Intimate Groceries

As you can see, I did a little food shopping this evening. Happily I was able to pay with cash, rather than food stamps. The difference (to me) is that my darling cats could contribute to the shopping list.

Let's go through the items, shall we?

Canned ham: I always eat this meat in sandwiches with mayonnaise, black pepper, and tomatoes. Onions or cheese (or both) are included when I'm flush. When I'm not flush, I might switch to Top ramen Noodles. I consider mustard inappropriate in ham sandwiches (which I now occasionally call sarnies.

Celery: This will go into either a soup or a stew, unless I spread peanut butter on a few stalks and eat them at snack time.

Jalapeno peppers: I try to put them into as many meals as I am able. My favorite way of eating them is in senig karia, which is an Eritrean side dish, where a big jalapenos stuffed with chopped onions and vinegar. My friend Amare once taught me the proper way to eat it: You take a big bite from the pepper and then eat a big bite of injera (something between a pancake and a pita), which you have dunked in shuro wat (puree of chick peas with Berbere spices). this way, the hot is put in its place by the softer food. Amare is gone now, and he is missed by many. Because I live in West Philly, that food is as familiar to me as a slice of apple pie.

Garlic: I was out of garlic, which I like to eat.

Cans of wet cat food: One has already been vomited up; all three eaten.

Strawberry jelly: It was on sale and I've been consuming it all my life because it pleases me.

"Sabrett Pushcart Style Onions In Sauce:" If you don't know why I bought this, you're not from New York. It's a hot dog thing.

Ice cream: I plan to devour it very soon. Black rasberry chocolate. There was no Cherry Garcia. Once I was a student in India, and whenever I mentioned the best American ice creams, my fellow Americans would start yelling, "Shut up, Bob!" I hope that the ice cream situation there has improved since my college days.

Milk: Glad I remembered the milk. I always remember it when I don't have any, but I amost forgot to mention it here, while blipping.

Green bell peppers: They will wander alongside the garlic and the jalapenos, then find their end in my happy gut.

Cat litter: I won't say a word about it in the presence of food.

London broil: I was amused when Ceridwen had never heard of it. In the US it's a thick, and fairly good, cut of beef. One broils it and then cuts thick slices across it. I'll slice it and then pan-fry it because the oven is not working just now. The oven was made in the 1970s and my landlord-housemate is a nut for using things for decades after their useful life is done. I once acquired new knobs for it, from the knob factory in Michigan where a retired worker keeps a room filled with obsolete knobs. Maybe I shouldn't have, but it was a good adventure for all. The stove manufacturer is not only out of business, but forgotten by almost everyone living.

Pork stew chunks: I'm always planning my next stew, since I met a certain blipster and tasted of her cauldron.

Eat well, weather you are flush or poor. If you're among the 1%, toss a coin to one of us before you tilt back for your next ortolan.