Don't mind if I do...

I got my mojo back!

For the last few days, I've been moping around in a funk, not really wanting to do anything. I look at the projects ahead of me and think, "meh" and go back to moping. This kind of funk is normal for most people, I think, when you are in a state of transition. I can't really do anything productive here at the condo, and the new house isn't finished yet, so I'm stuck. I feel like I'm at loose ends for the next two weeks until we move, and then the real work can start. 

Hence, the moping. 

But today, I got up and decided today would be different. After the morning potties, the dogs went in their respective crates and I got on the mini trampoline for a workout. I ran so much with my Wii Fit that I unlocked a whole new running game, which is awesome. After my killer workout (ha!), I decided I wanted a tasty lunch, so I drove up the road to a little cafe and had beef stroganoff while I read a book. And then, I did one of my favorite things. I went to the grocery store and just bought everything that looked tasty. 

I don't do that very often because it can get expensive. (Case in point: I spent $60 today on four bags of groceries that will make maybe two meals.) But, when I do it, it always turns out really well. As we speak, I have a little cake baking in the oven, and I can't wait to frost it when it cools. I found a brand of frosting I didn't even think was manufactured any more. Yay! I bought three kinds of bread, two kinds of cheese, two bottles of red wine, hummus, sliced ham, cornmeal and some apples. I got coffee, tea, milk, sugar and eggs. 

The best part of the day came when I checked out - the adorable little checkout dude carded me! Yay! You see, I'm going to be 29 this year and that seems a lot older than I think I should be, so I'm happy to show my identification any- and everywhere. I even thanked him. 

Tonight, Tony and I are going to have a picnic at the new house, sitting on the floor in one of the rooms, drinking wine, eating apples and bread and cheese and just enjoying the place. Our first meal there will be my favorite, because I honestly believe nothing in the world tastes better than crusty bread, expensive cheese and cheap red wine. I think that combination of foods will be my last meal, if I am lucky enough to know when the end is nigh and to get to sneak in one more nosh. Just to be safe, I try to eat a meal of bread and cheese and wine at least once every two weeks, so I'm never too far from it if I kick the bucket unexpectedly.  

I'm not sure why this day restored my mojo, but I think the combination of exercise, good stroganoff and whimsy shopping had a soothing effect. I may not be able to cook up a huge meal the way I want, but that doesn't mean I have to resign myself to another night of takeout or icky frozen dinners for two. I'm talking to you, Steamfresh. 

I even got enough ingredients to make breakfast for dinner tomorrow night. Breakfast foods eaten for dinner make up my second-favorite meal. Juicy sausages, over-easy eggs, crunchy, buttery toast and fresh cornmeal pancakes drizzled with syrup are infinitely more tasty when eaten at night. For one, I'm not cooking in a just-woken-up haze and for two, it just feels forbidden, like staying in your jammies all day or blowing off the housework to read a really good book. 

I think that's half the charm of all my favorite meals - they are unconventional. While I enjoy a steak or a burger like anyone, the meals I love and choose to eat over and over are a little less predictable. I love a milkshake for lunch on a hot summer day. Just a shake, nothing else - back in the days before we had air conditioning, my mom used to drive Levi and I to the Diary Queen on really hot days for a milkshake lunch. 

I can't resist a dinner of chocolate chip cookies, freshly baked, accompanied by a glass of milk with one ice cube. (The one ice cube keeps the milk extra cold.) 

Hot, buttered toast, any time of the day, is a fantastic meal. (And a remarkable restorative. After every big fight in my family - and there were many - my mom would always make us chocolate milk and buttered toast. I can remember sitting on the countertop in my mom's kitchen, eating toast and drinking milk with Nestle Quik powder in it.) 

And buckwheat pancakes with jam are great for lunch in the summer. I remember making hay on my grandfather's farm when I was five or six and coming into the house to eat lunch with my grandmother. She usually made soup or sandwiches for us, but my favorite days were when she would make buckwheat pancakes for us. She always made them the size of the pan - which I thought was miraculous - and we got to have her homemade preserves on top, along with a big glass of milk. There is no better lunch for an overheated and itchy five-year-old, I'm convinced. 

So, every chance I get, I whip up an unconventional meal to enjoy. I'll eat them by myself, but they are usually better with a co-conspirator. Someone else to giggle with as you break egg yolks and scoop them up with toast at 7 p.m. or sip chocolate malted milkshakes in the summer heat. 

Tonight, it's Tony - he'll be savoring his favorite Emmenthaler cheese while I try some new spanish cheese I found in the ridiculously expensive cheese section of Biggs. I can't wait.