Cannonball Loaves a.k.a. Hidden dangers of PCS moves

Moving. That one word can set fear into anyone who has done it once, twice, or 20 times like most military families have. Knowing you only have six months before the truck arrives to pack up everything you own is bad enough, but a one-week notice is sometimes all you get. How many partially-used ketchup and mustard bottles have you given to (or inherited from) neighbors?

It is important to check expiration dates before you use any of these gifted treasures–sometimes it is extremely necessary, for a variety of reasons. When our friends were moving from Zweibrucken Germany to the States, we inherited a loaf of frozen bread dough. I baked it without looking at the expiration date. What resulted was a solid, heavy mass that was almost unbreakable and definitely unfit for human consumption. Since we were heading to the Rosengarten (a beautiful rose garden in the city), we elected to take our monster loaf to feed the ducks, thinking the water in the pond would have a good chance of softening the bread.