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Simple Joyful Food

small ideas that add joy to life

kitchen basics

Yes, ice cubes can get stale (and here’s what to do about it).

November 11, 2009 2 Comments

How have I lived this long without knowing about stale ice cubes?

Saturday evening we spent the night at my in-laws home and we had a great visit. Grilled salmon, mashed potatoes, salad, wine, and cocktails: Ahhh… all the makings of a guaranteed great evening.

Yet this was the night I realized I have lived my entire life without knowing about… (wait for it)…stale ice cubes.

While preparing drinks for the guests, I innocently reached into their freezer to access the ice cubes and quickly became perplexed. What was this next to the ice cube bucket? A Ziploc® freezer bag filled with ice cubes. “Mom,” I asked, “What is the bag of ice cubes? Do I use those or the ones in the bucket?” From the living room my mother-in-law answer, “Use the fresh ice cubes. The ones in the bag are stale.”

Stale? Ice cubes? Who knew?

The best part about this conversation is the fact that they have an artesian well. Which means they have crystal-clear and amazing-tasting pure water. Apparently crystal-clear and amazing-tasting pure water can get stale if ice cubes aren’t consumed right away.

Please spread the message to your loved ones. Replace your ice cubes often for an optimal drinking experience.

Side note to my mother-in-law: I think it is great that you respect your drink. Cheers!


Lyndi

Eat well, my friends. Eat well.

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Guest post on www.themightyrib.com Hey, don’t let your fresh basil go to waste. Make pesto and freeze it! Ice, ice, ice cubes, baby.

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  1. Matt says

    March 21, 2020 at 2:43 pm

    Dear Lyndi,
    Have got a tale for you.
    Today is March 21st in the year of our lord 2020. Currently in the midst of this global pandemic my date and I (don’t worry we are practising social distancing) found ourselves discussing the issues of stale Ice. She believed it a common practise to replace ice cubes where I (being the naive MAN that I am) believed we would never need to replace our ice cubes unless the tray was empty. It’s been 11 years since you started your quest to spread the word of the stale ice cube issue. I’m am deeply sorry to say it has taken me this long to learn of this issue and I can’t thank you enough for the details you’ve provided on how to combat this problem we all face.
    I wanted to reach out and thank you for this article that has shown me the errors of my ways.
    Hope you’re staying safe!
    -Matt

    PS. Don’t forget never add cantilope to your smoothies 😉

    Reply
    • Lyndi Fultz says

      March 22, 2020 at 11:15 am

      hahaha! Normally I wouldn’t “approve” of a comment like this — it’s too funny not too! Thanks for the shot of humor today!

      PS.And make sure you’re not putting stale ice cubes in that smoothie!

      Reply

My name is Lyndi Fultz, and I live in the beautiful Ozark Mountains, which span Northwest Arkansas and Southwest Missouri.

I like to share small ideas for living simply and eating happily.

You will find that I talk a lot about food because we all need to eat. Why not add little bits of food joy where possible?

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“Just like becoming an expert in wine–you learn by drinking it, the best you can afford–you learn about great food by finding the best there is, whether simply or luxurious. Then you savor it, analyze it, and discuss it with your companions, and you compare it with other experiences.” – Julia Child

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