The day before grocery day.
Lunch on Fridays, around here anyway, leaves a lot to be desired. I do the grocery shopping on Saturday which essentially means that Friday meal times lie somewhere between woeful and pitiful.
So, last Friday, I stood in my kitchen – first looking at the bowl where the avocados are supposed to be, then looking at the fridge where cold things are supposed to be, then looking at the pantry where crunchy, salty things are supposed to be – for a good 15 minutes. My shoulders were slumped, my expression was forlorn. Silas even started to whimper wondering what the hell my problem was.
Find what you’ve got.
I figured there had to be something. I located the last two carrots in the bag, half a tomato, a quarter of a yellow pepper. I had to make up an entirely new salad dressing* because my kids used my go-to ingredient (Ume Plum Vinegar**) to make ‘cake’ yesterday. I was able to shave just enough Manchego off of its rind. Found some brown rice that was hiding behind the maple syrup on the second shelf.
I just started somewhere, with a bunch of ingredients that didn’t look all that great and didn’t even look like they’d be copacetic. But, I threw them in the bowl anyway. It ended up being delicious. And quite gratifying.
Advice.
I have a wonderful ‘twitter/blog’ friend that lost his agency writing job yesterday, and he asked me for some help with what to do next. This is what I’ve got: No matter how bare that cupboard, you’ll pull out some edible things and create something good. Dude, the world is your grocery store.
*This is not a food blog, but this randomly concocted dressing was so good, I’m sharing: olive oil, wheat germ oil, fresh lemon juice, sea salt, splash of Ponzu**. No, I don’t have measurements for you. That’s not the way I cook, nor is it the way I roll.
(**Per the recent blogging regulations: This post was not affiliated with Eden Foods in any way, shape or form, but I love their food, so if they should happen to swing by, or any of you know them personally, I’d be delighted to write for them anytime. Just sayin’…)
Image credit: AbbeyChristine
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test Filed under Critical Copywriting, How To, The Business | Tags: creating, job search, looking for a new job, reinventing your self, Writing | Comments (6)6 Responses to “The day before grocery day.”
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I like Eden Foods too. They’re one of the few food producers that ban BPA in their cans. Worth a few extra cents!
Love the cupboard is bare, but not really, analogy!
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Your Friday is my Tuesday. At least we have eggs. You can do a lot with eggs.
So true: work with what you have. What else is there?
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Just brilliant, Julie.
Okay, peering into a bare fridge may not be quite as scary as staring at an empty day and the shock of unemployment. But both situations call for resourcefulness, flexibility and not a little courage.
“…the world is your grocery store,” reminds me on one of Auntie Mame’s (the Ros Russell movie) declarations. “Life is a banquet–and most poor suckers are starving to death! Live, live, live!”
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I agree with your post. Even when one feels they have nothing to work with, or you have lost everything, you always have yourself. And that’s a lot. It’s everything!
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Rice. White. I buy it by the 50 lb. bag. I mostly eat it plain. I cannot recall the last time I spent more than $25 in a grocery store at one time. (Okay, does Trader Joe’s count?) In fact, I just had too much white rice for dinner, but I added some both and “smoked hot paprika” from Sahadi’s in Brooklyn. My fridge has more tap water in it than food. To think I used to bake my own bread every other day. Gotta love a wartime economy. Thanks W!
P.S. Nice post, Noodles! ;)
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Dude….you dressing sounds great but I must admit I have never tried (knowingly) or tasted Ponzu? Should I be hiding my head in foodie shame? Considering my pantry and fridge are usually stocked and I am not as creative as you, I think you need to haul it to the mainland and give some lessons.
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