TheBanyanTree: Marinade Massacre

[Rob McMonigal]

I went to select something to put on the steaks for dinner tonight and
found that, alas, the bottle I wanted to use as a marinade was
expired.  Opening the contents in order to be a good citizen and
recycle, I found that, indeed, they had.

Not that there was a smell or anything--I mean, hell, how can you tell
with a marinade?--but what should have been a rather oily base was
instead, well, not unlike cement mortar.

No biggie, I thought to myself.  I'll just one of the others.

Next bottle, same thing, though this time it was more like dried cement.

Uh oh.

It seems that the marinades I had left from my forays to the crash and
dent store near Reading, PA, were finally giving up the ghost.  Which
was okay--there were only a few left by now--but I did have to say
goodbye to a few old friends, like Spicy Oriental Vinaigrette.  Still,
if they hadn't been used by now, odds are I wasn't that into them,
anyway.  In addition, I've moved away from using them, as I find
cooking from recipes to be more and more engaging because I have more
freedom to vary, doctor, and spice to taste.  I won't leave marinades
behind completely, though--they're still handy in a pinch and work
well on chicken, especially--but that may be a phase of my cooking
life that's over for now.

-Rob
http://trebro.livejournal.com