Birthday Number 80

My mom turns 80 tomorrow. I threw a small party last Saturday night to commemorate the event. It was the first time my brothers and I were all together since our father's death in 1998. Two or three of us – frequently, but rarely all four of us.
With all of my air-conditioners cranked up to the limit the house was comfortably cool and it was pleasant enough to eat out on the deck once the sun went down. Mom-Mactech is notoriously heat-sensitive but she didn't complain once.
The menu:
Filet mignon and sirloin steak, green salad, tomatoes & mozzarella with basil, a surprisingly good watermelon and mint concoction, my own special potato salad, and a fabulous coconut angel food cake from The Two Little Red Hens Bakery.
We had purchased the meat (huge quantities) at the new Fairway in Red Hook, a couple of nights before. My first time in the store and I was pretty impressed. We filled the cart in no time. Luckily we have an extra fridge in our basement where these bulky items could be stored until needed.
About twenty-four hours after the Fairway shop I took a FreshDirect delivery of more food stuff (you can never have too much food stuff at a party) and began hauling it down to the basement where I discovered that the refrigerator door had not been properly closed the night before. The motor was panting and the inside of the thing was sweating bullets. It did not feel the least bit cold in there either. Yikes! All that meat! I closed it tight and immediately called Tech-husband at work, not being willing to shoulder this distressing news by myself (and after all he was the one who put all that meat in there and then didn't shut the door)
"Let's just throw it all out and start over tonight with another trip to Fairway." I announced with resignation.
"Shit." he exclaimed.
MachTech husband was not going to take this lying down. He immediately called the owner of a rather celebrated restaurant in the Slope, a finicky guy who knows and loves food, and explained the turn of events. He brought the chef out of the kitchen to consult.
The verdict was this: The refrigerator would not have "lost its cool" for several hours and in fact was still running and reducing the temperature of itself and the area around it. The meat, due to its size would not warm that quickly to the core. We would be cooking it to 127 degrees, killing off - whatever - I don't want to think about that. And anyway that kind of bacteria only affects small children and old people. (did we mention it was an 80th birthday party with a 2 year old in attendance?)
End of story. We cooked and ate the meat. It was delicious. Everyone was fine.