BEAT WELL

Since our own financial recession, My Beloved has taken over the grocery shopping. He shops the "ghetto" Giant around the corner, where you often find diapers in the freezer case and random loaves of Wonder bread along the cleaning aisle. I don't like it because it offends my sense of order (hello, OCD!) and safety: I think they just put stuff back without regard to how long that gallon of milk was sitting out amidst the dog biscuits. When I did the grocery shopping, it was a continual affair. Yes, I shopped with a list - and that helped. But invariably we needed more salad/milk/Cheerios three days later or I'd forgotten an essential element of a recipe, so I found myself at the store every few days. READ: we were never in want. In the spirit of belt-tightening, this responsibility has transitioned to My Beloved who has an iron will that can change the rotation of the earth and who scoffs at tempting jalapeno organic rice puffs or the artful display of exotic cheeses. However, he hates shopping, so it happens only once every 7-10 days and tough if we run out or forgot something on the list.

Thus, I find myself scouring the internet for cookie recipes that require one or less eggs and no chocolate chips. Having just celebrated my birthday, there are a few slices of chocolate bomb pie and ice cream remaining (although dwindling as I speak!). But entering into a weekend of cravings with no baked goods in the house is really 1) foolishly unsafe for members of the household who are not me and 2) an excuse to heat the house with the stove.

It's a craptacular rainy day, my chores are all done, and I promised myself a day off from job searching to let the lessons-learned incubate. In a scene reminiscent of City Slickers where those two ice cream guys pick out the perfect after-dinner flavor, my PMS-heightened senses have identified oatmeal raisin as The Thing for today. Oh, and look! Only one egg required! Thank you, androgenous Quaker person!