I hate when I do things like this

[cjsmith]

One of the things I'll occasionally do on a weekend is cook up a big pile of stuff that will later be lunches or dinners for when I'm rushed. Yesterday I went to the grocery store and picked up a huge amount of stuff for making lunches. Five pounds of meat came home with me; I made absolutely sure that I knew what was going to go with each batch, that I had enough spinach, enough spices, enough chili and lemongrass, etc. I got extra spinach just to make sure. There's always something you can do with spinach.

I walked right by the onion. Boy, thought I, do I have enough onion to last me a year. I certainly don't need any onion.

Guess what I'm out of, after cooking only two batches of stuff.
Guess what every single thing I was going to make will need.

Damn.

A normal person, of course, would just go to the grocery store and buy some onion. But I can't do that. I've been on my feet for nearly an hour now. I could keep cooking, by spending much of the time in a tall chair, but I can't go to the grocery store. Not any more. And if I did go, I sure as heck couldn't cook afterward. Those always have to be two separate days. I was so good, making sure I went to the store on Saturday so I could cook on Sunday. But all it takes is one goof.

Right now I hate being me.

EDIT: ladycelia is the bestest buddy in the whole wide world. She's going to bring me three big onions when she gets off work.

Comments

[dafydd.livejournal.com]

I thought that's what designated husbands were for?! ;)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

True dat! But he doesn't feel well enough to drive today. (Not to mention he doesn't eat food nor does he grocery shop, so sending him for onion I'm likely to get garlic or a potato.)

[dafydd.livejournal.com]

he doesn't eat food

o_O

Oh, the places I could go...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

He eats multivitamins. ;)

[evilegg.livejournal.com]

Dammit. I wish I could bring you an onion.
If I was you, the "little shit" like this would make me snap.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

This kind of crap pisses me RIGHT OFF. It already did make me snap, but then I didn't magically get cured or die off, so... here I am.

There's a pot luck Thanksgiving thing I'm going to this year. I've never been to this group before, so I don't know how many people, who's vegetarian, what they tend to be short on, all that kind of stuff. And if I don't find out what to bring by Tuesday afternoon, I can't bring squat, because of the whole shop one day and cook the next thing. And that's presuming Tuesday evening and Wednesday evening are both free and available to be used up entirely on this.

AAAAAAAAAAAGH.

[evilegg.livejournal.com]

Get some stuff from Cracker Barrell and transfer it to yur own dishes. People do this all the time.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. I just got another hefty dose of Cooking Snob thrown at me today, a big old slap in the face by somebody who didn't even mean to be hurtful. I will never
ever
ever
ever
ever
give somebody anything I made. Ever.

(I forgot, a while back, and gave somebody my lentil soup. I like that stuff -- spicy, gingery -- but it was totally clear she didn't. She was polite, but. I hate when I forget and do something stupid like that.)

Maybe if I write it on the refrigerator door 100 times in lipstick, I'll remember.

[evilegg.livejournal.com]

Oh- and hey- CB will bring it out to your car if you ask them to.
That soup sounds awesome. I adore soups.
And fuck that snob. I hope her tongue falls off.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Trust me, you'd hate it. Everybody hates anything I make, except my fondue. That they love. But mostly, if you ever need to throw up, come eat something I made.

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

My food sometimes looks like barf, but I think it tastes pretty good. My problem is that I tend to mix stuff up.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

HAHAHA! Mine sometimes looks like barf too. In fact, the curry glop I just made a huuuuuge batch of... well, assuming the barfer had just had spinach... :-) But man, I could eat that stuff all day.

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

Hee! Glad I'm not alone. I tried to make cookies once, screwed it up and decided to stir them all together. It looked like dog food, but chocolately yummy dog food.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Date bars! Oh man, I had to make a post out of that. You are SOOOOOOOOO not alone!!

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

FWIW - I have certain food dislikes and allergies that mean there are some things I can't/won't eat. That said - if anyone is thoughtful enough to make something for me that uses those ingredients I will thank them profusely and let them know I will share said item. In the case of dislikes - I will usually sample just to see if the way you made a certain item will get past my silly dislike. In the case of allergy food item I will politely mention the allergy and let the giver know that, since I do not make items with those ingredients, my husband will be very happy to have the unusual treat.

