Keeping it cool

I'm not sure why our generation has gone refrigerator crazy, we seem to think it makes everything last longer, but it doesn't. Putting some things in the refrigerator is flat out detrimental to their health. I'm not suggesting you do any of these things based on my meager experience but their is always more research that you can do. So, how did people survive before refrigerators?

Eggs
 Working at a living history museum I learned that eggs do not need to be refrigerated. Of all things I would think eggs do, but nature has provided for them so when their is a baby chick growing in side they wont go bad, duh, makes sense or their wouldn't be any chicks. Eggs have a substance called bloom on them that helps protect them for any bacteria or nastyness getting inside of the shell so unwashed eggs will last well out of the fridge I think we kept ours for about two weeks. Washed eggs that you have bought from the store are more questionable. They have been washed really good to get rid of the bacteria but sitting on your counter the could acquire more, they could acquire more in your refrigerator if it isn't clean but the temperature will make the bacteria grow more slowly.

Butter
Unless it is hot enough to melt your butter flat out you don't need to refrigerate it. We have kept better on my counter at home for my entire life and I have never seen it go bad. We keep the sticks we aren't using in the freezer and the stick we are on the counter in a butter dish to keep out the fuzzes and bacteria. Margarine will last forever but in a lot of cases it will puddlize at a lower temperature than butter.

Hard Cheese
Here is another dairy product you don't need to refrigerate, in fact, as long as the skin has been left on it is pretty hard to do anything to a good hard cheese. The skin of cheese was not for eating, unless you had to. The skin was to protect the yummy part from the everything else. We stored our cheese on a board in a cheese closet and while we kept our house clean at the museum dust gets everywhere. I have never seen this happen but if you have a true hard cheese and you get a moldy spot supposedly you can cut it off and the rest of the cheese will not have been effected.

Bread
Keeping bread in your refrigerator will make it stale. Bread starts to dehydrate as soon as you take it out of the oven and the refrigerator only speeds this up to six times faster.

Onions and Garlic
These two vegetables do not approve of moisture, it makes them get yucky. You have probably noticed that most of your produce from the store is a bit damp. Storing these in a drawer in the fridge together is not good for your onions and garlic, they would prefer to be left out where there is good circulation at room temperature.