the luck of the impoverished
Jun. 9th, 2006 08:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mountain_laurelthis morning, with about $3 in change to my name until the insurance check arrives, i contemplated what groceries would be the most sensible and satisfying to get me through the next week. i was low on onions, too low for the poulet à la niçoise i had planned for tonight, so a stop at the greengrocers scored me three onions and two potatoes for $1.62. and while i've made this dish without it, it's just not the same, so i hit the butcher shop and got 2/3 of a pound of lean salt pork for $1.47.
this may not sound particularly exciting to you, but it's damned hard to find salt pork these days, because people think of it as an unhealthy food. and sure, it's unhealthy if you batter and deep-fry it -- so's zucchini -- but a tablespoon's worth (per serving, of course; keep in mind i cook for one), finely minced and sauteed with some onions, improves most any dish, and dresses up beans just like cinderella's fairy godmother.
and so: a baked potato for lunch, with butter and minced parsley and plenty of coarsely ground black pepper. my bread machine just announced the completion of a beautiful loaf of bread with fresh rosemary filched from the landscaping to go with dinner. still, i'm getting to be mightily sick of my own cooking. i'm the type to pine after what i can't have, so of course i've been craving Doritos and sauvignon blanc like a fiend all week. (and i never eat Doritos, either -- i just happened to see them in a movie. i am so suggestible.)
i was sitting here, beginning a post rhapsodizing about how good my bread smells, when i suddenly noticed a flash of orange peeping out from beneath a recently-rearranged pile of papers on my desk. and what did it turn out to be but a single wrapped Reese's peanut butter cup that i probably misplaced sometime around Halloween, when my suggestibility got the better of me yet again. it's probably a bit stale by now, but... candy! i have CANDY! for DESSERT! it's been WEEKS since i had dessert, ever since i ate all the yogurt and jam.
i have ensconced it upon the coffee table like the treasure it is, where it shall remain until its appointed time has come. and once again, i give thanks to the universe for my crazy luck.
(i consider this to be repayment for the notice of levy i received from the IRS today, which required me to call and wait on interminable hold listening to an adequate performance of the Nutcracker Suite so i could remind them yet again that they've classified my account as currently uncollectable, and thus should not be levying my bank account, not that there's anything in it anyway. they apologized for the error, but it was still a waste of an hour i could have spent working on my entry for the final round of the sims2community Mr. Teen USA contest. because i sailed right through rounds two and three, landing squarely in the top five among several very talented veterans of such contests. i'm actually rather stunned by it all. for the final round i must submit pictures from his PROM! i have simply NO idea what Dale is going to wear. perhaps i'll recolor a tuxedo in lavender to match his dreamy violet eyes...)
p.s. i really must get myself a food-related userpic one of these days.
this may not sound particularly exciting to you, but it's damned hard to find salt pork these days, because people think of it as an unhealthy food. and sure, it's unhealthy if you batter and deep-fry it -- so's zucchini -- but a tablespoon's worth (per serving, of course; keep in mind i cook for one), finely minced and sauteed with some onions, improves most any dish, and dresses up beans just like cinderella's fairy godmother.
and so: a baked potato for lunch, with butter and minced parsley and plenty of coarsely ground black pepper. my bread machine just announced the completion of a beautiful loaf of bread with fresh rosemary filched from the landscaping to go with dinner. still, i'm getting to be mightily sick of my own cooking. i'm the type to pine after what i can't have, so of course i've been craving Doritos and sauvignon blanc like a fiend all week. (and i never eat Doritos, either -- i just happened to see them in a movie. i am so suggestible.)
i was sitting here, beginning a post rhapsodizing about how good my bread smells, when i suddenly noticed a flash of orange peeping out from beneath a recently-rearranged pile of papers on my desk. and what did it turn out to be but a single wrapped Reese's peanut butter cup that i probably misplaced sometime around Halloween, when my suggestibility got the better of me yet again. it's probably a bit stale by now, but... candy! i have CANDY! for DESSERT! it's been WEEKS since i had dessert, ever since i ate all the yogurt and jam.
i have ensconced it upon the coffee table like the treasure it is, where it shall remain until its appointed time has come. and once again, i give thanks to the universe for my crazy luck.
(i consider this to be repayment for the notice of levy i received from the IRS today, which required me to call and wait on interminable hold listening to an adequate performance of the Nutcracker Suite so i could remind them yet again that they've classified my account as currently uncollectable, and thus should not be levying my bank account, not that there's anything in it anyway. they apologized for the error, but it was still a waste of an hour i could have spent working on my entry for the final round of the sims2community Mr. Teen USA contest. because i sailed right through rounds two and three, landing squarely in the top five among several very talented veterans of such contests. i'm actually rather stunned by it all. for the final round i must submit pictures from his PROM! i have simply NO idea what Dale is going to wear. perhaps i'll recolor a tuxedo in lavender to match his dreamy violet eyes...)
p.s. i really must get myself a food-related userpic one of these days.
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no subject
Date: 2006-06-10 04:27 am (UTC)Urban legend has it that Reese's Peanut Butter Cups were originally packaged in cardboard, and invariably were stale by the time they got to the customer. When they switched to plastic wrappers, which kept the candy fresh, sales dropped off. Customers didn't trust the different taste of the plastic-wrapped candy. So the manufacturer had to do a lot of expensive research to figure out how to artificially age the candy to make it taste stale.
Of course, this is not necessarily true.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-12 11:54 pm (UTC)Oops.