Hungry Times Two

It's 6:20 on a Tuesday evening and, left to my own devices as Scott has a night meeting, I just inhaled the following: Publix-brand Wheat Thins (approx. 10) with cubes of Havarti Cheese, a pickle, and dab of spicy mustard. Washed down with one glass of Crazy Llama Chardonnay. One Oreo. Three Leftover Blueberry and Walnut Pancakes with syrup and butter. The remainder of the Minute Maid Pulp-Free Orange Juice carton. What. The. Hell. ? This is my "dinner." Sometimes, when you're the only one in the house to feed, there's just not enough energy, concern for health, or available defrosted/fresh/tasty groceries to make a real go at a respectable meal. So you go and do the things that you'd never do if you had a dining companion. Like combine cookies, pancakes and mustard. Plus pickles. Good grief. Last night Scott also had a night meeting and so I made a quick and easy stir-fry with carrots, celery, and mushrooms, garnished with peanuts and cilantro. That at least ...

Last week a co-worker and I discussed stainless steel fridges - he purchased a new fridge recently and was miffed that it isn't magnetized. For me, this is just reason one of many I'll never purchase any stainless steel appliance. My magnets are fantastic and a naked fridge would just look weird in my kitchen. Here's a photo of our current fridge "magnet configuration": We've collected travel magnets (Rocky Mtn. Nat. Park, Winston Churchill War Room Museum in London), freebies, ones gifted to us, and food-related (Five Star in Raleigh, Sweet Heaven - no longer in business in Asheville, NC - Doc Chey's Noodle in Hotlanta, amongst others) and I can't imagine making a beer run to the Frigidaire and find them all gone. I truly feel a fridge is blank slate upon which you opt to either share your little quirky magnets, photos, art and the like, or you just let it become this big dumb ugly box in the corner. Does anyone else have strong feelings on fridge dec...

Bread. It's tasty and it's always around to tempt you. Example: the two sleeves of Thomas English Muffins that were a Buy One Get One special at Kroger this week, now displayed proudly on my kitchen cart right now. Good lord, their delicate nooks and crannies are delicious, especially when smothered and covered with a little butter and jam. Nothing wrong with carb love. Unless you're my mom, who (bless her, she'll read this post) confessed to me that she had two yeast rolls at lunch today. Her hushed tone in telling me about the scarfed rolls made it sound like she'd bumped and rubbed a Benz AND a Beemer in a parking lot. Actually, she used the same tone of voice when she admitted to me that she'd watched The Bachelor this week. I'll try not to judge you on that TV misstep, Mom, but I don't think you should admit any guilt over those paltry yeast rolls. Bread is tasty and filling and no one's gonna give you the hairy eyeball for eating it. The women...

Give it up for Red, White and Food Blog Day! March 2 is the day for we, the TN bloggers, to make our opinions known that retail food stores should be able to sell wine to their customers. This means changing a long-standing law that restricts wine sales to liquor stores. The Tennessee Grocers & Convenience Store Association is advocating this change. The association represents large corporate stores and small independent grocers across the state. On Friday I hightailed it after work to pick up some weekend fun materials - food and alcohol. However, I made two trips - one to the liquor store for a mega-bottle of chardonnay and a magnum-bottle of Merlot, and another to Kroger. Unnecessary. It wastes time and gas and it's just a big pain in the ass. Give us the freedom to choose - grocery story or speciality wine shop. That's what I call a free (Kroger) Marketplace. Learn more here.