Cake Talk: Waiting for glue to dry

People sometimes ask me what I would do if I won the lottery. That's easy. Buy a walk-in freezer. In a bakery, the freezer is your friend. And since I DIDN'T win the lottery, I recently bought a new single door freezer to store cookie doughs and brownies and pastries and such.

As the freezer is new (well, new to us), it's empty. So what a great opportunity to pack everything from the old freezer into the new one, and defrost the old bugger. Technically, the old freezer defrosts itself, but the drain is plugged, and when the defrost cycle clicks in, the melted ice drips into the freezer instead of the drain. So the plan is to defrost the freezer, unplug the drain, and be be back in business by Tuesday. And that's why I am waiting for glue to dry.

In order to unplug the freezer, you have to move it away from the wall. It is wedged in between a refrigerator and the ice machine. It's on wheels, but they have settled somewhat into the floor and are a little tricky to move out of their ruts. Which I suppose is why nobody but me ever moves the freezer to sweep or mop under it. Besides dirt, dust and dampness, I found a couple of piping tips, some plastic lids that must have fallen off a shelf, and a pile of coffee beans that escaped while being emptied into the grinder.

If I had to guess, I'd suspect three years of dampness (either from melted ice or from the plugged defrost drain) caused the tiles on the floor to come loose. So I figured I'd replace them before moving the freezer back. They got pulled up Saturday after we closed, and the wood floor underneath had a whole day-and-a-half to dry. Thankfully, the defrosting freezer didn't slow the progress.

I should have known that Liquid Nails (which we use for the occasional tile replacement) wouldn't work. The tube I had barely covered two tiles, and there are about 15 more. And since it's Memorial Day, the handy neighborhood hardware store across the street is closed and I have to trek down to Lowe's. I got a bucket of commercial adhesive. Spread it on the floor. Put new tiles down. And now I am waiting for glue to dry before I wheel the freezer back into place. Oh yeah, and I unplugged the defrost drain pipe.

And if I ever do win the lottery, I am still going to buy a walk-in freezer. Right after I get back from Tahiti.