Irene is gone but the headaches remain. Furniture to untie and put back, gardens to restore, friends and businesses to contact and reassure, appointments to postpone and kids to entertain and get ready for school, twigs and branches to lift and saw…maybe worse.

Still, the most irritating Irene-ism to deal with is no power…looking like none until Saturday in my South Salem neighborhood; that’ll be a week. (And in many other areas around Westhcester, none until Thursday night).

So how to feed the family until we’re all back on line? And what about the stuff in that quickly warming fridge? First of all, open it, and the freezer, as little as possible.

We have developed a rapid entry system, where we pre-think where things are and what we need even before we open the door and then take everything out, or put things back, all at once. The official USDA guidelines on this site are based on better safe than sorry thinking and recommend tossing nearly everything in the fridge after four hours and from the freezer after 48, unless the freezer temp never went below 40 degrees.

Plan to empty and cook the food you have as soon as possible when you can. There’s talk of a neighborhood-wide barbecue in mine already.

Transfer perishables such as meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products to a cooler as soon as possible, preferably with now-hard-to-find dry ice, but at least with bags of ice, which will need to be replaced about every half day. Remember that many less perishable things in your fridge will be OK with a low level of cooling: cheeses, jams, relishes and pickles, fresh vegetables and fruit, for example. Of course, sodas, peanut butter, ketchup, mustard and so on never need refrigeration. Good luck.

If you have a gas stove that can be lighted with a match or a barbecue grill outside, cook as you eat and only what you can eat up without storing. Now that several markets are open, shop conservatively for a day or two only. You may decide to cook “fragile” goods all at once and keep them cool very briefly.

Since it's tough to wash up, this may also be the time for judicious use of paper plates and plastic utensils or recyclable ones if you have them. Stock up on hand sanitizer as it's hard to wash before eating with no power

This is also the time to eat out, invite yourselves to friends and relatives (you’ll return the favors) and stock up on foods that need no refrigeration, such as muffins or breads for breakfast, canned or jarred fruits and vegetables and peanut butter.

Water may be scarce, so hand sanitizer never hurts to wash up prior to eating.

Good luck and eat safe.