optimizing my freezer & acting more and more like my dad (in turn, Siti)?
no one is surprised.
This is old news.
Like, the-origin-of-why-I-started-writing-this-Substack kinda old news...
HOWEVER, something new (at least to me) has unlocked a new level of Brett/Siti behavior.
How I treat my Freezer
Can’t finish something? Don’t want to finish something?
THROW IT IN THE FREEZER!
I grew up in a very freezer-friendly household.
My parents loved to throw leftovers in the freezer to eat it “one day”.
Although the ratio of times we did eat those leftovers versus getting lost in the abyss is lower than we’d like to admit…
And that’s not even counting the real frozen dinners/meals.
I’m looking at you, Michelina’s Fettucini Alfredo….and Paul Newman’s Cheese Pizza…and the fine dining classic chicken nugget Kid Cuisine….
Now, as a ripe twenty-four-year-old, on the days when I don’t feel like cooking, freezer leftovers have been a saving grace!
The real reason I’m bringing all this up is due to one major freezer component in the DeGaish household: meat.
Raw chicken in its original packing, prepared Kibbeh Nayeh, Holiday Kibbeh, cubed eye of round, and all the frozen tilapia your heart could desire.
I’m exaggerating a bit, but the odds that these items are in my parent’s freezer right now are HIGH.
Storing meat in the freezer has always been pinnacle Brett behavior.
But before Brett, there was Siti.
Picture it: Summer 2018
I’m accompanying my Siti at our local HEB for her weekly grocery run.
This was a big honor because:
1. I was allowed to drive my Siti around, and
2. This job was usually done by my parents, my aunt and uncles, and maybe Amanda or me.
I was instructed to NOT let Siti overbuy (specifically meat) because homegirl would try to buy too much and unfortunately end up in the freezer abyss, lost forever.
We’re an hour into our grocery excursion and we’ve made it to the deli/frozen meat section. And this woman GASPS at some of the savings on bulk skirt steak and a rack of pork ribs. In total, about ten-fifteen pounds of meat.
She starts placing the ribs in the cart, and I ask,
“Siti, when are you going to cook all these ribs?” As I had never seen her cook ribs in her life.
“Oh, whenever the kids come over?” She tosses, set on not losing this battle.
“Siti, what kids?” I pushed back.
There was a pause, Siti exhaled and in defeat, put the ribs back.
In retrospect, I wish I would’ve let her get the ribs. There was a hint of hurt when I said that last line. But she knew I was right, plus the likelihood that there were already over twenty pounds of meat in the freezer at home pushed my point.
When it came to the skirt steak, there was no fighting her; she was adamant.
“I’m buying these because I want to buy them!”
“Yes, Ma’am” was my appropriate response.
Now, same picture, different HEB, 2025
I’m roaming the frozen meat section one Saturday afternoon, and low and behold, there’s a BIG sale on skirt steak and eye of round.
My eyes widen; I gasp and have the goofiest grin on my face as I begin to sort through all the packages for the best cuts.
I limit myself to two packages, excited for the possibilities of what was to come.
This was the moment when I realized I had reached a new level of Siti/Brett behavior.
Just in case you were curious, I cubed up majority of the meat for grape leaves and marinated the rest for makeshift “gyro” meat; it was incredible.
And as I’m finishing this draft on a sunny Saturday afternoon, I’m going to go roam the frozen meat section for the sake of nostalgia and in homage to my girl.
With Love,
Cara
