I went to the grocery store this afternoon after making deliveries and got to the paper towel and toilet paper aisle. Sigh…
What was worse was the meat counter and how expensive the price of meat is. Everything is slowly going up in prices, but meat prices are out of control. I have readers on the west coast and wonder if it’s like this there too?
Before I got to the supermarket, I was leaving my weekend meals up in the air to make whatever I could find; good thing too! Holy shit! The meatball mix that I get in Aldi for $6 was $10.99 in a normal supermarket. Swedish meatballs got scratched off my maybe list fast.
After looking around at all my choices, I went with a large package of assorted pork-chops for $4.32 and a large chuck roast for $15.00 bucks. That was the least expensive piece of beef that I felt was a fair price. I plan on making a big pot of beef stew on Sunday, so we will have lots of leftovers.
I also visited our local library this afternoon; I haven’t set foot in a library for years! I used to love to read and getting lost in stories, but I didn’t have the concentration for reading when the boys were young. Then I worked two jobs and had no time. Then my mother had her stroke…the reasons are many. I’ve missed reading so much; it’s time to add it back to my journey.
Since I am adding reading back into my life I’ve decided to start small with fiction novels having different culinary themes. I’ll go from there; I want light, easy reading. Perhaps I will be inspired by new dishes to try making as well.
Social media became my reading so to speak. It was something that I enjoyed in the beginning catching up with old classmates and friends. It was easy to “read” anywhere on my phone.
For the last couple of years, I’ve been using social media more and more only for our business, cooking, recipes and my blog. Basically, I just scroll through my newsfeed quickly and sometimes share stupid memes that make me laugh.
Lately, my phone lets me know that my usage is way down, which also means my anxiety is down as well. Thank goodness! Getting anxiety & panic attacks and having psoriasis rear it’s ugly head after being dormant for over 40 years is my indication that I need to stop looking at my fucking phone so much. I can’t control the news or negativity on FB, but I can control whether I am on it or not.
Tonight, I made homemade shake-&-bake style pork-chops with maple glazed sweet potatoes and stuffing. “Stuffing? I’m staying!” Remember that commercial? I can never say the words pork-chops without thinking about the Brady Bunch episode where Peter Brady said, “ Pork-chops and applesauce; sounds swell.” 🤣
Besides dinner, I also made Klaus a batch of his doggie meatballs and mini pear tartlets with pears from our pear trees. I was in a total cooking mood when I got home; everyone benefits when this happens.
We are back at the Troy Farmers Market tomorrow and we’re invited to have dinner at our friend Martin’s house; I’m looking forward to both…just not getting up at 4:30 am again. Happy Friday!
I reconnected to our local library last year and it’s been wonderful. Lovely place to hang out. Will be looking for the Stradal book. If you haven’t read them, try a few of Ruth Reichl’s books. Her “Tender at the Bone” is a good place to start and such a fun read, as are most of her books.
I’ve always been reading and was thrilled when our library reopened. Let us know how your books go – always love suggestions and yes, Ruth Reichl’s are great. BTW – Local grassfed hamburger is 10 bucks a lb in way Northern CA. A “cheap” rib-eye at our Winco store is $15 plus a lb. Local bread $5-7 a loaf but it is stellar!