The Supermarket

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. I've been swamped at work with some very cool events (pictures to follow). I'm finally taking a couple days off and my reintroduction to society is going quite well.

June has been a month of birthdays and I've been cooking large family dinners recently - salmon, paella, shrimp...and countless desserts. I've always loved baking, but am starting to enjoy cooking.

Grocery shopping will always remain as one of my favourite things to do. I used to love being introduced to new things when The Chef and I would go. I was always amazed at what he would do with the ingredients. When I shop, I usually take my recipe book with me and rarely stray from the instructions - I'm not that confident yet. Although I did go a little crazy and substitute red peppers for yellow peppers.

The produce section is naturally the best part - I feel so yuppie and urbane as I pretend to know how to check for a ripe avocado and as I read the labels to determine how locally grown the tomato is.

Is Hamilton that much of a hick town that I can't find saffron and fresh cooked lobster? I was pissed, and even though I love my aunt, I wasn't about to spend $45.50 on frozen lobster for the paella. If I lived in the Hamptons like my beloved Barefoot Contessa, I would have no problem. And what the heck is Pernod?

Whenever I pool my pennies to go to a supermarket with frills, I always enjoy using the self-checkout. It reminds me of when I was young and would play cashier (I always had high career aspirations). The satisfying *beep* and the art of packing the bags - I try not to smile widely as I do it. If only I could request a 'clean up in aisle three'.