The Joy of Cooking?!?!
I have a love/hate relationship with the grocery store. I love the brightly lit aisles. I love the expansive produce section. I love twofer deals at the meat counter. I love an entire row that is filled with nothing but bread. But I hate that I have no use for 95% of the food there. I hate that while I think it’s such an interesting place to meet people, no one talks to each other at the groc. I hate that I can have only a basket full of necessities and it’s still $50.
I’m going over my grocery list so we can get our weekly shop out of the way this evening and enjoy the amazing weather this weekend. My grocery list could serve as an adequate ‘personals’ description. You know everything worth knowing about me from my list.
In its entirety: (italic items added by LM)
Cat litter
Craker cheese
Eggs
Sandwich bags
Freezer bags – gallon and quart size
Folder (for homework)
Index card file
Index cards (100)
Eggs
Lemonade
Cracker
Salad in a bag
Ground beef
Toilet paper
Stamps
Oranges
Calcium supplements (1500)
Milk
Water
String cheese
Green pepper
Breakfast bars
Toothbrush for Bocaj
Tooth paste
What can you tell about me? A) I’m a mom. From a new folder for his homework, to the index cards and file I need for his Latin lessons, I’m a mom. B) I’m getting older. Calcium supplements mandated by the doc reminds me that time isn’t slowing down any. C) Memory is the first thing to go - eggs are on the list twice. D) I’m a pet owner. E) I don’t stop for breakfast. F) I’m unadventurous. There is nothing exotic on the list, nothing even remotely gourmet. Ground beef and green pepper? Yikes. I need some variety! G) I’m lazy. I want dinner to be quick and easy. Salad in a bag? I go for convenience over organic.
If I knew how to cook differently, if I enjoyed preparing more elaborate meals, if I were more focused on the environment, recycling, or organic health, I might have a list that would read:
Tilapia
Fresh dill, basil and thyme, rosemary
Lemons
Roma tomatoes
Mango
Arugola (I don’t even know how to spell it)
Shitake mushrooms
Blue cheese
Veal cutlets
Red potatoes
Olive oil
Asparagus
Whole wheat flour
Seltzer
Humus
Balsamic vinegar
Shallots
Brown rice
I remember years ago, a co-worker asking if I wanted to share a hoagie for lunch. Why not? She asked what kind, and picky-eater me said, “whatever – you pick” and then thought, “Oh my gosh, what did I just do?!” She came back with a turkey and cheddar with sweet and hot peppers, oregano, onion, tomato, and lettuce. My pick would have been ham and American dry/plain. Oh my. But I loved the hoagie and I wasn’t sure why it was that I had never ventured to try anything else. Maybe I should start trying one new recipe a week, or buying one “new” item at the grocery store each week. Maybe I’m just a stick-in-the-mud. Maybe this is what happens when you grow up in the Midwest with farm kids for parents. I have never eaten much seafood at all. The salads I make are either Caesar or tossed. Vegetables come out of a can or the freezer and I do nothing to them except add salt and pepper or sometimes a little butter. While I don’t currently serve them, I would certainly consider applesauce (homemade) and some kind of bread to be suitable side dishes. I even have JELLO in my cabinet!! I’m doomed, I really doomed.
You can take the girl out of Illinois, but you can’t take Illinois out of the girl, apparently.
I need help, don’t I? Is there such a thing as a “learning to cook as a grown up” book? Should I just add this ability to the list of must-have’s for a significant other?
I’m going over my grocery list so we can get our weekly shop out of the way this evening and enjoy the amazing weather this weekend. My grocery list could serve as an adequate ‘personals’ description. You know everything worth knowing about me from my list.
In its entirety: (italic items added by LM)
Cat litter
Craker cheese
Eggs
Sandwich bags
Freezer bags – gallon and quart size
Folder (for homework)
Index card file
Index cards (100)
Eggs
Lemonade
Cracker
Salad in a bag
Ground beef
Toilet paper
Stamps
Oranges
Calcium supplements (1500)
Milk
Water
String cheese
Green pepper
Breakfast bars
Toothbrush for Bocaj
Tooth paste
What can you tell about me? A) I’m a mom. From a new folder for his homework, to the index cards and file I need for his Latin lessons, I’m a mom. B) I’m getting older. Calcium supplements mandated by the doc reminds me that time isn’t slowing down any. C) Memory is the first thing to go - eggs are on the list twice. D) I’m a pet owner. E) I don’t stop for breakfast. F) I’m unadventurous. There is nothing exotic on the list, nothing even remotely gourmet. Ground beef and green pepper? Yikes. I need some variety! G) I’m lazy. I want dinner to be quick and easy. Salad in a bag? I go for convenience over organic.
If I knew how to cook differently, if I enjoyed preparing more elaborate meals, if I were more focused on the environment, recycling, or organic health, I might have a list that would read:
Tilapia
Fresh dill, basil and thyme, rosemary
Lemons
Roma tomatoes
Mango
Arugola (I don’t even know how to spell it)
Shitake mushrooms
Blue cheese
Veal cutlets
Red potatoes
Olive oil
Asparagus
Whole wheat flour
Seltzer
Humus
Balsamic vinegar
Shallots
Brown rice
I remember years ago, a co-worker asking if I wanted to share a hoagie for lunch. Why not? She asked what kind, and picky-eater me said, “whatever – you pick” and then thought, “Oh my gosh, what did I just do?!” She came back with a turkey and cheddar with sweet and hot peppers, oregano, onion, tomato, and lettuce. My pick would have been ham and American dry/plain. Oh my. But I loved the hoagie and I wasn’t sure why it was that I had never ventured to try anything else. Maybe I should start trying one new recipe a week, or buying one “new” item at the grocery store each week. Maybe I’m just a stick-in-the-mud. Maybe this is what happens when you grow up in the Midwest with farm kids for parents. I have never eaten much seafood at all. The salads I make are either Caesar or tossed. Vegetables come out of a can or the freezer and I do nothing to them except add salt and pepper or sometimes a little butter. While I don’t currently serve them, I would certainly consider applesauce (homemade) and some kind of bread to be suitable side dishes. I even have JELLO in my cabinet!! I’m doomed, I really doomed.
You can take the girl out of Illinois, but you can’t take Illinois out of the girl, apparently.
I need help, don’t I? Is there such a thing as a “learning to cook as a grown up” book? Should I just add this ability to the list of must-have’s for a significant other?
Comments
HEy who's out on the Amazing Race?
I know the gay guys are out but I didn't get to see the end of the one where one of the Girly-girls was freaking out on a roof she had to repell down.
Worked in the produce section and did talk to a lot of people, made friends with regulars, etc. All that time with the potatoes, though, made me think about how grocery lists may someday in the future be used by archaeologists to determine what we found important.
– Texas T-bone