I’ve solved the problem.

Me again because I didn’t REFRESH: Maybe you’re dying a slow toxic death though!

Friend #2 who is a lawyer so she’s smart: Yes. Even better if you can pop back inside every now and then and stir it so it cools evenly

Friend #1: That is true…I may be girl..I may be….LOL

Me: and NO raw ingredients were put into the pot either if that makes a difference. All was pre-cooked.

Real smart guy that knows a whole lot: As long as the pot isn’t aluminum you’re okay.

Me: Well how do I know if it’s aluminum?? I got it with my stickers from Albertsons when they were giving away pots. Not kidding.

Smart Girl who is also a lawyer but lives in NYC so maybe she’s tougher than me and may not have a lot of space in those tiny apartments up there for proper food container assortment: That’s every night in our house! If it’s dangerous then we are definitely in trouble…

Me: It’s black and has silver handles. (And now Smart Guy is embarrassed to be my friend.)

Friend #2 again: But the foil is aluminum! Oh, oh…

Me getting nervous: maybe the foil is TIN foil. BRB…

(I run and check my bargain brand foil. It is indeed aluminum. Shoot!)

Friend #2 who thinks she is funny and obviously should be getting back to work: ‎^^^Kidding, Erica. Lol. It’s fine!

Friend #2 again: Dammit. I at working. Working. And laughing OUT LOUD so they FREAKIN’ KNOW I am NOT working. DAMMIT!

Me thinking to myself: (I hope she gets fired! Maybe I should just delete this so I don’t look stupid?? Nah.)

Smart Guy again probably seriously annoyed: The foil is fine. Take a magnet to the pot, if it’s steal it should stick, if it’s aluminum it wont’.

Me: It is indeed ALUMINUM foil. And I have been foiled by your wit. CRAP. Now I’m going back and sticking magnets on my HOT POT… BRB

(And I run into the kitchen and stick a little pink magnet onto the pot. It doesn’t stick, so I try it another pot. BUT I remember that I also got this other pot in that stupid gimmick where I pay a lot more for groceries and then they reward me by exchanging all the stupid stickers I saved for a crappy pot. GREAT! MORE POTS and kids are staring. None of them stick so I get a NEW magnet in case the pink one is faulty. Blue doesn’t stick either but FINALLY I find a stainless steel food steamer basket and it sticks. Test is accurate. Proceed. Now pick up the big hot pot and hold it over your head to see if it says “aluminum” like an idiot: NO. It does not. Must Report Back…)

ME out of breath after running back to my desk from the kitchen: OK… NO magnets stick!!!! CHEAP A$$ Albertsons!!! I even double checked and held a giant pot of HOT SOUP over my head to see if it said “ALUMINUM” on the bottom. Then I got scared of HOT FACIAL SCARS from BOILING SOUP and put it down. No lie. This is quite the dilemma!!!! Maybe the magnets just won’t stick because it’s hot…. I’m gonna go blow on it…. BRB

Friend #2 who thinks it’s funny to make fun of other people when they are having a public meltdown: Blow…OMG MY SIDES HURT FROM LAUGHING…GASPING FOR AIR…hard.

(And she just said BLOW and HARD in the same sentence while playing on facebook in the middle of the workday while laughing at me. I’m going to be sure and REPORT her to MAKE SURE she gets fired!)

Smart Guy who’s probably sorry he ever got in on this thread: There’s nothing wrong with an aluminum pot, it’s just not a good idea to store food in it. If you were to leave the food in it, say overnight, it may impart a very slight metallic taste, but it would not be a health risk. If you make it a habit of storing food in it, it could become a health concern. Go to the pool. Get a new large container tomorrow. Relax.

Friend #2 who won’t quit laughing at me:‎^^^Now he tells you. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Friend #1 who clearly follows all the old cajun cooking traditions with total disregard for modern food prep recommendations: Erica…my mom has a pot like the one I stored my gumbo in and I just made her check it with a magnet and it didn’t stick either! Ugh! Well…I like I said before…I am still alive. 🙂

Me: Thank you Smart Guy. You are a wealth of knowledge and I’m sorry if I embarrassed you as a friend by my total LACK of knowledge here. I just had ALL of my pots and utensils out and was trying to stick magnets on them until I found one that stuck just in case it was actually my MAGNET that was faulty. I’ll send you some SOUP!

(Now THIS is where Facebook and my computer join forces to really make me look like an idiot who has just lost her mind in a public forum)

Me: ^^^I only hit enter ONE TIME there AND fb DOUBLE POSTED for emphasis I guess. Swear to God I am not drinking.

Me again: Look!!! ^^^^ I have a broken enter button!!! Did it again!!

Me again going again my better judgement and CONTINUING TO POST: Ohhh… Maybe it’s just posting everything double on MY screen. Again, I AM NOT DRINKING. My last few comments there really did post twice for a few minutes.

Cajun Friend #1 who now I hope gets fired as well: Now my coworkers KNOW I’m not working too!!! LMAO!!!!

Me: AGAIN!!!! SOMEONE ELSE PLEASE SAY YOU ARE SEEING DOUBLE POSTS FROM ME!!

(OOOOOH NOOOOO! ABORT ABORT!! I am realizing that I’m the only one seeing double because it’s a stupid glitch at the most inopportune time. I should just delete this whole thread!! But then, what if someone is actually watching this whole thing unfold and sees that I deleted it? I’d look all insecure and stuff. No. I’ll just act cool like all my comments make sense and I am the one who is smarter than the rest of THEM. Ha!)

Bitch #2: Nope, only one. Didn’t you just have eye surgery?

Bitch #1: I don’t see double posts either….LOL

Me: I am NOT CRAZY. How do I copy my screen so I can show ya’ll?? Otherwise I am going to have to delete this whole thread before I get committed.

Genius Girl that chimed in to help me save face and that I now love: You aren’t crazy. I’ve noticed that FB does that to me as well at random times.

So that’s how it went down. My soup is good, and I will be eating it for a week since it contains vegetables thereby eliminating it from the Kid’s Menu. Maybe I’ll just freeze it though and then I could have delicious soup another time without having to cook it all over again. BRILLIANT!!

Oh. My. God. I don’t have anything to freeze it in either!! And HOLD UP…. I think I TOTALLY just outed myself as Peg and not Al with that whole Facebook exchange – except my hair isn’t as big today. My hair actually looks more like Kelly’s except I’m not all slutty or anything. And I’m certainly not all trashy like ANY of them! I’ll just have to eat this soup for every meal and if them bitches come asking for some I’ll be all like the Soup Nazi and go, “No Soup for YOU!!”