To me, homemade food gifts are an expression of friendship that will never be turned down. I love the thought that goes into doing something like that. And if you ever forget my allergy, it is not your problem, but mine. (My mother used to forget my allergy.) Then we will laugh about it - because at least my reaction is not life threatening, but funny.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I hear ya. I too have problems with some foods. What is it that you shouldn't be eating? (With me it's fish and seafood. That stuff can send me for a long and uncomfortable visit to the porcelain throne.)

Still, friendship or not, thoughtful or not, it's true that what I make tends to be... unpopular. I guess that saves me from learning yet another immensely time-consuming and somewhat expensive hobby! With all the time I save, I will RULE THE WORLD HAHAHAHA... um... er. Well, it was an amusing thought.

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

Tree nuts. Peanuts and almonds I have no problem with, but tree nuts will make my throat and eustacian tubes itch horribly. My dad was so happy the day we figured out that the cashews were causing the problem. It meant they were safe from me.

I have it on good authority that watching me trying to scratch what is itching results in amusing facial contortions.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's got to be SERIOUSLY annoying! Scratching the inside of one's head isn't exactly easy!

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

I am grateful that it is no worse than that even if it is very uncomfortable.

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm still at work right now, but I could probably bring you onions in a little while after I get off. What kind do you need?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That's like an hour of driving for you, isn't it? I'll probably sit here for a while working on NaNoWriMo, then go get onion, then cook tomorrow. BLEAGH. It just pisses me off, is all. I hate having to live like this.

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

Nope--I'm just down in the Campbell/Los Gatos area--I can hop on 85 and be there in very little time. I'm waiting for a customer right now, but should be out of here within the hour. What kind of onions do you need?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

You ROCK.

[evilegg.livejournal.com]

Like she said- YOU RAWK!!

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

I'd go buy you some onions if I was closer. Got any buddies who would run that errand for you for one of your lunches?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

*laughter* I wouldn't inflict my cooking on an enemy, but yeah, it would be cool to have buddies who lived really close by.

I'm just ticked off at the whole pile of limitations, know what I mean? And I can't even hope that in three months or ten years it will be any better. GRRRRR.

[apparentparadox]

In the future, you might consider using a service that does your grocery shopping for you -- like Webvan used to do. Safeway advertises that they do it in some markets (I would bet that you're in the right area). You might not want to use such a service for everything, but if they took care of the staples & stuff that doesn't need such a keen eye (like onions), that would help save your feet.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That's a good point: I think Safeway will indeed do it in our area. Normally we don't think of that because you have to be home during a specific time window. But right now Rob's not feeling all that great, so he can be Designated Shipper Picker Upper. :-)

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

Also, Planet Organics and places like that will do weekly deliveries that you don't have to be home for--and they have more than just produce now.

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it sucks.

And your food can't be that bad!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Sure it can; it all comes out of cans and bottles and stuff. But hey -- I was talking to rfrench about this, and honestly, my ability to be unpicky about food is a gift. There's a heck of a lot I couldn't eat if I insisted on Doing Everything The Right Way. In that case my life would be a lot more inconvenient and noticeably more busy. Who wants THAT?

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

In cooking there is no "right way." That's baking where you have to be precise. Which is why I don't bake!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Aw man, I love baking! That's the one kitchen thing I can do!

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

Asians often chop onions while deciding what to cook :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I think onions developing chemical gas warfare is really pretty awesome in an isn't-the-world-cool sort of sense. However, that doesn't necessarily mean I'll chop onions unless I need them!! :-)

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

you could always chop a whole bunch in a food processor and freeze them in bags

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I do freeze them. (Wish I had a food processor.) That's what I thought I had, when I thought I didn't need onion: my piles of little plastic cups of chopped onion, all nicely frozen, waiting for me. Drat my buggy memory!

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

That was a pretty subtle request for someone to bring you some onions! I'm glad ladycelia came through for you!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

The best subtle requests are the ones I totally have no idea are requests. :)

[hnybny.livejournal.com]

I can't cook without them. I have a tiny kitchen and a 3 lb bag of onions cause I'm a freak :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I think it's so weird that I "knew" I had loads of them. I could picture them. Then I looked, and... nothing. What was I THINKING??

[hnybny.livejournal.com]

I've done the same thing at least twice. Once we borrowed from a neighbor, the other I made a special trip to the nearest place that would have one, which was miles away.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I remember the whole borrowing-from-a-neighbor thing. When I was a kid I'd go over to Mrs. McCarley's house or Mrs. Cunio's house for a cup of flour or an egg. Today I have no idea what any of my neighbors' names are.

Some day, I swear, I'm going to retire and I'm going to do things like meet my neighbors.