The shopping list begins again

 

It happens just about every time I go out shopping for groceries. I bring along my list, cross off the items as I load them into my cart, and head home with the bags. Usually, before I can even finish putting things away, I end up grabbing a notepad and jotting down one or two items for the next run.

For whatever reason, it appears that I cannot plan the perfect shopping trip. There’s always going to be something I’m missing.

Here’s how bad it gets. Last week, I noticed I was running low on crushed red pepper. So, I added it to the list and bought some. While putting it away, I grabbed the wrong bottle from our spice rack. I had pulled out the bottle of the garlic powder and found it was almost gone.

And just like that, the result of an accidental motion, I ended up starting my next shopping list.

I do give it a really good effort. Often, I’ll wander with pad and pen into the living room and sit down with my wife. What meals are we likely to cook? Any thoughts on vegetables or side dishes? Any snacks or other thoughts? From there to the kitchen, where I match up the discussion of dinner ideas to the actual items in the fridge. I’ll give a quick run down to the staples like milk, juice and eggs. I swear that when I get into the car to head out, I’ve eliminated the possibility of surprises.

But it never works.

Occasionally, I’m simply a victim of bad timing. Terry will be at home, with thoughts of my heading to the store jumping around in her head. Suddenly, a cereal for breakfast, chips for her sandwich, or some other idea will lead to her reaching for her phone and sending a text message. I believe the overall total would show that I’m about 50-50 when it comes to seeing the message before leaving the store.

(Yes, I have actually stopped at another store on my way home from a different store as a result of a text message and not wanting to begin a new list.)

Other times, it’s putting things away that becomes dangerous for my clean sheet of paper. Once I was unloading groceries and came across our old bread maker. Hadn’t been used since we moved, silent for years, and suddenly bread flour and a few assorted ingredients were being jotted down. Another time a can of clams got in the way and triggered a craving for clam cakes.

How bad is it? On one excursion, I picked up some marsala wine. Bought some mushrooms, and I was ready for a homemade chicken marsala. Awesome. Because it was going to be a day or two before the dinner was made, I put the marsala wine away. Spotted a couple of bottles of alcohol, realized I hadn’t made some of my favorite drinks in a while, and suddenly found myself craving things that needed pineapple juice and sour mix. (I was keeping things simple. Technically I also needed a blow torch to caramelize the sugar on the glass rim if I wanted to make them the way the bar in Las Vegas did.)


This isn’t even about going through the milk and orange juice, meaning that eventually everything needs to be replaced. No, I’m just talking about making it through a full day or two before I find something that needs to be written down before I forget it. (Only to remember it once I’m bringing the bags into the kitchen after the next trip for groceries.)

Ok… enough rambling for today. I think I’m going to try to make some bread. (Dammit. And add bread flour to my shopping list.)

 

If you have any comments or questions, please e-mail me at Bob@inmybackpack.com