Over the last few weeks, I've arranged with some friends to share a quarter side of beef from Olsen Farms (I call Brent "the stew man" because obviously that's what one should call a farmer who sells both beef and potatoes.) We've got about 10 more days before we'll pick it up, which means we have about nine nights to make room in the freezer for our 25lbs of meat.
Our freezer is a standard size bottom freezer (a design I highly recommend for anyone with a crappy back; unless you regularly freeze things weighing more than 10lbs). There's a shelf, and a small door storage spot, but most of the storage area is a drawer. When we first collected enough folks to share the meat, there basically wasn't available room for more than 2lbs, let alone 25lbs.
Following the basic rule of "if you're not sure what it is, throw it out" winnowed it down a bit. Making a concerted effort to finish the frozen scones and pan dulce made a bigger difference. (Oh poor us, I know.) Cap'n made blueberry pancakes; I made soup, and we used up frozen berries, bacon, beans and stock. Some things--like bacon fat, and coconut milk, and chiles in adobo, can stay where they are--the containers are small and don't need much room. And it won't be a problem to finish our frozen samosas...the problem there is putting it off, so we're not tempted to get another giant box of them right before the beef delivery.
The real problem is half of a coca-cola-basted ham. Thou Shalt Not Throw Out Thy Ham, Especially If Thou Hast Basted It In Co'Cola is a little-known commandment (I bet you didn't remember the one about Sunday traveling, either). The idea is that we'll thaw it out, shave some down for ham biscuits and chunk the rest of it up for use in gravy (also served with biscuits) and ask the Ham God for forgiveness on anything we end up throwing out.
Putting the order together was pretty entertaining. Different friends had very different requests for things to include in their portion. Liver (Finns like liver in casseroles); steaks (single guys don't cook pot roast); a chuck roast and some t-bones (farm girl roots); suet (for the weirdo, ie me).
In general, I highly recommend Olsen Farms. One reason: the grazing land includes a ghost town. Another reason: Brent told me that he feeds leftover potatoes to the herd, and said, "It's like their candy!" Candy 4 Cows!