Why I'm Not Really A Foodie

I did something for some people, something they would have had to pay a lot of money for if I hadn't done it. In appreciation, they gave me a large gift certificate for a very nice gourmet shop in City.

How did I feel? Not ecstatic, not eager, but stressed. How could I possibly spend such a large gift certificate at a gourmet shop? S did not share my feelings. He was eager and ecstatic. He had no doubt that the money could be spent, and he was ready to spend it.

Yesterday we set out on our shopping expedition. We walked into Very Nice Gourmet Shop and there was a tray of cheese to sample. Not one, not two, but four kinds of cheese, and around the corner another tray with four more. We ate some cheese. We decided to buy a piece of very delicious cheese--I forget what it was called.

Then I got distracted because E was hungry. A gourmet shop is not the best place to feed E. I got her a bottle of expensive chocolate milk and a banana. I paid cash, rather than crack the gift certificate. I sat with E while she drank her milk and ate her banana.

M and S cruised the store. They had no stress; they just had desire. I, however, was anxious. Should one stock up on high quality staples (olive oil, French sea salt, Madagascar vanilla), or should one blow it all on one delicious meal (imported pasta, marinated anchovies at $22 a pound, good wine)? I love cheese, but there were 100 kinds of cheese. How does one choose? Better to go home and have a bagel. But there were bagels too!

We decided to just put things in the basket until we had spent our gift certificate. Mainly M and S chose. I wandered around and was overwhelmed. Here's what we bought:

- really good olive oil (says S--what do I know?)
- champagne vinegar
- French sea salt
- Punkin' Ale
- Samaki chocolates
- imported Italian pasta
- Rao's eggplant sauce
- jellybeans (for E)
- two kinds of cheese
- two kinds of ham, one of which was speck, which M says is delicious
- marinated anchovies
- potato salad, pasta salad, Orangina, and potato chips (for M's lunch)
- acorn squash
- pearl onions
- organic apricot preserves from somewhere in New England (I'm not being cagy--I can't remember and I don't feel like going into the kitchen)
- berry preserves from France

A pretty good haul. And a delicious dinner: rainbow trout sprinkled with sea salt, roasted acorn squash, sauteed pearl onions (J's recipe), Punkin' Ale, and chocolates for dessert.

I guess that wasn't so bad.