Freeze!

No, the raspberry cake goes only into the fridge.

In "Jamie's 30-Minute Meals", celebrity chef Jamie Oliver shares that he buys his fresh kaffir lime leaves once a year, freezing the bulk and thawing just what he needs to complete his twist on a Thai green curry. This to me validates my closely-knitted culinary relationship with my freezer in more ways than one.

You see, I love Da Paolo's olive ciabattas and Carrefour's baguettes. But neither establishment is walking distance from my place. So when I chance in going to Great World City or Plaza Singapura, I help myself to as many loaves as I can carry home on my own. Now, let me correct your assumption that I feed a family of eight. Oh no, there's just hubby and me. So we can't even get through a whole loaf in one sitting. That means dividing each loaf into thirds and securely Glad wrapping each third before all thirds go into the freezer.

Also, a good rib-eye going on specials gets me rushing to buy great cuts by the kilos. Back in the kitchen, these get sub-divided into Ziplock bags, two serving sizes a bag. This way, I can literary jam tons into the ice box.

Then there are recipes that are just impossible to cook only for two; like a yummy pumpkin and green pea frittata or a genuine beef and Burgundy pie. I make these in my 27-inch pie tin and when these freshly baked lunch time treats cool down, I'll chuck them straight into the freezer and leave them there until the blowing north wind has the whole pastry dish gets truly frozen over. That's when they get taken out again, emptied from their baking tin, and immediately cleaved into ten serving sizes. These are then individually well wrapped in aluminium foil and placed into Tupperware that's put back into the freezer.

I Tupperware my sauces in the same way too. Again, only a miser will succeed in making just enough sauce for two. So I make a huge batch of peppercorn sauce, use what I need to fancily dress my oven-grilled T-bone steaks, and put the rest in the freezer for another rainy day. You'll be surprised but mind you the sauce gets richer in full-bodied flavour with the freezing: leaving it in the chamber of ice actually gets the fullness of the peppercorn infusing throughout the sauce.

So yes, I always manage to fill the freezer in my side-by-size fridge. But it makes economic sense and adds culinary finesse. So much so that right now, we're contemplating the option of acquiring a stand alone freezer as well. And if we do, that'll go into hubby's shed.