One big problem with the power being out is getting provisions from the refrigerator without letting too much of the cold out.

Fortunately for me, my urban rowhouse neighborhood very rarely loses power.

I was thinking he meant leaving the fridge shut. We did this for five days with the power out with the hurricane remnant one September. We did use a Styrofoam cooler, though. But now you could open once and leave the cheese and butter on the back porch. EL

Hal, that's what the back porch is for.

You beat me to it. :-) EL

If I put anything on my back porch, either the rats or the snow is going to eat it.

I have a camp stove with fuel and a hibachi and charcoal. Forget cooking-free food. We're civilized here.

You can't use the hibachi inside, though, so you'd have to dig out some of the backyard.

My back yard currently would be a freezer rather than a refrigerator.

We can still use our gas stove, if we use a match to light it. :-)

I have an old gas stove. Don't need a match to light it.

Hal, I had to shovel out part of the back yard for Conan, anyway. Ok, the kid next door did it the first time.

Wouldn't have to worry about catching anything on fire.

The hibachi sort of misses the -- okay bypasses -- the whole "what if you couldn't cook" point. And what if you were out of hibachi fuel?
Being sans hibachi, the best I could do is toast a bagel over a Zippo, add cream cheese, lox, capers. Mmmmmm.
But that would be a sandwich, wouldn't it?
OK, well, you know, maybe going mad isn't the worst thing that could happen.

Between my old gas stove, my camp stove and my hibachi, if I can't cook, things are serious enough that eating will be the last of my worries.

It is amazing what is edible without cooking if you are hungry enough. Cold soup out of the can, raw onions, all kinds of things.